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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-05-11 CITY OF LIVONIA — CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF STUDY MEETING HELD MAY 11, 2020 Meeting was called to order at 8:32 p.m. by President Kathleen McIntyre via Zoom remote technology. Present: Rob Donovic, Jim Jolly, Laura Toy, Scott Bahr, Cathy White, Brandon McCullough, and Kathleen McIntyre. Absent: None. Councilmember Jim Jolly led the meeting in the Pledge of Allegiance. Elected and appointed officials present: Mark Taormina, Director of Planning and Economic Development; Todd Zilincik, City Engineer; Paul Bernier, City Attorney; Susan M. Nash, City Clerk; Sara Kasprowicz, Secretary II; and Jacob Rushlow, Superintendent of Public Service. There was no Audience Communication at the beginning of the meeting. NEW BUSINESS 1. REAPPOINTMENT OF SAM CARAMAGNO TO THE LIVONIA PLANNING COMMISSION: Office of the Mayor, re: for a three-year term which will expire on June 9, 2023. Councilmember Donovic offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. Councilmember Toy stated that Mr. Caramagno has served the City in this capacity and has done an excellent job in his appointment. Councilmember Jolly stated that Items 1-3 appear to be reappointments of an all star cast of Commissioners and he looks forward to supporting each of them continuing in their service as they are all valued assets to the City and deserve their reappointments. Vice President stated that he knows Mr. Caramagno is attending the Zoom meeting and asked if he would like to say a few words. Sam Caramagno thanked the Mayor for the opportunity to be reappointed and thanked Council for their consideration and reappointment as well. President McIntyre thanked Caramagno for his service to the City. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 2 2. REAPPOINTMENT OF GLEN LONG, JR. TO THE LIVONIA PLANNING COMMISSION: Office of the Mayor, re: for a three-year term which will expire on June 9, 2023. Councilmember McCullough offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda, stating that Mr. Long has done a great job on the Planning Commission as well as in his position as a CFO for many years, and his civic duty with the Ice Arena and the hockey programs. President McIntyre asked Mr. Long if he would like to comment. Glen Long, Jr., thanked Council and the Mayor for the opportunity to continue serving on the Planning Commission, stating it is a very strong commission, with members from very diverse backgrounds, bankers, construction, real estate, accounting, so they look at things from all sides and looks forward to continuing to make Livonia great by working with the Mayor and Council. President McIntyre thanked Long for his contributions and work in the community. Vice President Bahr stated as someone who tends to read through all the Planning Commission Meeting minutes, when there is an item on their Agenda, he reiterated what Mr. Long said about having a strong team on the Planning Commission and he is often struck with the breadth of perspectives and professionalism that comes in the comments that are made during those meetings and he appreciates the Commission and all that they're doing. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 3. REAPPOINTMENT OF PETER VENTURA TO THE LIVONIA PLANNING COMMISSION: Office of the Mayor, re: for a three-year term which will expire on June 9, 2023. Councilmember Toy offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. President McIntyre asked Mr. Ventura if he would like to comment. Peter Ventura thanked President McIntyre and wished Council good evening. He stated it has been very interesting watch Council go through their Agenda this evening and he is always impressed with the detail and thoroughness with which they consider everything that is on their Agenda, it stands Livonia in good stead and it makes it a great community. He thanked the Mayor for the opportunity to continue to serve and thanked Councilmember Toy and that he is looking forward to continuing his service to the City. President McIntyre stated they are delighted to have him continue his service to the City and what a valuable asset he is to the Planning Commission and as 3 Chairperson to the Master Planning Committee which entailed a lot of work and strong leadership which he has given many times over and have the benefit of his knowledge and expertise and thoughtfulness. Councilmember Toy stated that Mr. Ventura's father was also a councilmember on the City Council years back and did a terrific job and he gave a great example to his children and their family has been such a great asset to the City. She thanked Mr. Ventura and his family as well. Ventura thanked Councilmember Toy for her words and stated that the part that he is playing is much less than his father played but he is happy to have the opportunity to make the contribution. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 4. REAPPOINTMENT OF JANICE N. CENTERS TO THE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS: Councilmember Jim Jolly, re: for a three-year term which will expire July 12, 2023. Councilmember Jolly stated that one of the opportunities that councilmembers have once they're elected is to appoint somebody to the Zoning Board of Appeals. He said Ms. Centers is currently sitting on the Zoning Board of Appeals and even though this is his first appointment, he researched and spoke to other people on the Zoning Board of Appeals as well as Petitioners who have gone before the ZBA, and has decided to reappoint Ms. Centers to continue her work on the Zoning Board of Appeals. She is a higher education professional at Madonna University and has been active also in the Livonia Jaycees and that he believes she adds a unique perspective to the ZBA and he knows she will continue her good work. He then offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. President McIntyre asked Ms. Centers if she wanted to comment. Janice Centers thanked President McIntyre and the Council and stated that she has enjoyed her first three years of her appointment and thanked everyone for their consideration and opportunity to continue to serve and not only has she enjoyed her time in learning, but has also enjoyed her time with the other Board members. President McIntyre thanked Centers for her service. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 5. REAPPOINTMENT OF JOEL TURBIAK TO THE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS: Scott Bahr, Council Vice President, re: for a three-year term which will expire on July 12, 2023. 4 Vice President Bahr thanked everyone for the opportunity to reappoint Mr. Turbiak, that they have known each other since high school and as he became more and more engaged in Livonia over the last five years of so, it has been a joy to try and find opportunities for him to get more involved. He spent some time on the Traffic Commission and then went to the Zoning Board of Appeals to fill an unfulfilled term on that Board. He stated Turbiak is very thorough with what he does, very intelligent, pays close attention to what's going on with the City and Council, and that it is his pleasure to reappoint him and that Mr. Turbiak has a young family which is really representative of the City. He then offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. Vice President Bahr then stated he does not see Mr. Turbiak in attendance on the Zoom meeting but that they had spoken and he is very happy to continue his service to the Zoning Board of Appeals. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 6. REQUEST TO AUTHORIZE PAYMENT TO ELECTION SOURCE: Office of the City Clerk, re: for preparation of test ballots and testing of all election equipment by approved State vendor for the Presidential Primary election held March 10, 2020, from budgeted funds. Susan Nash, City Clerk, presented this request to Council. She stated this is payment for a sole source provider for testing of equipment prior to the Primary. The good news is the $27,209.00 will all be refunded. This is a refunded expense as the March Primary is refunded to the City and her department is in the process right now of putting all receipts and expenditures together and that her office gets refunded for one election unless someone calls for a Special Election. President McIntyre thanked Clerk Nash for her clarification. Councilmember Toy stated it is a great privilege to offer an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 7. AWARD OF BID: Public Service Division, re: for supplying the Road Maintenance Section with hot and cold Bituminous Materials for the period May 1, 2020 through April 30, 2021. Jacob Rushlow, Superintendent of Public Service, presented this request to Council. He stated this is for the asphalt materials, both hot mix asphalt for paving as well as cold patch for road maintenance. This item is a recommendation for award of those bituminous materials, it is an annual item that has been through a competitive bid process. The bids were received on April 28th for these road maintenance materials, all of the materials with the exception of the cold patch are items that they pick up by the DPW personnel from the Vendor's plant, so the final pricing that you see in the bid packets reflects round trip mileage costs to and from 5 the Vendor's plant back to the City, so that is also factored into the equation. He stated it is their recommendation that Council proceed to accept the lowest qualified bid by Ajax Materials and Cadillac Asphalt for their low bid unit price items for the material types and prices specified in the submitted bids to supply the Public Service Division with both hot and cold bituminous materials for the period running from May 1St, 2020 through April 30th, 2021. And second, in the event that the lowest bidders for whatever reason may be unable to furnish those materials, to also authorize the second low bidders, that their bid prices be accepted as an alternate if needed. Councilmember McCullough asked Rushlow if there was any reason that Nagle didn't offer delivery service because their numbers looked pretty good and Rushlow replied that he is looking for that in the packet. McCullough went on to state because of their close location on Amrhein, it could serve almost as a satellite site to the DPW and that he was just curious as to why and Rushlow replied he does not have an explanation for why that was not put into their bid. Councilmember McCullough then offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 8. AWARD OF CONTRACT: Public Service Division, re: for sewer line chemical root control services, from budgeted funds. Jacob Rushlow, Superintendent of Public Service, presented this request to Council. He stated this is a recommendation for an award for sewer line chemicals root control services. This was a bid that was done through the open competitive public bidding process. This is a four-year contract to chemically treat the sanitary sewer lines with a foaming herbicide. This is really a proactive, preventive measure to reduce nuisance root grow that can occur in public sanitary sewers which can cause problems with the flow rate and things through the sewer. So in the end after the bids were received on April 21St, Duke's Root Control was the sole bidder that had submitted prices. Their bid prices represent an average increase of about 6% from what they had previously done for the City in the past. Just for a little bit of history, Duke's has been performing sewer root control here in the City since 2011. They have very extensive experience throughout the industry and they hold a great understanding of the City's sewer system. So just referencing their previous bid, which was 2015, and they have been holding those prices since 2015, these current prices represent about a 6% increase from the 2015 prices. So it is their recommendation that Council proceed to award a four- year contract to Duke's Root Control, with the option of a one-year contract extension to perform all work necessary to complete the root control program and authorize an expenditure from approved budgeted Water and Sewer Funds in an amount not to exceed $60,000.00 annually. 6 Councilmember White offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. Councilmember Jolly asked Rushlow if there are any concerns in the industry in regard to herbicides being used? It seems like there would be something concerning in regard to putting herbicide in the water stream that would go ultimately to our water sources. Rushlow replied that the herbicide that is used in the performance specification that is sent out is exactly what you can and cannot use, it is a very tight spec that includes the exact product that is approved through the U.S. EPA for this exact application in a sanitary sewer line. So this root foaming herbicide is only used in sanitary sewer lines, that goes, carries through the conveyance system downstream to the Wastewater Treatment Plant facility where the water is obviously treated, cleaned, and then discharged back into the Detroit River but that is also approved with the specifications by the State for discharge from the Wastewater Treatment Plant. So, to answer your question, this is not a concern because it meets the specs that are required by the U.S. EPA for this product for use in a sewer. Jolly stated he would like to do some more research in regard to just the environmental process here, so he would like this item to be placed on the Regular Agenda. Councilmember McCullough stated in looking through the packet that statistically there are 18,000 feet of sewer lines that the City treats for roots each and every year for preventive maintenance, and what the DPW does behind the scenes prevents future breaks. Councilmember Donovic asked Rushlow to shed some light on the preventive maintenance, the pipes that are identified by the DPW, are these the pipes that are say for instance from the storm drain in a commercial parking lot to the main road or are these the only lines that are along main roads. Rushlow replied these are primarily sanitary sewer lines, so not to be confused with the storm drains, this is only for wastewater so not stormwater runoff, there is no discharge directly to a stream, this is sanitary sewer lines only. Just to clarify that the way that they really identify which pipes need this work is really just through their normal preventive maintenance where they are out doing the normal routine cleaning and video inspection of sewer pipes throughout the City, they're on about a five-year cycle of cleaning, inspecting all of the sewer pipes throughout the entire City which is about 470 miles of pipe. So, that preventive maintenance of just inspecting and seeing the condition of the pipes, allows us to find some spots that we have concerns where you'll see root growth coming in through some old joints or cracks in the pipes that may not be bad enough where we need to repair the pipes, but it would be helpful to maintain a full conveyance capacity of those pipes to flow to get those roots cleaned out, so identify those bad areas with roots and 7 put them on this list and work with Duke's on which ones we're going to target each year to meet our budgetary goals and get that work done. Donovic then stated tree roots and pipes just do not mix and tree roots can span hundreds of feet through pipes and these sort of measures can save the City and taxpayers millions of dollars through the course of a lifetime because roots just tear apart pipes. He then thanked Rushlow and his department for all they do. President McIntyre then confirmed there was only one bidder on this project and Rushlow replied in the affirmative. She then asked if in past years there were multiple bidders and Rushlow replied the last time they bid this was five years ago and they did have one other bidder who attempted to provide the City with a bid, but they failed to meet the performance specification, meeting the EPA regulations from the U.S. EPA on the actual composition of the foaming herbicide to make sure that it's safe to use, that other company did not meet those specifications so their bid was deemed nonresponsive, they did not meet the spec. So, in that instance Duke was essentially the only bidder even in 2015 because that other company failed to meet their specs. In this case they were the only one that attempted to bid on this this year and they have had great experience with them in the past, they've done a great job and continue to do so hopefully in the future. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR 9. REQUEST TO AMEND COUNCIL RESOLUTION 412-19 AND AUTHORIZATION TO PURCHASE FURNITURE: Public Service Division, re: to reduce the GMP payable to DeMaria Building Company, Inc to $9,032,452.00 in order to purchase furniture for the DPW Building Project in an amount not to exceed $207,000.00, from budgeted funds. Jacob Rushlow, Superintendent of Public Service, presented this request to Council. He stated the first thing he wants to mention on this item is that they are bringing it before Council this evening as a request for a cost savings measure. Originally the purchase of the furniture that was included in the GMP had a line item of about$183,000.00 in that contractor's guaranteed maximum price, or GMP for short which is their total price to complete their scope of the project on this build-out which is to DeMaria. As the design was finalized, the GMP is created at about an 80 or 90% completion of the design plans. As we finalized the design and really start to dive deep into the work spaces, it became apparent that we need to do a few more things with some of our storage areas, bringing Engineering into this building and what we need to do with both their large plans, like mylars and things in their plat files, as well as sensitive survey equipment and how it's going to be store in some cabinetry, make sure that that is kept safe. So the adjusted furniture quote through that process, the price went up to about $196,700.00. So our team continued through this entire process, both on the furniture side as well as other aspects of the building, continued to collaborate with the Architect and the Contractor to keep costs under control, we're frequently meeting with them to and 8 the construction team to review proposals from subcontractors to look at value engineering and different alternatives. So one of those recommendations coming out of these collaboration meetings with the Contractor and the architects is to remove this furniture item from the GMP with DeMaria and making that a direct purchase with the vendor. So that does a few things for us. First, it takes out the contractor's fees or mark-ups, their contingency that goes on the entire project costs, it knocks that down a little bit, and it also saves us from having to pay sales tax which is really just a pass-through from DeMaria, in this case as a direct purchase through the City that would not apply. So overall when you add up all of those little pieces, that adds up to about $23,000.00 of savings just by switching to a direct purchase with the vendor instead of passing it through the contractor. So, ultimately the total cost of the project that was previously approved by Council, would not change at this time and no additional appropriation of funds will be needed to make this direct purchase; what we're asking the Council to do in recommending that you proceed with, is that you approve the purchase directly through the vendor, Kentwood Office Furniture, in an amount not to exceed $207,000.00, which as I stated previously the quote was $196,000.00, so we're looking to add again for other changes that may occur when we're looking in and getting into the building of what furniture may need to go where, a 5% contingency because we haven't actually built anything yet. If you've been by the site lately, we're doing earth work, land balancing is pretty much done, we're starting on foundation, but we're very early in this project so it's appropriate and standard to have a contingency on those types of purchases so that's what we're asking in an amount not to exceed $207,000.00, and secondly, would be to amend the Council Resolution #412-19, which was the GMP to DeMaria, we're reducing that amount to $9,032,452.00. Councilmember McCullough asked Rushlow if this is early enough in the process or do they actually have layouts and any kind of renderings on what they are currently looking at to get to that estimate. Rushlow replied they do, at this point they do have the pro plans done, they have taken with Kentwood and worked with them as the low bid through DeMaria, they have taken that framework of the floor plan, met with their staff, Engineering Department, their other divisions here in DPW that are going to be in that building, Administration and Water and Sewer, and looked at all of those spaces and uses and created a furniture plan. That was what was originally in the GMP, through that process, they've continued to tweak that as they dive deeper and deeper and deeper into the details, as you look at things you tend to think about more things that may apply, especially with spaces and how you're going to use them once you're in the building of course, you have experience with that. So through that process we have really gotten a really good understanding of what we are going to need for furniture and I think we're in a good spot here with what we have proposed in front of us. 9 McCullough said the reason he asked that is would it be possible, he's thinking of offering a resolution for the Regular, and the reason he asked is if there's any way to maybe get the renderings so that they can look at it in a packet, because you guys taking into consideration, he knows how tough it can be to go through space planning with all the synergies in the different divisions and departments, and now you have to add Covid-19 into it and social distancing, that he would like to put a set of eyes on it just to make sure they have shields or things like that so we're not having to reinvent the wheel and modify the space after you're done. Rushlow said they certainly can provide, those plans are available, they are public documents, but they can be provided. Councilmembers are certainly welcome to attend their team meetings that occur every other Friday where they're going into the details, if you want to join some of those meetings, they're happy to have anybody on Council that would like to attend and see how things are going and give their input in the meetings, that's more than welcome. But in the meantime, those drawings can certainly be provided. President McIntyre asked Rushlow if former Councilmember Kritzman was a part of those meetings and that team and Rushlow replied in the affirmative, that the Council had appointed two Councilmembers to be project team and that was former Councilman Brandon Kritzman and Councilwoman Cathy White is also a member of that committee. President McIntyre said they will discuss appointing another councilmember to that committee when they're offline. Councilmember Jolly asked Rushlow if he could provide a timeline for construction and completion to this project and Rushlow replied they started to break ground just before there were shutdowns put in place across the State, things really hit the brakes. They were fortunate enough that they were actually a bit ahead of scheduled when that occurred with their earth work, their contractor on the earth work did a fabulous job, so they're about a month ahead and they've been shut down for about a month and just started here again two weeks ago with the work that they were doing to finish up the earth work and prep the foundation, so they're actually right back on schedule and anticipating being in the building barring any other unforeseen situations that we're in that may impact schedules again, but we're looking pretty good to be in the building May, June of next year. Vice President Bahr said his question has been answered. Councilmember Toy responded to President McIntyre's comment about going offline to address appointing another councilmember to the committee, that Kritzman did a wonderful job in that regard and that perhaps having a person appointed from the outside might be a good idea, too, and she's sure Kritzman may still be available if no one else from the Council wants to do it because he's got a good history on that. 10 DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR 10. REQUEST TO APPROVE PURCHASES WITH SOLE SUPPLIER, EJ USA, INC. f/k/a EAST JORDAN IRON WORKS FOR A PERIOD OF ONE (1) YEAR: Public Service Division, re: for the purchase of stormwater, water main and sanitary manhole-related items in an amount not to exceed $75,000.00 annually. Jacob Rushlow, Superintendent of Public Service, presented this request to Council. He stated this item is related to purchases of water main items, sanitary sewer, storm sewer manholes, which are iron castings as well as other iron components as EJ is the premier iron foundry here in the State of Michigan, providing water main valves and our logo covers for manholes. They're manufactured here locally and provided solely by EJ. The pricing they have offered for this one-year quote is consistent with neighboring communities that they've checked with, it includes approximately depending on the item, between a 3 to 5% increase over 2019 pricing which is consistent with other neighboring communities. Their local distribution center locally is in Oak Park and they've been very responsive and always have been in meeting the City's needs as quickly as possible when we need those items. It is their recommendation that Council proceed and authorize purchases from EJ USA, Inc., for these items, not to exceed $75,000.00 annually from funds already budgeted for this purpose and waive the formal bidding process in accordance with City Ordinances since no advantage to the City would result from competitive bidding in this situation as they are a sole provider of these products. Councilmember Jolly offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. He stated if you look at the role and the title "sole source provider" that EJ has, it's actually a really neat company and really the only choice. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT There was no Audience Communication at the end of the meeting. Councilmember Toy asked residents to reach out to their elected officials regarding the funding the City of Livonia received. As there were no further questions or comments, President McIntyre adjourned the Study Session at 9:21 p.m. on Monday, May 11, 2020. For the 1,897t" Regular Meeting of May 27, 2020. DATED: May 17, 2020 SUSAN M. NASH, CITY CLERK