June 25, 2019 - The Center City council discussed the Streetscape Project Monday, June 24, 2019 and Chad Nehring, City Manager, stated Bob Staehs, Project Manager, and White Oak Studios have worked diligently with the lone bidder to refine some of the specifications and materials to present the council with a revised cost estimate.
The only bid received was from the Fain Group, Inc. and was corrected to $4,904,320 and with alterations to date the total has been reduced by $1,035,152 to a new amount of $3,869,168.
Nehring advised the council if they were to approve the bid, to make the motion contingent on the approval of the TxDOT Municipal Use agreement and Maintenance agreement.
"We had expected that those weren't going to require additional approval. TxDOT advised us last week that before construction started they wanted a specific approval of those two agreements," said Nehring.
He said that holdup is waiting on their evaluation and recommendation on the intersections and traffic signals they should issue. Nehring was optimistic those two agreements should be available at the next council meeting to allow for construction to proceed.
"The majority of the changes were in the actual specification for the light poles not necessarily a change in quality, size or even appearance. Purely a vendor change that allowed for I'm assuming ready built and in stock fixtures as opposed to having to be custom made for this job. That was in excess of $3-hundred-some-odd-thousand in and of itself," said Nehring.
Nehring described several other material items that have changed, but should not be a reduction in quality.
Howell Howard, Councilman, asked if the traffic lights are state expense. Nehring said what was originally stated by TxDOT four years ago was the city would purchase the poles and TxDOT would install and continue to maintain the new lights. They, however, are taking a different position now and should there be poles installed, maintenance will be something TxDOT may expect the city to handle.
At this time there is still the potential the recent study will allow for the lights to be removed.
Collard asked if the beginning of the project was being pushed back each time it isn't approved at a meeting and Staehs said plans have been to start after the What-A-Melon Festival, July 15.
"It depends upon what TxDOT comes up with. We did hire a traffic engineer out of Tyler to do the study and they have completed their report. I received it today, so it will go to TxDOT tomorrow," said Staehs.
A motion carried to approve the bid with change order #1 subject to final decision by TxDOT on traffic signals.
Ballard Street soccer field electric improvements were discussed in the meeting a motion carried to White Electric with a total bid of $81,770.
It was recommended to the council to purchase two additional InCode modules for Project Accounting and Human Resources. Project Accounting could potentially allow the city to better track costs associated with large projects across multiple accounts, multiple vendors, and multiple fiscal years.
The Human Resources module could allow city staff to continue to move away from paper files, provide tools to set up alerts for when employees need evaluations or licenses expire. The total projected cost through Tyler Technologies of these modules is $15,681.
A motion carried to purchase the modules.
Because the Center Housing Authority was established under the City of Center, federal regulations allow them to request and allow the council to grant a waiver to their payment in lieu of taxes.
Under the federal system since they get grant subsidies and assistance to operate a competitive housing rental operation, they are exempt but they are required to pay in lieu of taxes what otherwise would be taxed on a private operation unless the city grants that waiver. Those dollars are supposed to be used for the improvement of the facility and dedicated for that purpose.
Randy Collard, councilman, asked if there is any oversight of how the funds are used for the facility. Nehring stated there used to be a report given every couple of years; however, there have been three different directors in the last few years.
A motion carried to approve Resolution 2019-9 - Waiver of Payment in Lieu of Taxes with the addition of discussed oversight.
The council approved the employee health insurance annual rate following discussion.
"We actually have had several years of no rate reduction and no large claims. Finally our premiums are going to catch up to some of that recent claims history," said Nehring. "We're seeing a 3% reduction in the employee part of the equation."
A motion carried to approve the employee health insurance annual rate.
David Masterson has recently been painting retaining walls in Center. The original agreed upon amount for the walls which have been completed on Hurst Street and those at Tenaha and Timpson Streets was $1,500. Masterson determined to complete the project an additional $1,500 would be necessary.
A motion carried by the council to approve the additional $1,500.
The Center Rotary Club has requested temporary road closures for their upcoming 5K run. The closures will be from 6am to 9am Saturday, July 13. Barricades will be needed on Tenaha Street and Cora Street as well as Logansport Street at Kennedy Street.
The inside lane will also need to be blocked around the square. A police officer has also been requested to direct traffic at the intersection of Logansport and Porter Street.
A motion carried to approve the proposed route as well as the requests.
The Center Police Department has requested to add Timothy Magness as a reserve officer. He graduated from East Texas Police Academy on May 31, 2019. The addition of Magness gives the police department five reserve officers.
A motion carried to approve Magness.
During the items of interest portion of the meeting following the action items, Nehring shared an alert from Keri Shofner, Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator.
Texas Department on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) contacted her about Buddin Dam on property belonging to Galal Mahesh just off Pine Street near Austin Street in Center. The TCEQ dam specialist stated the threat level of the dam breaking has been raised to high. TCEQ reported being unable to reach Mahesh and the situation has been turned over to the Texas Attorney General's office.
The main concern is for residents down river should the dam break. According to the report, from TCEQ the most recent inspection revealed seven new residences have been built downstream from the dam. Due to the risk to the seven homes the threat level was raised.
Agenda items approved during the meeting include: 1. Minutes of the June 10, 2019 meeting. 2. Ordinance 2019-08 - 401 MLK Dr (SCAD ID 20876). 3. Ordinance 2019-10 - 521 Shelbyville St (SCAD ID 20405) 4. Resolution 2019-8 Adopting Budget Calendar for FY 2020 5. Resolution 2019-9 - Waiver of Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) 6. Bid for Streetscape Project with change order #1 subject to final decision by TxDOT on traffic signals. 7. Surplus equipment bids awarded. 8. Ballard Street soccer field electric improvements with a total bid of $81,770. 9. Contract for Parks Master Plan Update. 10. Human Resources and Project Accounting modules through Tyler Technologies at a cost of $15,681. 11. Employee health insurance annual rate. 12. Additional $1,500 to be paid to David Masterson for retaining wall murals. 13. What-A-Melon Crawl 5K route and barricades. 14. Addition of Timothy Magness as a reserve officer with the Center Police Department. 15. Adjournment.
