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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL STUDY - 2009-08-31 CITY OF LIVONIA— CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF STUDY MEETING HELD AUGUST 31, 2009 Meeting was called to order at 8:00 p.m. Present: John Pastor, Brian Meakin, Tom Robinson, James McCann, Terry Godfroid-Marecki and Laura Toy. Absent: Joe Laura. Elected and appointed officials present: Mayor Jack Kirksey; Lyle Trudell, Assistant Superintendent of Parks & Recreation; Todd Zilincik, City Engineer; Don Knapp, City Attorney; Mark Taormina, City Planner; Linda Grimsby, City Clerk; Kevin Maillard, Director of Public Works; Daniel Putman, IT Director; Linda McCann, Community Resources Director and Shadd Whitehead, City Fire Chief. President Toy announced new data from the Engineering Division on item #3. AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. NEW BUSINESS: 1. BLOCK PARTY: Thomas Hall, re: to be held Saturday, September 12, 20097 from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Country Club, between Wood and Grove, with a rain date requested of Saturday, September 19, 2009. Thomas Hall, 16620 Country Club, was present to request permission to have a block party. Pastor offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 2. BLOCK PARTY: Leonard Schoenborn, re: to be held Saturday, September 12, 2009, from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Blue Skies between Mallory and Bloomfield, with a rain date requested of Saturday, September 19, 2009. Leonard Schoenborn, 37644 Mallory, was present to request permission to have a block party. McCann offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 3. REQUEST TO WAIVE SIDEWALK REQUIREMENT: Carla Talbot, re: in front of a newly-constructed home located at 14937 Santa Anita. Carla Talbot, 14937 Santa Anita, was present to request the sidewalk requirement be waived in front of her home. 2 Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, had an opportunity to go out and take a look at the site in question. The adjacent parcel at 14957 has an existing sidewalk, along with a sidewalk on the east side and to the south. He recommends the sidewalk be put in. Talbot said that there is a sidewalk directly north, but that is the only sidewalk on Santa Anita Street. There are sidewalks on Santa Anita Avenue, but that is a different sub division. If she were to put a sidewalk in, it would be just to her neighbors. It would be about 80' of sidewalk within a quarter mile. Her neighbors do not have a sidewalk, and the majority of homes do not have sidewalks. She feels that if the Council wanted to have the entire street put a sidewalk in it would make more sense. She stated there is not much purpose with only one (1) house having a sidewalk. Gilberto Pietrandrea, Builder, and petitioner's uncle, 16523 Horseshoe Drive, Northville, said in the past houses were built without sidewalks. There are five (5) houses on this street that he and his dad built. He thinks the precedence has been set that there are no sidewalks, unless the City passed a new code, or amended it. If and when the resident's decide to put a sidewalk in, she will put happy to put one in. Zilincik stated it is required on the plot plan. She can go to the City Clerk to ask for a waiver. There is an adjacent property that has a sidewalk, and there is connectivity into the subdivision to the south. In the future there is an opportunity to connect on the east and west side. Pastor said that with most of the new subdivisions the City is asking for sidewalks. If this was a whole street that did not have sidewalks, he would be agreeable. Where to you start and where do you stop? The precedence has been if there are sidewalks in the neighborhood, they want to continue with sidewalks. He thinks this should eventually be a community full of sidewalks for the kids. Pietrandrea said in order to put sidewalks in there has to be a tax roll item that is voted on for the entire street. At that point, she could spend the money and put the sidewalk in. Godfroid-Marecki offered an approving and a denying resolution for the Regular Agenda. DIRECTION: (1) APPROVING REGULAR (2) DENYING 4. REQUEST TO WAIVE CITY'S NOISE ORDINANCE: Enrico E. Soave, Esq., re: to allow an outdoor tent event tentatively scheduled for Friday, October 2, 2009 at Doc's Sports Retreat, LLC located at 19265 Victor Parkway. 3 Enrico Soave, Attorney on behalf of Doc's Sports Retreat, 37771 Seven Mile Road, was present to ask that the noise ordinance be waived for a live band to perform on Friday, October 2, 2009, for their annual Octoberfest. The band will play in an open, outdoor tent in an open parking lot from 7:00 p.m. until 12:00 midnight. Benjamin McDermott, Captain, Livonia Police Department, would like Council to be aware that they have had some complaints about noise coming from the open patio area in the past, including this year. This is from people on the south side of Seven Mile, regarding their two (2) man band. If this is allowed, he suggests a cut off time of 10:00 p.m. Meakin said that they could split the difference and go to 11:00 p.m. McDermott does not want to discourage businesses. He said it is a Friday night, and he is open to suggestions. He wanted Council to be aware of previous complaints. He feels it should be limited to something less than midnight. Pastor stated that this is so far away from any residents, that he offered the approving for 12:00 midnight. Soave said that the last complaint on file is from spring of this year, and the noise actually came from their patio area. After they closed the windows and shutters on the patio no further complaints have happened. This is the third time in the past two years, and there have not been any problems with the band in the open tent. He said it's only until midnight, and in order to re-cover from that kind of expense, Doc's needs some opportunity to have a return on investment. It's not St. Patrick 's Day or Cinco-De-Mayo, this is Oktoberfest — it's a regular Friday night. Twelve O'clock, in his opinion, is reasonable. It's plenty of time for the people in the tent to close down, and then the people can go back into the bar, where it closes at 2:00 a.m. He said the band's speakers will be facing I-275 freeway. McCann agreed with Meakin. He thinks the band should shut down at 11:00 p.m. His concern is that there will be 500 people in the parking lot and it will take two (2) hours to settle them down. He said in October the temperature will drop down to 50 or 60 degrees and people will be ready to go in by then anyways. You don't hit that midnight hour and everyone walks away. He thinks the compromise is the better way to go and would like to put this on the Consent Agenda if Pastor would withdraw his midnight resolution. Pastor said the closest resident is at least 1000 or more feet away, and you have to cross a field to get to the first house, and the only three houses there are shielded by big trees. He said this is a business and they have done this before, and the speakers will be facing the freeway. He thinks most of the people will go 4 inside anyways because of the mosquitoes. He doesn't have a problem with midnight; unless the petitioner is okay will 11:00 p.m. Soave said he would like to see midnight. Meakin offered the approving resolution for 11:00 p. m. for the Regular Agenda. Pastor offered the approving resolution for 12:00 a.m. for the Regular Agenda. DIRECTION: (1) APPROVING FOR 11:00 P.M. REGULAR (2) APPROVING FOR MIDNIGHT 5. REQUEST TO WAIVE CITY'S NOISE ORDINANCE: Steve Hunt, re: to allow a live band to perform from approximately 1:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at 37760 Joy Road in connection with a Retirement Party. Petitioner was not present. Meakin offered the approving resolution for the Regular Agenda. He would like the petitioner to show up at the next Regular Meeting. Robinson stated that if this passes on the 9t", we will need a non veto letter from the Mayor because immediately following the Regular Meeting, the minutes won't be approved. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR 6. PROPOSED BUS MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT: Office of the Mayor, re: between the Livonia Public School District and the City of Livonia for the period September 1, 2009 through August 31, 2010 for the storage, maintenance and repair of up to seventeen (17) City of Livonia transit buses. Mayor Jack Kirksey said the agreement before Council tonight is a draft version, and since the materials have come in, the Superintendent and others have taken a look at it and agreed to the changes that were made from the originals that were sent to the City. He wanted to recommend support from Council. He thinks this is an excellent solution to a very difficult problem. City bus vehicles are some of the highest used vehicles that the City has maintenance responsibility on. There have been times the City has had to rely on overtime to get a maintenance job done, or the vehicle is out of service for a length of time. This is a much more economical way to fix the problem and it will also remove the long wait that occurs from the time the vehicle needs the maintenance until it is performed. The school district has the capacity to do this and they have experienced people to perform the maintenance, so there will be no drop in quality. They also have a very attractive shop hour rate compared to our overhead which is a garage that deals with a number of heavy duty equipment items. The City's shop is somewhat higher than what the school district can do for vehicles of this size. 5 This is basically a plus for us, and the school district has the capacity to accept the work. These vehicles are on the road seven (7) days per week, and serve a dial a ride service for our seniors, who really need and enjoy this service. These busses take them to the doctors, and to their work in Livonia. If they are coming into our City by D-Dot, these buses are available to take them to their work site. One of the problems we had when looking at launching our own bus system was not to deny anyone from getting to their work place. Gary Garrison, Kevin Maillard and Linda McCann are in the audience to answer any questions. McCann understands that the school system is very suited to this type of bus. They can be very efficient, and it's a good thing for them as well as our mechanics. His only concern is that last years billing was $130,000.00 towards those grants from SMART, and if the City is reducing that substantially by doing this, we are going to have to absorb that into the general budget. Gary Garrison, Public Service, said yes, but with only six (6) mechanics the City is spending a lot of money in overtime. By doing this they will end up with about a thousand hours of additional capacity for mechanics to work on the City's normal equipment which the City has normally been paying time and a half and double time for. This will free up a lot of straight time hours for mechanics to work. This would be quite a cost savings for the City to have the busses moved over. President Toy asked if the mechanics are getting paid about the same amount that this contract is calling for from the City. Garrison's guess would be no, based on the shop rate that they have in the proposal. The City's is significant higher. They have a fleet of a million dollars worth of equipment that they aren't getting to because of all the maintenance required on these busses. Sometimes his stuff sits. The hours just aren't there, and it's not feasible for us to keep going at this. He went to Kevin and the Mayor to see if there was some way to shift the work. All the repairs will cross his desk afterwards, so that he can judge what he knows about the busses, equipment and cost. McCann offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 7. REQUEST TO ADOPT A RETIREMENT HEALTH SAVINGS PLAN FOR NON- REPRESENTED EMPLOYEES HIRED ON OR AFTER DECEMBER 1, 2009: Civil Service Department, re: same. Don Knapp, City Attorney, said on July 15, 2009 the Civil Service Commission approved a Health Retirement Savings Account for non represented employees hired after December 1St, 2009, which requires Council approval. There will be a City contribution of$50.00 per pay period, and an employee contribution of 2% of their pay. They would no longer be making contributions to VEBA, which 6 currently funds retirement health care. There is no opt-in and no opt-out provision. The monies, after they vest, could be used for health insurance premiums, deductibles, co-insurance cost, Medicare co-insurance cost, dental, vision and hearing benefits. Meakin asked Mr. Knapp if these funds would become transferrable once they are vested. Knapp answered that once these employees have worked more than ten (10) years, the City contribution would be vested. If they don't work ten (10) years, they could take the money they contributed. Meakin wanted to make it perfectly clear that this is not for current employees. It is just for future employees. The City is not cutting off health care for current employees. Godfroid-Marecki asked if the money was tax free and if so, how long it would be tax free. She thought it was a great idea. Knapp did not have that information. Meakin offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 8. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL TO PARTICIPATE IN AND ACCEPT THE 2009 JUSTICE ASSISTANCE GRANT (JAG) IN THE AMOUNT OF $66,274.00 WITH NO MATCHING FUNDS REQUIRED: Division of Police, re: same. Benjamin McDermott, Captain, Livonia Police Department, said the Division of Police has been awarded grant funds under the Justice Assistance Program for this year. They seek Council's authority to accept the award in the amount of $66,274.00, subject to the terms in the Memorandum of Understanding and the Intro-Governmental Agreement. The City is not required to match any of the funds. Robinson offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 9. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO PURCHASE: Division of Police, re. pistol and rifle range systems and repair of existing equipment from sole source Advanced Training Systems (ATS) from budgeted funds. Benjamin McDermott, Captain, Livonia Police Department, said the Livonia Division of Police is requesting authorization to purchase electronic targeting systems for the Department's pistol and rifle ranges. This purchase will include 7 needed repairs to the existing protective ballistic wall on the pistol range and the installation of a protective wall and steel post covers on the rifle range. The old targeting system on the pistol range is broken, unserviceable, and in need of replacement. Neither a targeting system nor ballistic knee wall, to protect a new targeting system, has yet to be installed on the new rifle range. The purchase of this equipment will complete the Police Department's plans to repair, upgrade, and properly equip the range facilities. Once completed the equipment will dramatically increase the capability and flexibility of training received at the gun ranges. The repairs and additions will also help prevent personal injuries. The equipment selected is unique in the industry and is being adopted by military and law enforcement nationwide. We are requesting a waiver of the sealed bid process. Because of the proprietary features designed into the proposed products, including the exclusive wireless control, hit sensing and software, it is impossible for any competitor to supply the same type of training equipment. Advanced Training Systems (ATS), 4524 Hwy. 61 N., St. Paul, MN 55110, is the sole source of the equipment and their systems are recognized and listed under GSA Federal Contract Number GS 02F 0404D. ATS is providing these systems at the lowest price available under the government contract. The total cost of the proposed purchase is $114,537.00. This expenditure will utilize budgeted Federal Drug Forfeiture Funds from Account #265-334-976-026 (Police Capital Improvements). Additionally, as part of a cost reimbursement agreement, between the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) and the City of Livonia, the USMS has agreed to assist with this purchase by reimbursing the City with $30,000.00 in Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Funds. The Division of Police is requesting permission to accept these funds for use on the range project. This would leave the net cost of the project to the Livonia Police Department at $84,537.00. Meakin asked since the U.S. Marshals found it necessary to use our facility, is there any other agency that could benefit from this and if so, could we get some type of revenue from them for usage of this facility? McDermott said that once the equipment is put in place, the ranges would be basically state of the art for this area. Currently, the Postal Service and periodically some other agencies do use this facility, but I think this will begin the process of other agencies wanting to use it more and more. We currently rent it out for$500.00 per day. McCann asked if there are any other facilities around like this in southeastern Michigan. McDermott said that once the equipment is put into place, there will be no one else in the general area, with an outdoor range, with any kind of equipment anywhere near this. The State Police do not have a facility with any equipment like this. McCann asked if they have the Range Officer on duty when they rent it out. 8 McDermott said yes, because they want to be sure they are abiding by all range rules. McCann said that he is not sure who set the rates, but the City has a tremendous amount of money invested in this facility. Since there is no where else in the state to train on a facility like this, the City should at least be covering their cost. Pastor offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 10. REQUEST TO EXTEND BID WITH ALLIE BROTHERS, INC. FOR A PERIOD OF TWO (2) YEARS: Fire & Rescue, re: for uniforms and related uniform items for the period of May 1, 2009 through May 1, 2011 at prices bid in 2003. (CR 174-03, CR 335-05 and CR 186-07) Shadd Whitehead, City Fire Chief, would like to extend the current bid from 2003 for the period of May 1, 2009 through May 1, 2011 for uniforms and related uniform items. Pastor offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 11. REQUEST TO AMEND COUNCIL RESOLUTION 12-07: Fire & Rescue, re. to amend the disposal of the second line Reserve Fire Engine Pumper RE-2 (1988 Pierce) and to donate it to Schoolcraft College's Fire Training School. Shadd Whitehead, City Fire Chief, said there was a resolution passed back in January 2007 that had to do with a purchase of a new Pumper that the Fire Department just received. It was a year and a half behind schedule. The reserve apparatus, as they are rotated out, are put up for auction and then added back to the General Fund. Its sister truck, a 1988 Pierce Reserve Fire Engine Pumper, was donated to Schoolcraft College because it failed its annual pump certification test and wasn't worthy of being put on the road. With the amount of rust on the frame, the vehicle is of no value now. He doesn't recommend that it be auctioned off to any other jurisdiction or city. He would not feel good about that. There would be no other jurisdiction that would want this piece of equipment. He thinks it's a prudent move, to donate this vehicle for a non fire fighting purpose and just a training purpose to Schoolcraft College where they could benefit from a training standpoint. They have a fire academy, and it offers them an opportunity for their young recruits to have some experience with trucks in a non fire training mode. They have helped us in the past, and we have a great relationship with Schoolcraft College Godfroid-Marecki offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. 9 DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 12. AWARD OF CONTRACT: Department of Parks and Recreation, re: General Contractor for a new club house at Whispering Willows Golf Course. Lyle Trudell, Parks and Recreation Department Assistant Superintendent, said that Council has already approved a budget of $1.6 million dollars. The bids came in, and they interviewed the five (5) lowest qualified bidders. Given the 1% for Livonia Contractors, they are recommending a contract with the lowest bid of The Summit Company, 13191 Wayne Road, Livonia. Pastor offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 13. REQUEST TO ACCEPT PROPOSAL: Department of Parks and Recreation, re: for a web-based service agreement for the period October 1, 2009 through September 31, 2014 for Recreation software. Lyle Trudell, Parks and Recreation Department Assistant Superintendent, said that sometime in January of 2007, they came to a conclusion that the current software they have is in-efficient and insufficient as far as on line registrations, billing procedures and a total recreation software package. At that time the Commission directed the Facility Manager, Mr. Murphy, to go out for quotes to see what types of numbers he could get and to see what software companies were available that were easier to understand, easier to train and web-based, so it would be universal. People could register for classes, renew memberships, and sign up for leagues, etc., online from the comfort of their own home. They came up with three (3) companies, Safari, eTrak and Activenet, one of which was not web-based, so basically boiled it down to two (2) companies, Activenet and eTrak. It was very difficult to nail down the exact cost of what it would be on a yearly basis, due to the way the software companies charge their fees. They do it on a percentage basis, or on a flat fee basis, based on the number of transactions. Most of those costs are passed on to the customers. There are some issues with some of the companies that charge higher fees. In the case of Activenet, they charge $3.00 for every transaction, web-based or through our office. They were quite a bit higher than eTrak, Inc. The Parks and Recreation has been doing athletic scheduling with them for 15-20 years, and they have been very responsive to their needs in the past. The contract written for eTrak, Inc., with cooperation from the Law Department, and the IS Department, covers all contingencies that we could think of. He believes the rewards out weigh any risks they may have. Software is an ongoing evolution. Based on all the facts and figures and all the research that has been done, we would like Council to accept this service agreement with eTrak, Inc., 810 Travelers Blvd #E-2, Summerville, SC 29485. 10 Meakin asked what the City knows about eTrak. Trudell said they are a web-based software company based in South Carolina. They started out as a client based system, and they have since transformed into a web-based system about 4-5 years ago. They have several clients in the southeastern U.S., most of which are parks and recreations, but some are soccer clubs. They also have a couple clients in the northeast. Meakin asked if there was a software vendor locally in Michigan or even in southeastern Michigan. Trudell answered no, not that he could find. Going back 26 years since he has been working in Parks and Recreation, he has always been looking for something that might be better. He used to have stacks and stacks of CD's, and would go through them, but they were all pretty much built for something on a much smaller scale, and not nearly as complex as Livonia. Livonia has a much more extensive fee schedule. To find a company that is willing to work with the City, without having to adapt to their program to make your own process work, is what we were looking for. Meakin asked how comfortable he is with the dollar amount they recommend here, because they could go substantially higher. Trudell is hoping it goes a lot higher. He is hoping to go from 2,000 - 3,000 online transactions (which is what they do now) to 40% - 50% more. The Parks and Recreation typically do around 80,000 transactions per year. They can recoup a lot of the cost with more transactions. The company has a graduated fee structure. At 2,001 the fee we pay to the vendor drops to $1.75, and as low as $.75 with 15,000 transactions. The Parks and Recreation Commission would try and keep the online user fee at $2.00, which means we would recoup $1.25 per transaction, which would offset the cost. Meakin asked how comfortable he is with the security of the member's personal information going over the internet with this web-based software company. Trudell said that he is very comfortable with personal information going over the internet — with the contract they've written up — and with the precautions they've taken. It is all extremely well protected. That is their number one (1) priority, especially given the fact they have a lot of youth information. All the information is 128 bit encrypted. A password is required to get online and to register. The information will be transmitted through a separate T-1 line, verses going through the regular City website. As far as protecting the data, there will be servers in South Carolina and in the Livonia Community Recreation Center, which is backed up daily. He feels quite secure. Robinson asked who the customer would call to get issues resolved if there was a transaction problem or error, something that was processed incorrectly. 11 Trudell said those problems are solved in-house. The customer would call the City of Livonia. The transactions go directly to Comerica Bank, in most cases, and there is a .10 fee from PayPal for processing. He said his department is the lead for any complaints on improper transactions, and they would contact the bank to settle it. Virtually the same way it is done now. The big difference is the third party. Robinson said that as the transactions rate goes up as anticipated, it's likely that the service requirements on those problems will increase. He wanted to know if they anticipated that likelihood. President Toy said she would like this item on the Regular, because she has questions about the comparison of software chart, and the dollar amounts. She would like Mr. Trudell to explain this to her. She also asked if Mr. Putman or anyone from Data Services helped in looking at this. Trudell said that the charge card and check cashing fees were based on 20,000 transactions, at $3.00 per transaction, which is approximately $60,000.00, and 20,000 transactions is probably a low number. The numbers are constantly changing. He said that Safari is the company they are currently using. Activenet is a web-based software program. The upfront software cost is zero for both. He explained that the reason Activenet had a minimal fee compared to eTrak is because Activenet is owned by Safari, the City's current company. The conversion, or mapping of information that has to go on between eTrak and Safari, takes about 60 hours. The maintenance fee of $12,000 comes with unlimited support. The start up charge of $5,000 is to train the administrators, and operators. The kiosk located outside the door is not included. That would be an additional charge, but it's just a hardware cost. Putman said that the kiosk cost is a lot more than a pc cost; he said it's easily in the range of about $5,000.00. Putman said he wanted to make sure Council realizes that there are some concerns that the IS Department has with this company. This is a very small company that we are proposing. We have done everything we can to try and get the agreement to a position that it's protecting the City's interest. I think we have a legal document that provides a lot of protection for the City. Some of the reasons for the higher cost is that this company had to go out and purchase insurance in order to do business with the City. They don't currently carry insurance. He said there are some concerns that he's had about the business continuity of this company — things that just cannot be addressed at this time. Toy asked Putman why we haven't found someone Michigan or at least in the southeastern area of Michigan. She wants to know why the City is going out of state. She said she respects his view. She knows he has worked for the City in this field for a long time. 12 Putman said that in most industries you end up with several companies that become the key leaders. In the Recreation System area there is Activenet, an offshoot of Safari (a current product we currently use) and another very popular one is Vermont Systems (who does very well in this industry), but in Michigan, he is not aware of any Parks and Recreations vendors developing. This is a small company that Lyle has worked with for several years with team scheduling. This is a very small company, and they are promising some large things. Some of the software, to the best of his knowledge, is not written at this time and would have to be developed as part of this process. When he talks to his peers throughout Michigan and at least the eastern half of the US, the two companies he hears consistently about are Activenet, and Vermont. None of his peers have ever heard of eTrak. Toy wanted to know if the City was going to be a guinea pig on this. Putman said the company meets the City's individual needs. They have a small customer base of about 20 customers that they are currently conducting business with. The gentleman has been in the business for 20 years. Toy asked if anyone is here from eTrak tonight. Putman answered no, they are not. Toy said that this just concerns her. She has been on this Council before, and through the years software changes, and she realizes there is specialization in different fields, but a red flag is going up for some reason and she is not sure why. She knows Mr. Trudell worked very hard, and she knows he wants what's best for the City, but she is feeling a little uneasy about this. Robinson appreciates all the efforts that everyone has put in to all this, and one of the goals is to provide better service to the residents and Parks and Recreation customers, but there are a couple of valid questions. He is very familiar with price structuring in this type of business, and thinks there may be some opportunity there. He would like to offer a resolution to the Public Safety and Recreation Committee and he would like to have the vendor at the meeting, or at least a representative to participate in this discussion with Council. Pastor asked Putman if he recommends going with these people or not. Putman said Council needs to take a look at this in detail and make an educated decision on it. The software seems to have some nice features in it, but he has questions on the vulnerability of the company with the business continuity plans and such. The City was not able to review their financial records, because the company operates out of the owner's personal bank account. He said he generally likes to review financial reports to see if the company is profitable and 13 to see if plans are in place for the future and those types of things. He was not able to do that. Pastor rephrased the question to Mr. Putman. He asked him, from a programming standpoint, would he recommend this company. From what he understands, this is a company that can customize the City's needs. He doesn't have a problem with the fact they are a small company. He said that every business that has started out has been small. Putman answered that this is a one (1) person company who is offering 24/7 support, 365 days per year. He has worked in the support field for 25 years and he has never seen any organization that can really provide this. That's a big question in his mind. He has not been able to talk to any customers that have the same type operation as the City. These are all of the City's membership records they will be maintaining. We can not operate without them. If they go out of business, or stop operating, it will really shut down the recreation center. Pastor said that this would be with any company. He mentioned GM almost going bankrupt. Just because the company is small, does not mean they will go bankrupt. He said that Lyle has been working with them for close to 20 years. The programming is fitting to the City's custom program and that is what they are looking for. He would like to know if Mr. Putman is questioning if they can perform. He would like their references called and to get an update before the next Regular Meeting. Robinson stated that he often yields to some of Pastor's wisdom in his field of expertise, but he will say from his experience, that data integrity, when dealing with credit card numbers, is one of the largest growing frauds. We all know too well about credit card and internet theft with those kinds of transactions. Some of the bigger players in the industry focus seriously on how to maintain the security of their users. He wants to be sure that someone who is a smaller player, and who the City's IT expert says may have some risks there, is thoroughly a player in the business, who not only prices us properly, but has security standards and expectations that are some of the best in the business. For this reason he would like to see this go to Committee. Putman wanted to point out that they have done everything they could in the legal agreements, that if there was ever a leak of data, to try and protect the City's interest. This has been a concern of his. Toy supported Robinson in going to the Public Safety and Recreation Committee. She thinks this matter needs to be studied more. Pastor asked when the decision needs to be made. He wanted to know if there was a time line. 14 Trudell said if Council needs time to make a prudent decision, they can still operate while they are waiting. Putman said that one thing concerns him as far as timing. They have dropped the support agreement with the existing vendor since February. Pastor agrees with Robinson that we do need to protect the public's information. With that he will yield the floor. He does not remove his motion. Godfroid-Marecki said that this is the first time, unless she is misinterpreting this, that she has seen two (2) Administrators come up and disagree in front of Council. She is not quite sure what's going on, but she has never seen this happen before. Trudell said that he thinks that Dan, being the IS guy and is charged with protecting all the City data, is really concerned about the data (and he is too). Dan is much more of an expert on how to do that. He gave us all of his concerns and they were addressed with the liability statements, and quote proposals. We have talked with the Law Department regarding insurance requirements and liability for the City. At that time, all but one issue was resolved and that issue was that the company was small. The Parks and Recreation Commission and the Superintendent felt that the small company issue wasn't much of a concern, due to the fact we had all these other issues resolved in the contract to protect the City from any leak of data and/or fraud. We felt we needed to move forward, and we were unable to find any other vendor that was willing to work with us. Up until February, we paid a $6,500.00 support fee to Safari and have not got a whole lot of answers. Toy said that Mr. Putman is the IT Director; he has the expertise and the education in this and this makes her feel more comfortable. She appreciated Mr. Putman coming forward and sharing information. She feels it's very healthy knowing that information for this City. She also thanked Mr. Trudell for all his comments on this very sensitive computer software. This means big things to Parks and Recreation and to the residents and they just want to get it right. Trudell said the way he personally looked at this was a risk-reward situation, and he felt that the rewards outweighed the risks. Pastor offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. Robinson offered a resolution referring to the Public Safety and Commission Committee for their report and recommendation. DIRECTION: (1) APPROVING REGULAR (2) REFER TO PUBLIC SAFETY AND RECREATION COMMITTEE 15 14. REQUEST TO APPROVE CONTRACT BETWEEN THE MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND THE CITY OF LIVONIA FOR THE GEOMETRIC IMPROVEMENTS TO THE EASTERN QUADRANTS OF THE INTERCHANGE OF HIGHWAYS 1-96/1-275 AND SIX MILE ROAD: Engineering Division, re: with the City of Livonia participation estimated to be $9,600.00, or 2.5% of the total project cost. Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, stated that this is for safety improvement on the intersection of 1-275 and Six Mile Road, which will help reduce the number of accidents merging on to the westbound traffic traveling on Six Mile Road. This involves geometric improvements, and traffic signal improvements. The project is $382,550.00, which the City will pay $9,600.00 for a portion, and will hopefully benefit the Community and also reduce the number of accidents that are currently out there. The agenda requires execution from the Mayor and the Clerk and needs to be done within 35 days of receipt of this letter. We have to act quickly and do a non-veto letter for the next Regular Meeting. Godfroid-Marecki asked what they were going to do with this. Zilincik said he has plans that the public is more than welcome to come to see at the Engineering Counter. Instead of coming straight out from the intersection and trying to do a t-bone, it basically moves from the curbs and helps give better sight distance when turning to the right, to see oncoming traffic coming in to that area. Also, the traffic signals will help time it a little better, so you get some gaps in between the traffic to allow that merging to take place. President Toy wanted to mention that when you driving down 1-275, and you have the service drive coming up at 7 Mile and then 6 Mile comes right next to it, it is such a dangerous thing. To get off on 6 Mile is scary. The traffic is enormous coming at you when you are trying to move over. She asked if there was anything that may be done about that. Zilincik thinks they may look at that in the future, but they recently did the Five Mile to Six Mile improvements this year, and there is training scheduled for September 2, 2009 for the Fire and Police for the cable system that has not been installed yet, and the guard rail sill hasn't been installed this year that is coming from Canton, northward towards our community. M-Dot is spending money to improve the safety of this Community, and reduce crashes for the City. He understands her concern. During his meeting with M-Dot he can recommend they take a look at that, or signage may help out as well. Godfroid-Marecki offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 15. SITE PLAN PETITION: Planning Commission, re: Petition 2005-03-08-05 submitted by EDCO Real Estate Ventures, L.L.C. in connection with a proposal 16 to construct an addition and renovate the exterior of the service station on property located on the southwest corner of Wayne Road and Ann Arbor Trail (34901 Ann Arbor Trail), in the Southwest '/4 of Section 33. Mark Taormina stated that this property is located at the southwest corner of Wayne Road and Ann Arbor Trail. This is a Petition that was originally filed in 2005, and in connection with that previous petition, the Planning Commission recommended approval of the plans to increase the size of the building to about 2,296 square feet. Currently the building is just under 900 square feet in area. Council referred this item to Committee of the Whole in 2005, and in 2006 it was a referral back to the Planning Commission for their discussion and review. After the referral, the Petitioner decided not to proceed; however, recently the gas station facility sustained substantial damage when a vehicle collided into the building. The station has been closed now for several months. He would like to proceed with improvements to the property. The new plans show a slightly smaller building than what was proposed in 2005. The building, under this plan, is about 2,044 square feet, so it's a couple hundred square feet less in area. It would be expanded to the north about 13.5' and to the east (towards Wayne Road) approximately 17'. The station would continue to have four (4) gas pumps, but because the proposed expansion occurring on the north side would bring the building to within approximately ten feet of those two (2) pumps, they would only service vehicles on the north side of those pumps, and not on the south side. This would reduce the total number of service areas by approximately four (4). The canopy above the structure would not be altered. The only change would be bricking the columns to the support canopy, which is something we like to see whenever we remodel these types of facilities. Because the building would be expanded into the required setbacks, it would require approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). It does provide with the parking standards. The ordinance requires 8 parking spaces; this plan provides a total of 11 spaces, including ten (10) that would be located on the south side of the property. The handicapped accessible would be adjacent to the building. Landscaping is deficient in the area and totals about 12% of the overall site. There would not be any alterations to the overall landscaping. Planning Commission is recommending that a more detailed plan come back to them within 60 days, should Council approve this Petition next week. Mr. Taormina presented and discussed the plans of the building. Robinson said that there was a time when Council did a site plan approval for the renovation of this property. He said he would like to hear from the Petitioner, but he wanted to remind Council that when this was looked at last time, and approved last time, there were some recommendations made by this Council, particularly by Taylor, to improve some of the conditions. He never saw any of those things done. He normally doesn't get so direct with his comments to a petitioner, but that property has been maintained poorly over the last couple of years, and even with friendly reminders from this Council the last approval, he saw no effort to improve it. Hopefully Council can send that message out this evening. 17 McCann stated that many of these facilities have eliminated the southbound entrance - the farthest north entrance on Wayne Road for southbound traffic so that it wouldn't back up to Ann Arbor Road. He knows the City has done this for many gas stations, and he knows this condition was put on this station. He wants to know if this was done in 2005. Taormina said that no, but there was a considerable amount of conversation. The Planning Commission approved the plan showing four (4) driveways. This is something Council struggled with. There was never anything resolved with that issue. Tahrik Alcodray, petitioner, 330 River Lane, Dearborn, MI 48124, said that he is hoping to rebuild the entire building. This will be a much more improved site, both esthetically and from a landscaping prospective. Regarding the drive in 2005, there was a recommendation to terminate the first drive on Wayne Road. He took that back to BP, and their consultants advised against it. The plan that is put forth today has been taken to his financers. He said it is very difficult to get financing in today's climate, but fortunately he has been able to do it with this particular plan. It has been reviewed by the bank and by BP. He is hoping to move forward. President Toy asked if he ever had approving and if he ever changed the driveway. Alcodray stated that he is having all the landscaping redone and sprinkler systems all redone, but he is not adding additional landscaping per square footage. Toy asked the Petitioner if he had been keeping up with his site. She said that she hasn't been by it in a while. Alcodray said that he is doing the best he can. He thinks the City will be very pleased. McCann said that one of the things that concerns him is how much landscaping is needed. He asked if they were able to widen the landscaping area a little bit. Taormina stated that this was one of the reasons why landscaping was being called back for further review. The plans that were considered a couple of years ago did precisely what McCann suggested - increased the amount of landscaping, which would require changing the curb island. There were shrubs that were going to be provided along the west and south property lines, and a small area devoted to screening along the boundaries of the site. All together brought the total site landscaping up to 15%, if not a little more. 18 McCann would like to see that added. If a site plan is approved, and then is brought back for landscaping, you are really approving the type of materials going in and not what the boundaries are. Alcodray said as a property owner, if he can improve the landscaping and esthetics he has no problem, but what it boils down to is getting the financing. Adding additional curbs is very expensive, and he doesn't know if that's in the budget at this time. A lot of this is coming out of pocket. He has no problem committing to this City to expand the landscaping in the future, when things look up. Council can even make that as part of the resolution. At this point, he is in a race against time. The winter is coming, and he is lucky enough to have financing lined up for what he is presenting tonight. He doesn't even know if that is even possible. McCann has to agree with Robinson. He understands he is not putting money into the existing facility because he wants to redo it, but a couple flats of flowers and watering is not a huge expense. He has gone and talked to people and they have agreed to clean it up because it's just a little bit of effort, and not a lot of cost. This has been lacking, and he certainly wants to see that corner improved, and he is certain the residents do as well. He said the Petitioner has already paid for the plans back in 2005, but he would like to take a look at those plans, or have Mr. Taormina look at them, to see what we could find between today and next week. McCann offered two (2) resolutions. An approving resolution and Committee of the Whole, and hopefully some of these landscaping plans can work out. Meakin wants to know why the landscape plan is being separated from the whole package. Taormina said this is because of the Petitioners desire to get things done quickly. The Planning Commission wasn't satisfied with the level of detail. They decided to move forward, accommodate the petitioner, but wanted to see more effort put into the quality of the landscaping at this site. Meakin would rather see the complete package, rather than piece meal this. If they throw in McCann's suggestions, and he doesn't want the Petitioner to have to go back and redo the drawings, but he would like to see the final drawings for the property. Alcodray said that the landscaping is not intended to remain as is. The existing portion of the landscaping is going to be redone. What his plan does not include is new curbs, but everything in the plan will be completely redone including new shrubs, new grass, and a new sprinkler system - the whole nine yards. Meakin asked Taormina if there is any possibility to land bank a parking space on this property. 19 Taormina said that would be the Zoning Board of Appeals. It doesn't call for land banking under the provision of the Ordinance by virtue of the total number of parking spaces. This is only permitted where there are 40 or more spaces on the site. This is not something that can be approved administratively. It would require Zoning Board of Appeals to take out some of the parking on this site. Robinson wanted to be clear that we were talking about a BP station. After listening to the comments tonight, and he is glad the Petitioner is here, and he understands what the economy is like out there and certainly Council would rather see a new renovated facility then what is there now, but people live in those neighborhoods and drive by there. Every time he drives by he is reminded of the site plan approval from the past, and he asks himself did the petitioner not understand or hear there were some opportunities to make a favorable impression in this Community. He was very disappointed. This Council and previous Council worked very hard to put a standard in place for gas stations, and we have asked many gas stations to close driveways. The one at Five Mile and Merriman was one of them, and that was a BP. There are some expectations Council is not willing to compromise on. He understands the petitioners timing, but he gets frustrated when things are brought to Council consistently in a hurry. Sometimes there are good reasons why Council slows down and takes a better look. He supports the Committee of the Whole. Pastor asked the Petitioner if his building plans were done yet. Alcodray said not yet, but it would take a week and a half to draw up the plans. Pastor said that it usually takes longer than a week and a half. He said the quickest he could get the plans done is a month, and then they have to be submitted to the Building Department for approval, which is two to four weeks, depending how far backed up Engineering is. Total time is probably going to take two months. Alcodray said it would be a lot faster than a month. Pastor asked how long it would take the petitioner to put up the building. Alcodray said, based on the white building shelter, he already has bids lined up and ready to go. As soon as he gets his building plans, maybe a month to a month and half. Pastor asked how he got his bids without his plans. Alcodray said he has bids based on square footage, and he already has financing lined up. From demo to construction of four walls he said it would take a month to a month and a half to put up the building. Pastor asked Taormina about the 11 parking spaces on the site now. 20 Taormina said that the previous plan showed 8, but this is a modified plan, and three (3) spaces could be given up and still comply. Pastor asked the petitioner if the site is all sprinkled now. Alcodray said some of it, but he is not sure if it all is, but the plan is to make sure that everywhere there is landscaping to have sprinklers. Pastor said that if they are not all in he would have to tear out asphalt and curbs to get the sprinkler line in there. McCann offered two (2) resolutions. An approving resolution and Committee of the Whole. DIRECTION: (1) APPROVING REGULAR (2) REFER TO COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE 16. PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE LIVONIA CODE OF ORDINANCES, AS AMENDED: Department of Law, re: to Chapter 4 (General Use Regulations) of Title 13 regarding preventing backflow of contaminated water or chemicals into the potable water system. Don Knapp, City Attorney, said that through working with the Engineering Department and DPW Department, the Law Department has created a Cross Connection Ordinance. This is an Ordinance that will help the City look at potential areas where there is a back flow of water into the potable water system in a way that can detrimentally affect resident's health, safety and welfare. It allows right of entry on the premises to check plumbing systems to determine whether or not there is an impermissible cross connection. To the extent that access isn't allowed to premises, then it creates a rebuttable presumption that there is a cross connection that could impact health and safety. It allows water to be turned off if there is a cross connection and it creates a misdemeanor if this Ordinance is violated. He said that any technical questions about cross connections should be referred to the Engineering Department. Pastor believes that Wayne County already does this. This is setting up the City's Ordinance so that we are right under the Department of Environmental Quality, so that if there is any objection, that it is in our Ordinance for Wayne County and/or another plumbing contractor, or whoever else is approved by the DEQ, is able to go out and test to make sure the water that they are using on their lines doesn't get sucked back up into the drinking water and contaminate it. This is actually urged by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. The Water and Sewer Board has signed off on it. He said he worked with them on the State level. Pastor offered an approving resolution to the Regular Agenda. 21 DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. As there were no further questions or comments, Council President Toy adjourned the Study Session at 9:52 p.m. on Monday, August 31, 2009. DATED: September 7, 2009 LINDA GRIMSBY, CITY CLERK