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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJPBMinutes_2014_02_13BROOKINGS CITY/COUNTY JOINT POWERS BOARD MEETING Thursday, February 13, 2014 The Joint Powers Board met on Thursday, February 13, 2014 with the following members present: John Kubal, Ryan Krogman, Donald Larson attending in place of Dennis Falken and Keith Corbett attending in place of Tim Reed. REGULAR BUSINESS Vice-Chairperson Kubal called the meeting to order and a quorum was established. Motion by Krogman, seconded by Corbett to elect John Kubal as Chairperson and Ryan Krogman as Vice-Chairperson of the Joint Powers Board for 2014. All members voted “aye.” Motion carried. Motion by Krogman, seconded by Larson to approve the minutes from the November 7, 2013 Joint Powers Board Meeting. All members voted “aye.” Motion carried. City Manager Jeff Weldon updated the board on the back -up generator for the building. He said arrangements have been made to do the electrical modification s to the building so the county’s generator can be installed. Weldon said Clites Electric is going to do the upgrade at an approximate cost of $1,700. Kubal asked what the generator will run if there is a power outage. Weldon said it will run the critical things; security, doors, sump pumps and alarms. He said the concrete pad will be poured and b ollards will be installed once the weather is nice. Weldon also discussed the humidity issues in the building. He said the building is pretty dry, in part due to the amount of square footage compared to the number of people occupying the space. Weldon said people serve as humidifiers. He said they are looking into a humidification system to help control the levels during the winter months. Weldon said West Plains Engineering provided the specs and their cost estimate is $31,000 for the installation of two humidifiers in the building. Commission Assistant Stephanie Ellwein said the humidity level is averaging only 10% on the county side and was closer to 5% for a month. Weldon said Johnson Controls runs the buildings HVAC system so they are checking with them to make sure this will work, but there is a difference of opinion among Johnson Controls employees. Ellwein said one option is to change the valves so the water is hotter in the winter. Weldon said the board doesn’t need to take any action unt il they explore the options further. Corbett said it will slowly start getting more humid again, so they have some time. Weldon said it is a seasonal issue. Krogman said it is good to know about this so they can plan for it. He said if it comes to next fall and Johnson Control’s ideas aren’t working, they should have money set aside so the issue can still be handled. Ellwein said that something has to be done; veneer throughout the building is cracking too. Weldon said they have about $50,000 in the capital construction budget remaining and they will be receiving approximately $150,000 from Mediacom and Swiftel as part of their franchise agreements too. Deputy State’s Attorney Abigail Howard updated the board on the arbitration decision regarding a contract dispute. She said that she and City Attorney Steve Britzman did the prep work and the briefing on the arbitration with Gil Haugen Construction. Howard said this was concerning the excise tax that Gil Haugen Construction had paid, but they said it wasn’t part of their original bid and wanted to submit a change order to recover those costs. Howard said the city and county were successful in the arbitration and will not have to pay the excise tax. However, she said because they agreed to arbitration and that those costs would be split, the city and county owe approximately $5,800. Weldon noted that the bill had been paid and the county will reimburse the city for their half of the costs. Howard said there are still retainage fees that haven’t been re leased yet of approximately $5,000. Weldon said they should discuss releasing those funds with Bosshardt Corporation first. Motion by Krogman, seconded by Larson to authorize the release of the retainage fees to Gil Haugen Construction contingent upon getting approval from Construction Manager, Bosshardt Corporation. All members vote “aye.” Motion carried. The board discussed artwork that had been presented to them several months ago. Kubal had agreed to look at the painting that was done by a local artist. Kubal said he is skeptical about the piece. He said it is very large and they would have to pay to have it framed. Weldon said it measures 3 feet by 8 feet and could possibly be placed in one of the long hallways in the corridors of the buildin g. Kubal said he’s not sure how professional the artist is and this isn’t a purchase they have to rush in to. He said if anyone else is interested, they can go look at it. Corbett said he is concerned that this may open things up to anyone who thinks they’re an artist to present something for the building. Weldon said he would email the photo of the artwork to the board members. Krogman questioned the need to spend $5,000 on a painting. Weldon said he would rather preserve those funds for potential bu ilding issues. Weldon said that a couple of weeks ago the Brookings School Board discussed changing the format of their meetings and mentioned using this building for their school board meetings so they could be recorded and televised. He said the discussion really didn’t go anywhere and he hasn’t received any official requests, but he wanted the board to be prepared in case a request does come. Weldon said they meet on Monday nights and details would have to be worked out regarding access to the c ontrol room and having someone to run the equipment. Corbett said he was at a recent meeting with Brookings School District Business Manager Brian Lueders who said their desire is to stay at the school. Weldon said a key advantage to moving the meetings to the city and county chambers would be that their meetings could be televised. He said they would have to provide their own staff to do that though. Weldon said the bigger issue is charging rent for the use of the chambers. He said the city and county have a lot invested in the technology and Weldon said he did invite the school district early on to be a partner and they declined. Larson said they just have to be open to the discussion. Ellwein noted that the slide shows on the televisions in the corridors of the building have been updated. Motion by Krogman, seconded by Corbett to enter into Executive Session at 8:25 a.m. in accordance with SDCL 1-25-2 for the purpose of contract negotiations. All members voted “aye.” Motion carried. The board came out of Executive Session at 8:53 a.m. Motion by Krogman, seconded by Corbett to allow City Manager Jeff Weldon to negotiate a contract for property adjacent to the City & County Administrative Building. All members voted “aye.” Motion carried. The next meeting is scheduled for May 8, 2014. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Krogman, seconded by Corbett to adjourn. All members voted “aye.” Motion carried. It is the policy of Brookings County, South Dakota, n ot 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 A mericans with Disabilities Act. Stacy Steffensen Deputy Finance Officer Brookings County Finance Office Published once at the total approximate cost of _______________.