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Ashland City Council
MINUTES FOR THE REGULAR SESSION OF COUNCIL
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Council President Paul Wertz called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Ward 2: Robert M. Valentine Present
Ward 3: Ruth Detrow Present
Ward 4/President Paul Wertz Present
At-large: Stephen L. Stuart Present
Ward 1: Robert L. Valentine Present
.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
PRESENTATION OF MINUTES
(a) Regular Session 7/7/09;
(b) Special Session 7/10/09
No Corrections or Comments
Motion to accept the Minutes of 7/7/09 by Paul Wertz, approved by Robert L. Valentine W1, seconded by Robert M. Valentine W2.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine W2, Ruth Detrow, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1.
Motion to accept the Minutes of 7/10/09 by Paul Wertz, approved by Robert L. Valentine W1, seconded by Paul Wertz.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine W2, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1.
Abstain: Ruth Detrow
LEGISLATION
Ordinances
Ord. 56-09
Item (a) AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT
FOR THE PURCHASE OF EQUIPMENT FOR THE STREET DIVISION OF THE CITY OF
ASHLAND,
OHIO; OBVIATING FORMAL ADVERTISING AND BIDDING; AND DECLARING AN
EMERGENCY.
(bed, plow, spreader)
Moved
for non-reading in full by Robert M. Valentine W2, seconded by Robert
L. Valentine W1 to invoke Section 113.01 of the Codified Ordinances as
the distribution of this Ordinance has satisfied the requirements of
said Section and that a further reading be dispensed with at this time.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine W2, Ruth Detrow, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1.
Questions or comments?
Jerry
Mack: This Legislation, if passed, earlier this year we passed
Legislation to buy a new truck and I do have that. This is for
all the equipment for the truck; the bed, the snowplow, the hydraulics;
everything pertinent to making it into a piece of snow equipment.
If passed, that would allow us to purchase that. Everything on
this is under State bid. I did get two different State bid prices
from the local agencies that we have, which is in Galion. So I
got one from Gledhill and also from Newell equipment. Newell was
about $4500 dollars cheaper under the State bid program. But this
is State bid pricing on that which we have it under trying to allow us
to do it without bidding.
Robert L. Valentine W1: Just a question for my information, this comes out of; is it 202 or 502, Street?
Jerry Mack: 202.
Robert L. Valentine W1: The balance we have in there, as of 6/30/09 was $1,131,000.00; does that include your salaries?
Jerry Mack: Yes.
Stephen Stuart: In the Ordinance, the account number is wrong.
Jerry Mack: The account number should be right.
Stephen Stuart: No. It should be the same. It is 1001.
Jerry Mack: It should be 1001.
Paul Wertz: The second one is right.
Comments or questions?
Motion to pass Ordinance on first Reading by Paul Wertz, moved by Robert L. Valentine W1, seconded by Robert M. Valentine W2.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine W2, Ruth Detrow, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1.
Move to suspend the rules, 3 separate meetings, 3 separate nights by Ruth Detrow, seconded by Robert L. Valentine W1.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine W2, Ruth Detrow, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1
Move the Ordinance be passed by Stephen Stuart, seconded by Robert L. Valentine W1.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine W2, Ruth Detrow, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1
Ord. 57-09
Item (b) AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT
FOR THE PURCHASE OF EQUIPMENT FOR THE STREET DIVISION OF THE CITY OF
ASHLAND,
OHIO; OBVIATING FORMAL ADVERTISING AND BIDDING; AND DECLARING AN
EMERGENCY.
(Caterpillar CB22).
Moved
for non-reading in full by Robert M. Valentine W2, seconded by Robert
L. Valentine W1, to invoke Section 113.01 of the Codified Ordinances as
the distribution of this Ordinance has satisfied the requirements of
said Section and that a further reading be dispensed with at this time.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine W2, Ruth Detrow, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1
Comments or questions.
Jerry
Mack: This Ordinance, if passed, would allow the Street
Department to purchase a new Roller. The current roller we have
is a 1993 Diamondback. They have come up with a lot of
improvements since then, compaction and so on. When we are doing
asphalt work, if we can’t get compaction, you’re in trouble. The
one we have, we have used for several years and we do have another one
besides this one, which is up for auction. It is a 1983 one with
a clutch; I don’t know Bob; if you have ever used a clutch type
one. That is basically what this one is replacing.
This unit is 1,000 lbs heavier. It is definitely going to do a
better job for us. It has a 10” wider drum and vibration on both
drums. That is one thing we use a lot is vibration when we are doing
this because; if we have a large roller like Sarver’s, it would be
great. But we have no way to transport it, you need a
lowboy. This roller is the biggest thing we can buy that we can
actually transport. Our old roller turned with the front like a
car. The front end turned. This one actually bends in the
middle. When rolling patches, and you start turning that wheel on
a patch, it will leave a gouge in it. This will work around it
and work a lot better with our patches. We seem to be getting
into more and more paving. Of course we have a lot of patches to
do. Alley work, we have been doing our own alleys. We
haven’t done alleys for several years. We are trying to do it our
self. It would be a definite benefit for things like that.
Doing alleys with a wider roller. It is a little bit larger
around. This particular unit has a diesel engine, which by
today’s standard is a lot better. Our old one has low Koehler gas
engine. It works fine, but it just doesn’t do the job that we
need anymore. It will be a definite asset for us and it is
something we need. Our other one is 18 years old now and it
is just not quite up to what today’s standards are.
Can we improve efficiency with it? I think we probably can.
This particular roller, I have gotten 5 different prices on it.
Caterpillar has state bid pricing. The Caterpillar was not the
cheapest but they have more options or more standard features on it
than the one that was $200 dollars cheaper. So price wise I
believe it is actually the cheapest we can look at, at this
point. They have a real good state program and it came in at a
real good price.
Questions or discussion?
Move the Ordinance be passed by Robert L. Valentine on the first reading, seconded by Stephen Stuart.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine W2, Ruth Detrow, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1
Move to suspend the rules, 3 separate meetings, 3 separate nights by Ruth Detrow, seconded by Robert L. Valentine W1.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine W2, Ruth Detrow, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1
Move the Ordinance be passed by Stephen Stuart, seconded by Ruth Detrow.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine W2, Ruth Detrow, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1
Ord. 58-09
Item (c) AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE MAYOR, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SER-
VICE, TO ENTER INTO A MODIFICATION OF THE 2009 STREET RESURFACING
PROJECT-
SARVER PAVING COMPANY CONTRACT AUTHORIZED BY ORDINANCE NO. 41-09; AND
DE-
CLARING AN EMERGENCY.
.
Moved
for non-reading in full by Robert M. Valentine W2, seconded by Robert
L. Valentine W1, to invoke Section 113.01 of the Codified Ordinances as
the distribution of this Ordinance has satisfied the requirements of
said Section and that a further reading be dispensed with at this time.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine W2, Ruth Detrow, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1
Comments:
Shane
Kremser: The reason for the change order is; once the project was
under way on Union Street, the expenses of the rehabilitation were
modified based on recommendations by the contractors and additional
field visits that we did. That would be the contract overrun that
is listed here. $13, 529.00 dollars. Over on Eastbrook, when the
milling was done, we actually went down two inches this time where we
usually go down 1-½ inches. On Eastbrook we found out that the
concrete base was in very bad condition; so that had to be replaced,
stabilized and with an asphalt overlay, you need to have a proper base,
otherwise it settles and you won’t have good compaction. That was
the reason for that $8,639.00 overrun plus $425. Then on
Washington Street, we actually added that to the scope of the
project. We didn’t do a milling; we just overlaid. We were
careful with the curb and we just added that to the scope. We
felt that was something that should have been included.
Stephen Stuart: Shane, help me with the first one; the $13,529.00 and what happened there?
Shane
Kremser: Well on Union Street, we actually went a little further
than we were going to initially when we went out for bid. Our
quantities were different so that was the additional cost associated
with this based on the quantities for what we actually did in the
project.
Larry Paxton: We went around the corner
too before originally we were going to stop before the curb and we went
around the curb and squared it up so the future paving program would
have a starting point to go to. That added asphalt to the job
that wasn’t anticipated. We essentially paved the whole
intersection down there at the end of Union.
Robert L. Valentine
W1: One account is 204. How do we determine which account;
for instance that is the State Highway account right? 204 and we
have $150,000.00 in there. How do we determine which account we
take out of?
Larry Paxton: The County Permissive Tax, Bob,
is the 206. I think the County appropriated $100,000.00 dollars in
that. That fund will gain revenue throughout the year but at this
point, we only appropriated what the County had in the fund itself. In
204, which is the State Highway; you look in the appropriation, we had
trouble getting with that schedule for that fund. We didn’t want
to over-appropriate that fund and then have to make up two debt
payments. That pays for the 250 SID loan for 250 north and then
208 which is the City Permissive Tax. That gives all of that
fund; it will be replenished on a monthly basis but in an effort to not
drive anything too short and also working with an unknown variable as
far as the debt for the SID Loan we didn’t appropriate all the money in
that fund.
Robert L. Valentine W1: Of course I drive by
there all the time. I notice so much time you have to take on
that. Because the city workers were there for days and days.
Shane Kremser: The concrete base was really deteriorating.
Robert M. Valentine W2: Don’t they normally core before they do a job to find out what shape its in?
Shane Kremser: Yes. You can. I think a lot of the streets here are just an asphalt overlay with a brick road.
Robert
M. Valentine W2: Smith Road and some of the ones that were new
back in the 60’s. Those are the ones you have to look out for.
Shane
Kremser: A lot of times these paving projects, they can get out of hand
real quick and that is where we want to make sure that we do what we
can to get an estimate as close as we can, but sometimes when you get
down there…
Robert M. Valentine W2: We do change orders. Extra work change orders. So it is no different.
Stephen Stuart: This work is already performed, isn’t it?
Robert M. Valentine W2: Right.
Richard
P. Wolfe II: We need to approve the change order. And addressing
the issue of change orders; Change orders are things that were not
necessarily anticipated; conditions, circumstances. Shane has done a
good job of explaining the rationale and you get into something, you
make estimates, you do the best you can. Sometimes you hit it
pretty close, sometimes you miss it a little bit, but I don’t think
this is out of line by any means.
Stephen
Stuart: I submitted change orders to Boards that had the
authority to approve them for over 20 years. Never did I submit
one after the fact.
Richard P. Wolfe II: This is required to
approve them. It is sort of a ratification of what’s been
done. We went through this several years ago where we had to look
at how we were handling the change order process and this is according
to proper procedure.
Robert M. Valentine W2: You have to use it to figure out how much you really need to use.
Mayor
Stewart: I guess I would ask in these particular cases to get an
approval midway into a project if this Council wants to meet at the
drop of a hat; we can do that. But it is totally impractical to submit
change orders of this nature when a job, in some cases, is two or three
days long. Eastbrook was different than that.
Richard P.
Wolfe II: I didn’t mean to misspeak, you should approve them in
advance if you have the opportunity; if you know that you are going to
need to do something additional, but sometimes they are in the middle
of a project and you are there, you have the equipment there, people
are there and something happens that is totally unexpected and you have
to react to it. I am not saying that is necessarily, totally the
case here but sometimes you have to react after the fact. In a
perfect world, we would approve them all in advance. That doesn’t
always happen that way.
Robert M. Valentine W2: I was just saying that is the way contractors make extra money by change orders.
Richard
P. Wolfe II: Well you have to watch that. You can sometimes
have contractors that plan for change orders and we have to be careful
that we watch that. I would think that most of the change orders
that we are bringing are things that we needed done or wanted done
because we felt they were necessary and appropriate and we have to rely
on our people.
Robert M. Valentine W2: It is a whole
different thing when you have 80 jobs running and then you have two or
three. It is good checks and balances.
Richard P. Wolfe II: Your point is well taken Mr. Stuart. I understand what you are saying.
Questions or comments?
Move the Ordinance be passed on the first reading by Robert M. Valentine W2, seconded by Robert L. Valentine W1.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine W2, Ruth Detrow, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1
Move to suspend the rules, 3 separate meetings, 3 separate nights by Paul Wertz, seconded by Robert L. Valentine W1.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine W2, Ruth Detrow, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1
Move the Ordinance be passed by Ruth Detrow, seconded by Robert L. Valentine W1.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine W2, Ruth Detrow, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1
Ord. 59-09
Item (d) AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE MAYOR, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SER-
VICE TO ADVERTISE FOR BIDS AND TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT FOR THE
WASTEWATER
TREATMENT PLANT ELECTRICAL IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT; AND DECLARING AN EMER-
GENCY.
Moved
for non-reading in full by Robert M. Valentine W2, seconded by Ruth
Detrow to invoke Section 113.01 of the Codified Ordinances as the
distribution of this Ordinance has satisfied the requirements of said
Section and that a further reading be dispensed with at this time.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine W2, Ruth Detrow, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1
Mike
Hunter: This Council previously approved the Engineering for this
project and now this comes before Council for bids. This is the
VFD modifications that we spoke of in May. We are now ready to
bid the project. The budget is at $95,000.00 dollars and that
does represent about a 12% contingency. I requested that
specifically because of the fact that we are looking at different
modifications.
Comments?
Mayor Stewart: Mike, you might want to explain what a VFD is.
Mike
Hunter: A VFD is a variable speed drive. It allows us to
dial in the speed of a particular motor. It is more efficient.
Instead of having when that pump comes on and you are kicked with that
electrical spike; this absorbs that and allows the pump to ramp up to a
certain speed or ramp down. So it is a smoother operation, better
for the pump; it is certainly more efficient when it comes to
electrical use.
Move the Ordinance be passed on the first reading by Ruth Detrow, seconded by Robert M. Valentine W2.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine W2, Ruth Detrow, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1
Move to suspend the rules, 3 separate meetings, 3 separate nights by Paul Wertz, seconded by Robert L. Valentine W1.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine W2, Ruth Detrow, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1
Move the Ordinance be passed by Robert L. Valentine W1, seconded by Robert M. Valentine W2.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine W2, Ruth Detrow, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1
WARD REPORTS:
Councilman at Large: Stephen Stuart
No report.
Ward 2: Robert M. Valentine
(a)
I received a letter. Rick remember when we went around
about barking dogs on Walnut. Remember Akers? In the Alley?
Richard P. Wolfe II: Yes.
Robert M. Valentine W2: Did you get the letter from the citizen?
Richard P. Wolfe II: No.
Robert
M. Valentine W2: I received a new letter, dated
7/13/09. She has ten dogs up there and she is never home and they
are barking constantly.
Richard P. Wolfe II: She
might not be home because she is in jail. We prosecuted
this person a number of times. We have done everything
possible. The Humane Society has been up there. I haven’t
seen the most recent letter.
Robert M. Valentine W2: Well then
Einingers, they are the people that contacted me last year and then
Akers and everybody. It is in the pipeline; it is not like we are
not doing anything.
Richard P. Wolfe II: It is an ongoing problem and we will deal with it on an ongoing basis.
Robert M. Valentine W2: I don’t know what to tell this guy; he got in on it after the fact.
Richard P. Wolfe II: I have talked to a number of neighbors up there. Give me a copy of the letter.
Robert M. Valentine W2: I will give you the letter. I have it at home.
Ward 1: Robert L. Valentine:
No report.
Ward 3: Ruth Detrow:
(a)
The only thing is one person complaining/asking about places
where the Street Dept. has dug out sewer type things and put a metal
plate over it and it has been there for quite a while. I figured
you would take care of them all at once. Along Claremont there
are some and I imagine other places. Is that the reason they are
sitting there and nothing is happening?
Jerry Mack:
No, we have two right now on Claremont, where they are done. But
we don’t allow traffic on them for seven days. So they are
covered. There is one up farther but as we are moving up through,
that one will come out. That one has been there the
longest. There is a storm dig there; we have to put a piece of
curb in. I didn’t want to do the street until I got the curb
in. So they are working there way that way. I would say
that one will be gone within the next 3 days. Whenever we do one
of these bases, we do plate it for seven days after it is done so it
has sufficient time to cure. Because your concrete will fail if
you let traffic on it right away. A lot of times that is where
the plates are. I think there might have been one other one somewhere
but it is gone now.
Robert M. Valentine W2: Two other ones are on ninth.
Jerry Mack: On ninth?
Robert
M. Valentine W2: Remember they had them; the ones that caved in,
and the guys were working on them. One on the left and one on the
right there by Pentair parking lot.
Jerry Mack: Okay, I
wasn’t working on those so I am not aware of those. I think
I vaguely remember one of those. A lot of times they get plated
after they are done so they can cure up. Didn’t that happen
earlier this year?
Robert M. Valentine W2: Yes, earlier this year.
Jerry Mack: They might have gotten plated too until the weather broke.
Robert
M. Valentine W2: You could really tell because all of a sudden it
will just cave in. Especially down there because there is so much
Semi traffic.
Jerry Mack: The plates make it so that you
can get over them without having a barricade or whatever so they have
to drive around them. And they are annoying; there is no doubt in
my mind. But hopefully by the end of August, all the plates are
up and gone.
Ward 4/President: Paul Wertz
No report.
Old Business: none
New Business: none
Mayor’s Comments:
Route 250 Sewer Project has run into a snag. I expect it
will probably start; I am hoping it will be under way by Monday.
We run into a permit process that didn’t get completed properly.
We got word today that the State has okayed the permit; it has to be
signed and may be back in our hands yet this week. That will
allow the contractor to get started. So even though his equipment
was there, we could not start the project.
Comments of questions from the Audience: Items that are not included on the Agenda.
None.
Motion to adjourn Regular Session meeting by Paul Wertz, moved by Robert M. Valentine W2, seconded by Robert L. Valentine W1.
Ayes: Robert M. Valentine 2, Ruth Detrow, Paul Wertz, Stephen Stuart, Robert L. Valentine W1.
Adjournment at 7:29 p.m.
Submitted by
Valarie
Bishoff
Clerk of Council