HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-23-2009MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY
OF THE CITY OF JEFFERSONVILLE; INDIANA
December 23rd, 2009
Mayor Galligan called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. and on call of the roll those members
present were: City Engineer Bob Miller and Councilperson Barbara Wilson.
Also present were: City Attorney Darren Wilder; Corporal Todd Wilson; Vehicle
Maintenance Director Mike Drury; Building Commissioner Russ Segraves; Building Code
Enforcement Officer Connie Sellers, Sewer Dept. Bill Mattingly; Fire Chief Tony Harrod;
Assistant Fire Chief Tony Decker; Street Commissioner David Hosea; Parks Director Bob
Manor; Communications Director Larry Thomas; Animal Shelter Director Harry Wilder;
City Growth Coordinator Rick Lovan; Sewer Department Bruce Wright; Utility Directory
Len Ashack; Personal Director Kim Calabro; Redevelopment Director Jim Urban; Assistant
Planning & Zoning Director, Brian Fogel, and Administrative Assistant Laura Boone.
Engineer Bob Miller made the motion to approve the payroll as presented, second by
Councilperson Wilson and carried unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS
CHARLESTOWN PIKE SIDEWALK PHASE III:
Josh Hillman spoke regarding opening bids for the Charlestown Pike Sidewalk Phase III
project at the last Board of Public Works Meeting. A copy of the bid tabulations was given
to all Board Members. The lowest bid was from TSI Paving for $210,375.00. He reviewed
their bid and found it to be acceptable. He come today to ask the Board to award this project
to them so they could move forward. Bob Miller made the motion to approve, second by
Councilperson Wilson. Mayor Galligan asked if there was any discussion and the Mayor
said yes, and asked, "Is this a prevailing wage job?" Mr. Hillman said yes. The Mayor then
asked if they would receive certified payroll and Mr. Hillman they would receive certified
payroll from them on a weekly or a monthly basis. The Mayor asked if the city was going to
have someone go out and check this. Mr. Hillman said either they could do labor interviews
or if the city has someone they could do them. Either way Mr. Hillman said they would make
sure this happens. The motion was then voted on and carried unanimously.
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NEW BUSINESS
108 WILLIAMS STREET:
Connie Sellers, Code Enforcement Officer, asked if there was anyone there for 108 Williams
Street. No one came forward. She said the Building Commissioner's Office sent Wendy
Chandler, the owner of this property, a notice of unsafe building. Ms. Sellers said she has
been dealing with this property for over a year. The first time they had a volunteer
organization clean up the property since Ms. Chandler was very ill. Then in November her
brother, Robert Vest, moved into the property which has no electricity, running water or
sewer. They received a complaint that someone had thrown garbage out back, shown in
picture 1. The city cleaned the mess and then placed a lien against the property. Mr. Vest
said he would throw more garbage out since the city would come and clean it up. Ms. Sellers
tried unsuccessfully to contact Ms. Chandler. She called her relatives and tried an e-mail
address someone had given to her, but was never able to contact Ms. Chandler. She was
finally able to contact a friend Ed, who said they would try to work on the home and would
be at the meeting today to present a list of everything they were going to do to save the
home. Ms. Chandler nor Ed showed up at the meeting. The second and subsequent pictures
show the inside of the trailer that sits back on the property; it is a total shambles and
definitely has to be removed from the property. There are tires that have been put under the
house, as shown on the last picture, and there is no telling how many tires may be there,
possibly hundreds. Her recommendation is this house should be condemned. They had been
asked to board up the windows and this hasn't been done, and cats were going in and out of
the windows. She recommends since the house has been vacant for years to tear both down.
Councilperson Wilson made the motion to tear down all structures on the property at 108
Williams Street fifteen (15) days after the letter informing them to remove any personal
belongings is sent out, with a lien placed on the property, second by Engineer Bob Miller and
carried unanimously.
MAVERICK INSURANCE:
Pepper Cooper, Maverick Insurance, said they met with the Insurance Committee regarding
the wellness and fitness program they are proposing. They asked a lot of good questions, and
Maverick will answer some more questions of the committee and come back next week to
answer them.
PARADE REQUEST:
Margaret Shea said she is the representative for Martin Luther King Holiday Committee, and
asked for a parade permit for Monday, January 18th, 2010. They would like the parade to
start at 12:30 pm at the County Building on Court Avenue, and follow the route outlined by
the Jeffersonville City Police to Wall Street United Methodist Church at 240 Wall Street.
She said they would also like the Jeffersonville Fire Department to participate. The Mayor
said they would give them from 12:00 to 1:30 pm. Engineer Bob Miller made the motion to
approve the parade permit, second by Councilperson Wilson and carried unanimously.
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BIG FOUR BRIDGE SCOPE OF SERVICES CONTRACT:
Brian Fogel, Planning and Zoning, said they are asking the Board of Public Works to
authorize the Mayor to sign the next contract with HNTB for design work on the Big Four
Bridge ramp project. The proposal is to have a full set of construction plans, bid ready
documents at INDOT Federal Highway Works Administration Standards in nine months. All
documentation including the environmental study and the Corps of Engineers permits are
necessary to hopefully receive federal transportation dollars to actually pay for the
construction of the ramp. The first phase shows they went through a community process,
design process, surveying and environmental work which are requirements to get 80%
reimbursement from INDOT for transportation enhancement. Engineer Bob Miller made the
motion to approve the Big Four Bridge Scope of Services contract with HNTB, second by
Councilperson Wilson and carried unanimously.
RAILROAD CROSSING PETITION:
Aaron Sutherland said they are requesting permission to submit the petition for the Railroad
crossing establishment for the Main Street extension. This is the first step in getting the
railroad crossing approved. There are no application fees; they just need permission to
submit the petition to INDOT. Councilperson Wilson made the motion to approve the
railroad crossing petition, second by Engineer Miller and carried unanimously.
HUMANA INSURANCE:
A representative from, Humana, said first of all they acknowledged they were told late last
week that the City is changing their insurance to another carrier. They wanted the city to
know they are disappointed, that they have been the carrier for almost continuously for over
10 years. They appreciate the business and said they've had a great relationship throughout
this period of time. One thing he wanted them to understand was that Humana had a
discount guarantee that had been proposed and don't know that has been appropriately
looked at. They feel very strongly that their discount is better than or at least as good as any
other carrier in this area. In the worst case scenario it is true the city would be saving some
money, but if they came in at a less than worst case scenario that is going to have a stronger
claims savings for the city than what they might get with the new carrier. He said they do
value the business and want to make sure they're doing the right things for the city
employees and the city in general and they're not sure whether that's getting through to
everyone. The Mayor asked them if there some significant increases in fixed costs and
originally they were going up 27%, and came back down to 17%. The representative said
they came back to 16.37%. The Mayor said they are all price conscious, don't want to save
it on the front end and spend it on the back. Mr. Cooper said they were looking at $265,000
in fixed cost before a claim was ever filed. The maximum cost was $338,000. He said they
sent out for quotes and look for the lowest and best quotes. He said that is what he
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recommended and that's what the Board of Public works voted on. Humana said they do
have a discount advantage over the new carrier and could amount to significant amounts of
money if they do not max out there is a good chance they could be paying more. Mr. Cooper
said they will monitor the discounts and make sure they made the right decision for the next
12 months. The Mayor said they look at the overall claims but if you start out $354,000
lower it is hard to justify that, it is something you can't see until you get through. This is the
public and they don't always get all the information, and it is a tough selling point to pay this
much up front. The Mayor said he thinks the costs are going to be about the same, but with
the information they've got, that's the way the city has to go with.
There being no further discussion to come before the Board; Engineer Miller made the
motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:00 a.m., second by Councilperson Wilson and carried
unanimously.
ATTEST:
CLE REASURER
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