HomeMy Public PortalAbout03-27-1997 BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY OF THE
CITY OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, MARCH 27, 1997
1 The Board of Public Works and Safety of the City of Richmond, Indiana, met at 5 p.m. Thursday, March 27,
2 1997, in the Municipal Building in said City. President Robert Goodwin presided with Robin Henry and Assistant
3 City Attorney Steve Rabe in attendance. Bruce Metzger was absent.The following business was had to-wit:
4
5 CLAIMS FOR PAYMENT
6
7 Claims for payment submitted by the City Controller's office were read by Henry who noted they totaled
8 $620,181.64 and moved to approve,second by President Goodwin and carried on a unanimous voice vote.
9
10 APPROVAL OF MINUTES
11
12 The minutes for March 13 and March 20 were approved on a motion by Henry and a second by President
13 Goodwin and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote.
14
15 PRESENTATION BY THE RICHMOND ELKS CLUB
16
17 Eugene Greene introduced George Canfield, president of the Elks Lodge, to present a check for $1,000 on
18 behalf of the lodge to the Richmond Police Department's D.A.R.E.program. In accepting the check, Lt.Tom Cox
19 said the program depends on these donations to help keep it going and expressed his appreciation for the
20 donation.
21
22 NEW BUSINESS
23
24 A. City Attorney Bob Bever requested the Board to authorize him to contact the Richmond Hotel
25 Limited Inc. which is a partnership owning the Clarion-Leland Hotel, to negotiate a trade. He explained
26 that the City currently owns a strip of ground in the middle of the Leland parking lot which is
27 approximately 55 feet wide and would like to trade that ground to the Leland for 38 foot at the north of
28 the hotel's parking lot near the Republican Headquarters building to allow for the extension of the drive
29 going between South 9th and South 10th Street as part of the downtown redevelopment. Henry moved
30 to authorize Bever to negotiate the trade, second by President Goodwin and the motion was carried on
31 a unanimous voice vote. President Goodwin pointed out that this will be in the form of Resolution No.5
32 -1997 when Bever puts it in writing.
33
34 B. Giving some background on the following request, Bever said the City has benefitted from the
35 Wayne County Insurance Service which is an Indiana partnership made up of many of the local
36 independent insurance agents who have helped the City in solicitation of bids and quotes for the City's
37 casualty insurance needs. He said this year's insurance policy is expiring April 1, adding that in the past
38 few years this has been done without formal Board of Works action, but, the Mayor, in his desire to
39 keep things as open as possible so the public is aware of what is going on, asked Bever to meet with
40 representatives of the Wayne County Insurance Service and come up with an agreement that sets forth
41 in writing what has already been done.
42
43 Bever read through the agreement, pointing out that the availability of such liability and casualty
44 insurance for municipalities is limited and certainly the City needs all the help it can get for agents to
45 utilize what is the best deal in the market. He said this agreement would allow the service to look at
46 what the City's needs are and develop specifications for those needs, solicit the bids and quotes and
47 present them to the Board of Works. He said because this is a professional service it does not legally
48 need to be solicited through any kind of formal bid procedure and the City wants open and competitive
49 bidding and what is proposed by this agreement is to have the service delegated to secure the best
50 bids and quotes. He said Bill Niersbach, Roland Cutter and Russ Turner are here representing the
51 service and to answer any questions. President Goodwin said in meeting with the representatives
52 earlier in the day he learned there are a lot of companies that do not write City business insurance and
53 he called it a valuable service. Henry moved to accept the agreement, second by President Goodwin
54 and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote.
55
56 Bever submitted a package that is through the United States Fidelity and Guarantee Co. for this year's
57 insurance coverage. He said he was happy to report that last year's permium for coverages has been
58 reduced because of the lack of claims and due to the active safety committee in the City as well as
59 other efforts of the administration. Bever said the cost in 1996 was $591,630 but is reduced to
60 $496,943 in 1997, which is a savings of$94,687. He asked the Board to approve the package.Turner
61 stated that he has seen a lot of good things out of the City as far as loss control and the ongoing
62 activities of the safety committee and that has made a big impact on what is being done here. He
63 added that because of that, and if it continues, he can see additional savings to the City in the future.
64 Henry moved to approve the package, second by President Goodwin and the motion was carried on a
65 unanimous voice vote.
Board of Works Minutes Cont'd
March 27, 1997
Page 2
1 C. City Engineer Bob Wiwi brought before the Board a supplemental agreement between the City and
2 Butler, Fairman & Seufert, the firm which has been contracted to provide the inspection of the 20th
3 Century Bridge project. He said the original agreement was dated July 10, 1995 and since that time the
4 project, during the process of construction, has had some additional work added to it at a substantial
5 cost of approximately $300,000. As a result of that, this firm is asking the Board to approve some
6 additional funding for construction inspection.
7
8 Wiwi said they are required to be on the job site to monitor the activities of the contractor, keep a daily
9 log and provide the City reports on this project. He said the major add-ons have been the river span
10 structure itself and he has contacted the Wayne County Highway engineer because there is an
11 interlocal agreement between the City and County on the local share of this project. He said the
12 engineering frim has agreed to do the additional work which calls for an estimated additional
13 expenditure of $30,000 of inspection time at the project site. Wiwi asked the Board to approve the
14 Supplemental Agreement No. 1. Henry so moved, second by President Goodwin and the motion was
15 carried on a unanimous voice vote.
16
17 D. Change Order No. 9 for the 20th Century Bridge was brought before the Board by Wiwi who said this
18 is for additional work being done on the bridge itself which includes curbs and sidewalk and work
19 primarily on the deck which was discovered to be in worse shape than what was considered initially. He
20 said the work would be 80 and 20 percent, with the 20 percent being local funding.Wiwi added that this
21 is on the bridge structure itself and in the local agreement the County is reponsible for that local share.
22 Wiwi said the cost is $68,060.77. Henry moved to approve the change order, second by President
23 Goodwin and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote.
24
25 E. President Goodwin read the first quote received for the tree removal on the Promenade, stating it
26 was from Brower's Gaar Nurseries for$24,714, listing all the trees to be removed with an individual cost
27 for each. Henry read the second quote which was from NuWay Tree Removing Inc. of Fisher's for
28 $5,850, and it also had a lost of trees with individual pricing. President Goodwin asked Wiwi how soon
29 he needed action on this and Wiwi responded that he expected the work to be done in April. President
30 31
Goodwin stated that the bids would be taken under advisement to give Wiwi and Purchasing Manager
Vicki Steven an opportunity to review them.
32
33 REQUESTS
34
35 A. Captain John Farmer of the Traffic Safety Division brought before the Board a request from Cabinet
36 Top at 1700 North West 11th Street which had been reviewed by all the required City departments with
37 only the Engineering Department stating certain conditions. Henry moved to approve the request
38 contingent upon the conditions outlined by the Engineering Department, second by President Goodwin
39 and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote.
40
41 B. Fire Chief Mike Allen recommended Charles Schroeder be promoted to the rank of Engineer in the
42 Richmond Fire Department, effective March 9, 1997;and Robert Muse to the rank of Engineer effective
43 March 26, 1997; and Tim Clark to the rank of Lieutenant effective March 16. He said all had served
44 their probationary periods and met the requirements for permanent status. Henry moved to approve the
45 recommendation, second by President Goodwin and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice
46 vote.
47
48 C. Chief Allen also requested that Steve Brown be promoted to Firefighter First Class, having met the
49 requirements as a probationary firefighter except for the completion of the E.M.T. Class. He
50 recommended the promotion on the condition Brown successfully completes the certification for the
51 state Emergency Medical Technician status. He said this action by the Board will enable Brown to
52 receive the benefits of a Firefighter First Class. Henry moved to approve the request, second by
53 President Goodwin and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote.
54
55 D. Giving the background on the maintenance agreement with A.R.M.S., Chief Allen said the company
56 is located in Sidney, Ohio and is very qualified. He noted the service will do a number of things which
57 include the benefit of having a certified technician to stay on top of problems with the equipment. Chief
58 Allen said eventually this will be a cost savings to the community and is a big safety aspect, adding that
59 all the work will be done in the No.4 Firehouse which means they will use the local facility but use their
60 tools. Chief Allen introduced Mark Vanderheuvel, a representative of the company, who explained all
61 the aspects of the service. Chief Allen said he will provide a certificate of insurance before the Board
62 formally signs the contract. Henry moved to approve the agreement contingent upon signing the
63 certificate of insurance, second by President Goodwin and the motion was carried on a unanimous
64 voice vote.
65
Board of Works Minutes Cont'd
March 27, 1997
Page 3
1 E. Chief Allen also asked the Board's approval of an application form and process for employment as a
2 firefighter as well as the approval of a handbook. He explained that the handbook is something new for
3 the Fire Department and encompasses the application procedures, noting what is expected of the
4 applicant and provides an overview of the department which will be useful to the applicants.
5
6 Chief Allen also stated that it is time to review the order of the process, noting some changes have
7 been made and as time continues it will be updated and upgraded as to the way selections are made.
8 Explaining the process, he said the advertisement in the newspaper comes first, informing the
9 applicants that they can pick up their application form in the City's Human Resources Department on
10 specific dates, giving the deadline for applications. That is followed, he said, by the screening of the
11 applications to make sure they are complete and the applicants are notified of the orientation to make
12 sure everyone understands the process and knows what to bring with them for the agility tests which
13 take place in the City's Parking Garage. He stated there are seven different time tests which have been
14 developed through the Institute of Public Safety out of Indianapolis.
15
16 Written exams follow the agility testing after which the top 30 applicants will be selected, Chief Allen
17 said, adding that what follows are oral interviews and the combined score from both will give the
18 department the top 15 who will be placed on the list in the order_in which they finished which will be
19 good for two years or until the list is exhausted and a new process is started. However, Chief Allen said,
20 there are a number of steps after that which include a background investigation and physical and
21 psychological examinations. Chief Allen said many of those requirements he has explained are
22 because of the state pension system and to get the best applicants they can get. Henry thanked Chief
23 Allen for his cooperation in helping review the process and Chief Allen responded that the department
24 is continually trying to upgrade the process. Henry moved to approve the handbook and application
25 form and process for employment of a firefighter, second by President Goodwin and the motion was
26 carried on a unanimous voice vote.
27
28 F. The Board approved a testing agreement with the Institute for Public Safety Personnel upon a
29 request by Chief Allen with Assistant City Attorney Steve Rabe noting he had reviewed it and had made
30 some minor changes and recommended its approval. Captain Farmer said the Police Department also
31 uses this company and has for the past several years. Henry moved to approve the agreement,second
32 by President Goodwin and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote.
33
34 ADJOURNMENT
35
36 There being no further business, on a motion duly made seconded and passed and carried on a unanimous
37 voice vote,the meeting was adjourned.
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45 Robert Goodwin, President
46
47
48
49
50 ATTEST:
51 Norma Schroeder, Clerk
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63 •
64
65