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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-12-2002CITY OF AUBURN PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MINUTES NOVEMBER 12, 2002 I CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 4:33 p.m. Those in attendance were Mayor Lewis, Committee Chairman Rich Wagner, Council/Committee member Fred Poe, and Council/Committee member Gene Cerino. Public Works Department staff in attendance were Acting Public Works Director Dennis Dowdy, Assistant City Engineer Dennis Selle, Assistant City Engineer/Utilities Duane Huskey, Traffic Engineer Michael Fuess, Senior Project Engineer Ingrid Gaub, Project Engineer Scott Nutter, Assistant Project Engineer Brian Coleman, and Administrative Services Supervisor Pam Miller. Finance Department staff in attendance was Shelley Coleman. There were no guests in attendance. II. CONSENT A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES It was moved by Councilmember Poe, seconded by Councilmember Cerino, that the Committee approve the Public Works Committee minutes for October 28, 2002, as submitted. Motion carried. B. RIGHT-OF-WAY USE PERMIT 47-02, AUBURN AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FOR THE SANTA PARADE It was moved by Councilmember Poe, seconded by Councilmember Cerino, that the Committee approve Right-of-Way Use Permit 47-02. Motion carried. C. INITIATION OF PROJECT NO. C217A, D STREET SE STORM IMPROVEMENTS It was moved by Councilmember Poe, seconded by Councilmember Cedno, that the Committee approve initiation of Project No. C217A. Motion carried. D. FINAL PaY ESTIMATE NO. 3 TO CONTRACT NO. 02-02 WITH DAVID L. SACK CONSTRUCTION CO. INC., AND ACCEPT CONSTRUCTION OF SMALL WORKS PROJECT NO. C1011, PUMP STATION BACKFLOW PREVENTION It was moved by Councilmember Poe, seconded by Councilmember Cerino, that the Committee recommend Council approve Final Pay Estimate No. 3 and accept construction of Small Works Project No. C1011. Motion carried. III. ISSUES A. RESOLUTION NO. 3543 AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF A TURNOUT CONSTRUCTION AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF TACOMA WATER DIVISION Assistant City Engineer/Utilities Huskey told the Committee that a revised agreement will be going forward to Council for approval. He distributed copies of the revised agreement, along with a memo outlining the revisions, none of which are detrimental to Auburn. The revised agreement has been approved by City Attorney Dan Held. It was moved by Councilmember Poe, seconded by Councilmember Cerino, that the Committee recommend Council adopt Resolution No. 3543. Motion carried. PUBLIC WORKS COMMITI'EE MINUTES November 12, 2002 Page 2 of 3 IV. INFORMATION OR DISCUSSION a. OUTSIDE-OF-AREA SURCHARGES Finance Director Coleman presented a proposal to raise the outside-of-area surcharges for water and sewer services provided by the City to areas located outside of the Auburn City limits but within the County. She gave a brief history of the surcharge, which was lowered in the mid-80s from 50% to 37%, and has remained at that rate to this date. She briefly reviewed the additional costs to the City to provide these services outside of the City limits, which include the need for County inspections, the rising costs of County fees and services, increased vehicle maintenance and staff costs due to the distance City staff must travel to maintain the utilities, etc. Following discussion, Councilmember Poe asked for an accurate accounting of how much revenue would be generated and what the actual impact to the City is to provide these services. Chairman Wagner asked that staff explore the potential cost of having such an analysis performed by a consulting firm. Councilmember Poe also commented on the City's street light inventory. B. POTENTIAL REDUCTIONS iN GENERAL FUND AND 102 FUND EXPENSES Finance Director Coleman stated that this topic would be discussed at the Council budget workshop slated for Wednesday, November 13. She said that all departments have been asked to look at ways to cut expenses to the General Fund due to reduction in revenue and projected revenue growth versus estimated expenditures for 2003. City wide, the reduction target is approximately $1.2 million, with the Public Works Department's target being $138,000. Acting Public Works Director Dowdy handed out a list of potential ways that the Public Works Department could reduce expenses to the General Fund. The following strategies were discussed. Transfer of street sweeping costs to the Storm Drainage and/or Solid Waste Utility, which would rasuit in a savings to the General Fund of $207,300 per year. The Committee considered the issue and suggested possible alternatives for consideration. The Mayor suggested that perhaps the budget reductions could be considered in two tiers, with Tier One being those reductions we're certain of, and Tier Two being potential reductions to consider. Another strategy was to extend the life of City vehicles by one year, which would result in a potential annual savings of $78,948. The Police Department would generate the bulk of the savings. Concern was raised over the potential impact of this strategy on the Police Department and whether their vehicle life could possibly be extended without loss of services. Lengthy discussion was held on the need to reduce the Arterial Street Fund by $395,000 due to the revenue lost from the potential passage of Initiative 776, which would eliminate the $15 local tax from license tab fees. Finance Director Coleman stated that there will likely be a court case filed against the initiative, due to issues such as the initiative addressing more than one topic, Sound Transit bonds already being sold (bond covenants), and having the entire State vote on a tax that had been approved by a regional vote. If the initiative goes to court, the City will continue to collect taxes as PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MINUTES November 12, 2002 Page 3 of 3 authorized by current legislation until a court decision is made. The Finance Director and Mayor agreed to leave the budget as currently written. A budget amendment will be submitted at a later date, if required. The strategy for reducing the Arterial Street Fund by $395,000 is to keep all the proposed projects in the budget, but defer action on certain projects that are budgeted, in their entirety, in the Arterial Street Fund until such time as a court decision is handed down. Staff were particularly looking for policy guidance on projects slated to carry over to or commence in January of 2003. The Committee reviewed and discussed the list of projects, and came to the following consensus: C222A (S 277th Street, AWN to Green River Bridge) - defer predesign C207A (A St NW, Phase 1) - go forward with predesign C213A (Transportation Plan Update) - no change to status (is required by law and is a condition of grant funding) TIP 14 (41st St SE/A St SE Capacity Improvement) - proceed with design at this time TiP 17 (I St NE-40th to 52nd) -go forward with design work and prepare new projects to mitigate I Street completion (enables City to provide information to developers and to position the City for grant funding) TIP 20 (M St SE-37th to 29th) - go forward with predesign and feasibility study TIP 32 (Sidewalk Improvement Program) - defer TIP 35 (Pedestrian Crossing Program) - defer until an alternative source of funds can be identified TIP 36 (Street Asset Management Program) - defer C. CAPITAL PROJECT STATUS REPORT The Capital Project Status Report was discussed. V. OTHER DISCUSSION Chairman Wagner stated that he would not be able to attend the Committee meeting November 25, 2002. It was the consensus of the Committee to cancel the meeting scheduled for November 25, 2002, and gave their approval for staff to go direct to Council with the award of Project No. C1003, Bonney Lake Emergency Intertie (barring any unusual circumstances) and any other routine items of business that may arise. VI. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Public Works Committee, the meeting was adjourned at 6:41 p.m, Submitted by Pam Miller, Administrative Services Supervisor. Approved by the Public Works Committee on ~/'~/~¢~/~)~'..~¢</~ File: 17 (17.2)