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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJPBMinutes_2013_02_14BROOKINGS CITY/COUNTY JOINT POWERS BOARD MEETING Thursday, February 14, 2013 The Joint Powers Board met on Thursday, February 14, 2013 with the following members present: John Kubal, Tim Reed, Ryan Krogman & Dennis Falken (via teleconference). REGULAR BUSINESS Chairperson Kubal called the meeting to order and a quorum was established. The board discussed the reorganization of the board. Starting at the May meeting, the Chairperson will be Dennis Falken and the Vice-Chairperson will be Ryan Krogman. Motion by Reed, seconded by Falken to approve the minutes from the October 11, 2012 Joint Powers Board Meeting. All members voted “aye.” Motion carried. The board reviewed the report on the status of the remaining punch list items. City Manager Jeff Weldon said outstanding items include the exterior nighttime sconce lights that keep burning out and the veneer that is peeling off of the top of the woodwork outside of the Register of Deeds Office. Commission Assistant Stephanie Ellwein said the Register of Deeds office was fixed last week. Weldon said other items include the veneer at the elevators and on the staircase cracking. He said the humidity issues in the building are the cause; so he isn’t sure the contractor is responsible. Weldon also said there was a roof leak in the Planning & Zoning Office that also caused paint damage in the interior of the office. He said they had missed some caulking on the roof and that it has been fixed. Weldon said there was also a report of loose caulking on the roof outside the break room. Ellwein said that issued was resolved before winter. Weldon also said there are concerns with the garage door on the south side of the building. He said the contractor that installed the door, Skold, won’t come back to fix it, so the construction manager has contracted with Young Door Company to fix the issues and the cost will be deducted from the original contractor’s payment. Weldon said they will do another walk-through in April with Bossardt, and if there are no issues they will release the performance bonds. Kubal asked about replacing the veneer. Weldon said Clark Drew has come back and fixed areas, but it is a humidity issue so he’s not sure how they will handle this when it isn’t Clark Drew’s fault. Kubal asked if the humidity concerns were typical in a new building. Weldon said they aren’t unusual, but they need to get it in check and they’re working on it. Ellwein noted that the temperature in the server rooms has improved, so it is getting better. Reed asked about putting pea rock on the roof where roof panels are exposed. Weldon said this isn’t on the punch list because it wasn’t part of the contract, but they do think they can do something and they will think about this for the future. The board reviewed the report on the final construction costs and retainage amounts. Weldon said there is approximately $31,000 left to pay as most of the retainage has been released. He said the performance bonds are also being held on all contractors for the 1-year time period. Weldon said there is a dispute between Gil Haugen and Bossardt over payment of excise tax. He said the contractor that is the end user of a product is responsible for paying the excise tax. Weldon said the steel came from Eggers, who gave it to Haugen who was the end user. He said Haugen is saying he didn’t have the excise tax cost in his bid because there was no way to know what that cost would be since the supplies were coming from a different contractor. Weldon said he could have included a disclaimer in his bid that stated there would be an up-charge for taxes on supplies furnished by another contractor. He said they are working with the Department of Revenue as well because they don’t have their money yet, which he estimates is $10,000- $20,000. Weldon said he’s not sure where this will go, but the city and county have a pretty good case if someone tries to sue them for tax amount. He said it will be an interpretation of contract language. The board reviewed the contingency expenditure list. Weldon said there is approximately $115,000 left in contingency. He said there are a few things that they’re talking about doing that would still come from contingency including the back-up generator and the concrete pad and bollards it would need to set on, possible lobby furniture for first and third floors and supplemental radiant heat for the County Finance Office. Ellwein said temperatures at the front counter in the Finance Office have only been in the 60s and they have discussed doing something to help with the heat and to create more security. Weldon said West Plains designed the office with only one zone for heat, so it is working the way it’s supposed to, but it’s not enough for that size space. He said there may be some incidental costs that occur as well that they will need to spend contingency on. Ellwein asked about the corrective work for the drainage. Weldon said that is complete. Reed asked how long they can leave the contingency open so they can continue to spend it. He said he sees the heat issue as most important. Weldon said he doesn’t want employees to bring space heaters, but they have no choice at this point. He said the space heaters are throwing off the actual conditions of the building so they can’t get actual readings. Weldon said he wants to make sure people are comfortable, but try to avoid space heaters as much as possible. Motion by Krogman, seconded by Reed to obtain bids to correct the heat issue in the County Finance Office. All members vote “aye.” Motion carried. Krogman asked about the security concerns in the Finance Office. Ellwein said she and other staff members have attended recent active shooter training sessions and they say that they cannot prevent an incident from happening, but they want to have the employees trained to respond to this type of incident. She said they don’t want to spend money on something that isn’t going to improve security or give a false sense of security. Ellwein said there is an Emergency Response Plan Committee in place looking at these issues in the building. She said there are things they can do to expand the current security system, but aside from training, there’s not much else they can do. Falken asked if the large door going into the Finance Office is part of the security system. Ellwein said it is not. She said locking doors can give a false sense of security and the committee is identifying safe rooms in each office. Ellwein said additional portable lock buttons are relatively inexpensive and there is an audible alert system functioning in the building. Kubal asked how they need to proceed with this issue. Ellwein said they should give the committee time to make recommendations. Reed said the Joint Powers Board should have that committee report to them each meeting. Kubal said since the board isn’t meeting again until May and by then the heat may not be an issue, he wondered if the board should give Weldon and Ellwein direction to approve the bids for the supplemental heat in the Finance Office. Weldon said they will put information together and will let the board know what they find out. He said they can reassess at that time. Kubal asked if they need to move forward with the purchase of the lobby furniture. Krogman said it would be nice to have a place for people to sit and wait, but he doesn’t want the space to become a lounge area. Motion by Falken, seconded by Reed to authorize City Manager Jeff Weldon and Commission Assistant Stephanie Ellwein to purchase lobby furniture as needed with the cost not to exceed $10,000. All members vote “aye.” Motion carried. The board reviewed the operating budget for the first 6 months of occupying the new building. Weldon noted that they were very close to budget considering they had no history to go off of. Weldon said they are continuing to work on the humidity issue in the building. He said some paint came off the walls going up the staircase from posters being hung. Weldon said it is their responsibility and will have his staff repaint where needed. Weldon also asked about the excess paper that is hanging in the hallways directing people to different offices. He wondered how much longer that will remain. Miller said that people are having a difficult time finding where to go and she is always directing someone when she is at the building. Weldon said the paper looks tacky though. He suggested getting permanent signage. Reed said he is disappointed in the kiosk as it is not as user-friendly as he expected. Weldon said there could be programming changes to make it more useful. Falken said he doesn’t think it should be that difficult finding the right office in the building. Ellwein said if the board wants the paper signs to come down, they need to set a policy for the building that elected department heads also have to follow. The board discussed the length of time a sign could be hung in the building. Motion by Reed, seconded by Krogman that no paper signs are allowed to be hung for more than 24 hours. All members voted “aye.” Motion carried. Weldon asked about the emergency management supplies in the basement. Ellwein said they are about half-way through all of the items and just need more time to go through the rest of it. Reed said he appreciates that people are trying to keep the building looking nice. The board discussed the possibility of a joint County Highway-City Street maintenance facility. Weldon said that in assessing the city’s space needs, the Park & Rec facility is in good enough shape. He noted that the county has a building project on the current highway site for this year. Weldon wondered if the board wanted to look at the possibilities of facilities and locations. Krogman asked if the Joint Powers Board was established for just the administrative building or could they look into other joint ventures as well. Weldon said the Joint Powers Board is a legal entity that can be as active or inactive as they want to be, but could be opened up to look at other joint projects. City Attorney Steve Britzman said he would need to review the current agreement and see if anything would need to be modified. Kubal said the new administrative building has set a precedent on how the city and county can work together. Krogman said he also likes the idea of minimizing the amount of land the city and county uses so more land can be added to the tax rolls. Falken said a group of county and city representatives met 6 to 8 months ago regarding this issue and left that meeting with each entity going back and looking at what their space needs are. He said he also questions if the commission would want the same two people representing the county on this issue that are on the Joint Powers Board. Falken said they can continue to explore the possibility though. Reed said they could create an official committee from the full boards. Krogman asked if they need to go through the whole process of appointing two new members or can the Joint Powers Board look at these types of things. Commissioner Miller, who was also in attendance, said she was surprised that this topic was on the Joint Powers Board’s agenda. Weldon said he placed it on the agenda to reignite the issue. Miller said the commission will put this topic on an upcoming agenda for discussion as well. Reed said he’s okay with having the discussion here, but he wants the full boards to agree as well. Weldon said he is aware the county has plans for a new building at the current highway department site. Miller said it would be a multi-purpose building for the county’s weed department. Weldon asked if the current site is large enough to support the county’s needs. Miller said she believes it is at this point. Falken agreed and said the new building would house the weed department and there would be a secured storage facility for the sheriff’s department. He said he’s not sure the current site is the best location and it doesn’t matter to the county how far out of the city they are. Falken said they can get Interim Highway Superintendent, Richard Birk’s, opinion as well. Kubal said they can come to the next Joint Powers Board meeting with some rough ideas. Weldon said both boards will need to decide on the committee’s structure and whether or not to use the current Joint Powers Board. He said they will also need to look at the Joint Powers agreement and see if legally they can continue in that direction. Reed said the city doesn’t even know what they need yet. Weldon said the city’s process versus the county’s need to build has to be taken into account too. Kubal said at the next meeting they can bring back the wishes of the council and the commission and decide how to proceed. Falken said they may look at the county’s current location and decide that whole space is big enough for both the city and county. He said there are a lot of things to look at. Falken said he is concerned that this is how the administrative building started though too; with the county ready to build and the city not being ready. Weldon said they haven’t made a decision on building and that they are in their early assessment stage. He said they will need to do a comprehensive space needs analysis. Falken said maybe they’re a little ahead of themselves. He said they can look at the options, but there is the issue that the county is ready to put a new building on the current highway site and it may be tough for the county to stop what they want to do if the city isn’t sure what their plans are. The next meeting is scheduled for May 9, 2013. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Krogman, seconded by Reed to adjourn. All members vote “aye.” Motion carried. It is the policy of Brookings County, South Dakota, not to discriminate against the handicapped in employment or the Provision of Service. The County of Brookings is responsive to requests for communication aids and the need to provide appropriate access, and will provide alternative formats and accessible locations consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Stacy Steffensen Deputy Finance Officer Brookings County Finance Office Published once at the total approximate cost of _______________.