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HomeMy Public PortalAbout02-25-1993 BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND. INDIANA. FEBRUARY 25. 1993 1 The Board of Public Works and Safety of the City of Richmond, Indiana, met at 9 a.m. Thursday, February 25, 2 1993, in the Municipal Building in said City. Chairperson Janet Hibner presided with Dennis Grimes and Earnest 3 Jarvis in attendance.The following business was had to-wit: 4 5 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 18.1993 6 7 The minutes of the previous meeting were approved on a motion by Grimes, second by Jarvis and carried on a 8 unanimous voice vote. 9 10 CLAIMS FOR PAYMENT 11 12 Claims were submitted by the City Controller's office for $619,893.92 most of which represented payroll and 13 payroll taxes; also for $189,188.33 which included $79,662.41 payable to Richmond Power & Light for street 14 lights and electric service in City buildings and facilities; also for$66,103.70 which included $42,000 for health 15 insurance claims. Grimes moved to approve the claims, second by Jarvis and carried by a unanimous voice 16 vote. 17 18 REQUESTS 19 20 A.Jarvis brought before the Board three handicapped parking requests. The first was by Ron Davidson 21 at 1225 South 8th Street. The request was held over from the February 18 meeting in hopes that the 22 Davidsons might attend this meeting to clarify a few points about which the Board was unclear. 23 Reading a letter from the Traffic Safety Division,Jarvis noted that the Davidson van will not fit into the 24 garage at the rear of the residence. It further stated that there is a"No parking"sign at the west side of 25 the house and parking for the residence is on the south side of the house,just off the roadway but it still 26 appears to be on the city right-of-way. Jarvis said he found the situation to be confusing, especially 27 since there are presently two handicapped signs next to the house. He added that the S.W.A.C. bus 28 picks up the Davidson child each day and transports him to and from Green Acres. The bus uses the 29 parking spaces next to the house. In the report it was stated that there would be no problem for the bus 30 to stop in front or at the west side of the house in the "No parking" zone or double park on the south 31 side for the length of time it would take to load and unload the child. In conclusion, the report stated if 32 the request is granted the Board may want to consider having only one handicapped sign. Jarvis 33 recommended the removal of both the signs, second by Grimes and carried by a unanimous voice 34 vote. 35 36 The request by Lawrence Hampton was held over until the next meeting because Jarvis questioned the 37 expiration date of May 1993 for his handicapped license plate. Chairman Hibner asked the Clerk to 38 contact Hampton. A request by Marilyn Helms was accompanied by the Traffic Safety Division's report 39 which showed the residence did not meet the ordinance guidelines and carried a recommendation that 40 the request not be approved. It also stated that Helms was advised of the Traffic Safety Division's 41 recommendation and requested her appearance before the Board if she wished to explain any 42 extenuating circumstances the Board should consider. Hearing no comment from the audience,Jarvis 43 moved to deny the request,second by Grimes and carried by a unanimous voice vote. 44 45 B. Jarvis read a request by the Richmond March of Dimes WalkAmerica Committee for approval of its 46 new 10-mile route for its fund-raising effort April 24. He recommended the Traffic Safety Division check 47 the route and bring it back before the Board for action at a future meeting. 48 49 CONTRACTS 50 51 A. Chairperson Hibner read the following statement: "A new TCI Franchise Agreement went into effect 52 January 7, 1993. The City and the citizens of Richmond have operated under the new agreement for 53 less than two months. The new agreement was signed by Richmond Board of Public Works & Safety 54 as a part of the executive branch of City government, that being the Mayor, Roger Cornett. In the 55 meantime, at the special Richmond Power & Light Board of Directors meeting on Wednesday, 56 February 10, 1993,the RP& L Bord adopted a resolution asking the Board of Public Works&Safety to 57 consider looking at the TCI Franchise Agreement. The Board of Public Works & Safety also received 58 an informal request signed by each RP& L Board member dated February 16, 1993. In the spirit of the 59 resolution adopted by the RP & L Board at the February 10 meeting, the Board of Public Works & 60 Safety has asked Rich Cody, manager of TCI,to make a presentation to the Board today." 61 62 In his presentation, Cody explained that his would be a"State of the System"address. He distributed a 63 rate sheet pursuant to the Franchise Agreement. He noted that the reconfiguration and realignment will 64 take place prior to or around April 1, 1993. It requires TCI to change its channel lineup and pricing. He 65 added that a customer survey showed support for the need of a low cost basic cable service and he felt that the Congressional intent of the 1992 Cable Act was that the low cost basic cable service be offered to subscribers nationally. Board of Works Minutes Cont'd February 25, 1993 Page 2 1 He said TCI presently has 25 basic channels for $18.10, expanded basic includes six channels 2 including ESPN, and carries a price tag of an additiona; $2 per month, bringing the total charge to 3 $20.10. Cody said reconfiguration will be an entry level basic cable service plus the WCTV public 4 access channel and weather and radar channel. That will be a total of 12 channels at the lower end - 5 channels 2 through 16 will be offered at a$10 charge. The remaining channels, which are all satellite 6 channels, will be an additional $10.10, making the bottom line $20.10. He added that the number of 7 channels will remain the same. 8 9 In an update of TCI's rebuilding, Cody said the plan :s co lay 200 miles of coaxial cable and 10 approximately 30 miles of fiber optic cable. Laid to ;'at;: '; 50 miles of coaxial cable and 9 miles of 11 fiberoptic and TCI has turned on 30 miles of the syster w' i completion projected to some time in early 12 summer. 13 14 Cody read a letter addressed to Chairman Hibner, expressir;7 his disappointment that the RP&L Board 15 had rejected TCI's offer to provide Demand Side Management services using its new optical fiber 16 communications facility. (See letter in its entirely in the TCI file in the City Clerk's office.) In closing, 17 Cody told the Board that Richmond is the only city of its size selected for the early deployment of digital 18 compression thus far and TCI will be sponsoring a major community briefing in March. 19 20 In answer to Jarvis's question about areas in Richmond that do not have access to cable TV, Cody said 21 TCI is assessing these on an individual basis and it is looking at a number of areas not serviced now. 22 23 During the discussion of the issue at hand,Jarvis noted that he felt Cody had spoken to the portions of 24 the RP & L Board's request and that Cody was willing to talk.abaout the proposal. Hibner noted that 25 there had been suggestions made that the Board look at the contract and the agreement and it was her 26 feeling that for a variety of reasons this is an inappropriate'position at this time for this Board. She said 27 she felt it unwise for this Board to go any farther than to basically affirm what Cody stated.Grimes said 28 the authority of the Board of Public Works & Safety is limited'to the contract and the contract only. In 29 reviewing the contract, he said it spells out that the ity me./ require evaluation sessions during any 30 calendar year and also stipulates topics of discussio., t_rim';s said it does include the rate structure but 31 he was in agreement with Hibner that the timing of.th's ;.art'ular request is not necessarily in the best 32 interest of the City or its citizens. He added that he, , , nember of this Board, reserved the right to 33 look into it at a more appropriate time. The new Ec."eE 'ant, Grimes said, does stipulate that TCI 34 revenues be based upon 5 percent of gross rather the 3 ercent of net. It also stipulates that those 5 35 percent gross revenues would be split between the City arm WCTV for a capital investment program. 36 37 Jarvis commended the RP & L Board,saying he didn't iow exactly whether they influenced TCI in the 38 new rate structure or whether it was the U.S.Congress, he voiced his appreciation to Cody and TCI 39 for the action and noted that it was one on the things th' I D & L had requested. Chairperson Hibner 40 stated that it was the Board of Public Works&Safety's chr.r a to look at the agreement and the RP&L 41 Board members will have to make their decision based uF,it their information not in regard to what this 42 Board does. 43 . . 44 In response to Chairperson Hibner asking for commen°s from the public, Irving Huffman, General 45 Manager of RP& L,stepped to the lecturn. He commented that it was his interpretation that the RP&L 46 Board asked for more of the Board of Public Works &; Safety than just to look at and review the 47 agreement. He stated further that the Board of Public Works& Safety was asked to present the request 48 to TCI so there could be some dialogue. , 49 50 Chairperson Hibner made the following statement: 51 52 "The Richmond Board of Public Works & Safety affirms t',e .anchise Agreement effective January 7, 53 1993 and advises the RP& L Board of Directors that ': :i its report affirms its position to cooperate. 54 55 "The Board of Public Works & Safety for the best inter et f the citizens Of Richmond sees no need to 56 reopen the Franchise Agreemeent according to Sect. 3.0!.;i. -the Franchise Agreement at this time." 57 58 Grimes moved to adopt. the motion, second by Jarvis and carried by a unanimous voice, vote. 59 Chairperson Hibner directed the City Clerk to submit the-notion made by Hibner in writing to the RP&L 60 Board of Directors. 61 . 62 B. Grimes reported to the Board that requests for quotes >r the-mowing contract for the City had been 63 sent to Morris Lawn Care, Dudas Enterprises, GRF and S';ns (George Faulkenberg)and Hooks Lawn 64 Service. The only bid received was from Faulkenberg, n to was awarded:-the 1992 contract, quoting 65 $34 per hour, a$2 increase from last year.Grimes said thc,bid;which is-fora three-year period,was Board of Works Minutes Cont'd February 25, 1993 Page 3 1 reviewed by Purchasing Manager Vicki Stevens and it was her recommmendation that the Board 2 approve GRF & Sons as the only bidder. Chairman Hibner explained that prior to this year, only a 3 one-year contract had been awarded. She also clairfied that this mowing for the City is for private lots 4 and a few of the right-of-ways where there are constant problems. Beyond that,she added,the mowing 5 is done by the Park Maintenance section of the Transportation Division of the Public Works 6 Department. Grimes moved to accept the bid, second by Grimes and carried by a unanimous voice 7 vote. 8 9 C.A one year contract with Independent Benefit Plans, a third-party program for the medical insurance 10 . program, was approved through a motion by Grimes, second by Jarvis and carried by a unanimous 11 voice vote. 12 13 D. In other action the Board agreed to the City's purchase.or the Town&Country Motel located at 3643 14 East Main Street for $236,117 through a motion by !3r;nes, second by Jarvis and carried by a 15 unanimous voice vote.Grimes noted that the money t,;swoon the purchase will come out of the local 16 road and street fund and Jarvis noted that this is the first piece of property that needs to be purchased 17 to make way for the South 37th Street construction project. 18 19 UNSAFE BUILDING HEARING 20 21 A. Chairperson Hibner explained that these hearings are pursuant to I.C. 36 - 7- 9. She said the first 22 unsafe building order was issued January 21, 1993,to Scots Porter and Greg Merchanthouse in regard 23 to the property at 313 North 9th Street. The crux of the orcer she said, is to demolish the fire damaged 24 structure.The Board did receive a signed and certified response acknowledging receipt of the notice as 25 well as a telephone call from one of the owners noting their intent to demolish the building and they 26 were waiting for the insurance settlement. 27 28 Chairperson Hibner noted that the second order issued was on the same date and sent to Dean 29 ' Johnson in Dale, Texas. The Board had also received acknowledgement of receipt from that owner. 30 Inspector Chris Barker said he had inspected both structures and they met the definition of unsafe 31 building through the City's unsafe building ordinance and he recommended they be demolished. 3? Chairman Hibner recommended that the orders to demolish the properties be affirmed, second by 33 Jarvis and carried by a unanimous voice vote. 34 35 FIRE PREVENTION REPORT 36 37 Chairperson Hibner called attention to the January report of Ine •-"ire Prevention program headed by Wayne 38 Jackson of the Richmond Fire Department. In it Jackson noted•qha 232 inspections had been made during the 39 month which resulted in discovering 165 violations. A total of 118 of those were corrected. Chairperson Hibner 40 encouraged Jackson to keep up the good work, especially along the education area. She particularly mentioned 41 the programs in the schools which included the Fire In The Kitc.ien and the Fire Safety for Baby Sitters. 42 43 44 PUBLIC COMMENTS 45 46 Robert Maddox of 625 South West 17th Street stated that he wished to make some random statements about 47 the cable situation. He said he didn't think the franchise agreement is a sacred cow, adding that circumstances 48 change. He said that Grimes had made the statment that it would by detrimental and inappropriate to enter into a 49 discussion about the rates. He added that he presumes this Boaid!condones the fact that ICI made a$300,000 50 offer as he interpreted it to RP & L to stay out of the cable business. However, Maddox said this Board has to 51 approve the franchise and the funding. 52 53 ADJOURNMENT 54 55 There being no further business, on a motion duly made seconded and passed and carried on a unanimous 56 voice vote,the meeting was adjourned. 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 0.:'net Hibner, Chairperson 64 65 ATTEST: Norma Carnes,Clerk