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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin 02-06-02MINUTES OF THE UKIAH CITY COUNCIL Regular Meeting Wednesday, February 6, 2002 The Ukiah City Council met at a Regular Meeting on February 6, 2002, the notice for which had been legally noticed and posted, at 6:30 p.m. in the Civic Center Council Chambers, 300 Seminary Avenue, Ukiah, California. Roll was taken and the following Councilmembers were present: Larson, Smith, Libby, and Vice-Mayor Baldwin. Councilmember absent: Mayor Ashiku. Staff present: Public Utilities Director Barnes, Community Services Director DeKnoblough, Assistant City Manager Fierro, City Manager Horsley, City Attorney Rapport, Community Services Supervisor Sangiacomo, and City Clerk Ulvila. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Councilmember Smith led the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. PRESENTATIONS 3a. Presentation by Mendo-Lake Parents Journal Regarding the Family Expo anH Home Show Sharon Gowan, Publisher/Editor of the Mendo-Lake Parents Journal, discussed the upcoming Family Expo and Home Show scheduled for April 27 & 28 at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds. The annual event highlights children activities, programs, and organizations in Mendocino County. She advised that the magazine is published monthly and is locally owned. She discussed the partners and sponsors of their program, including the City of Ukiah, and thanked the City for its participation and involvement. The Family Expo has brought the spotlight to Ukiah as a premier place for families. She discussed the various events scheduled for the upcoming event and commended Community Services Supervisor Sage Sangiacomo for his assistance. Councilmember Libby inquired if the Boys and Girls Club or PAL participate in the program. Mss Gowan explained that both organizations participate and they encourage youth groups to use this as an opportunity for fundraising and promotion for their group. The program provides free booths for the groups. 3. PRESENTATIONS 3b. Presentation by Ukiah Main Street Program for Council to Sign Card to New York City Joy Beeler, Executive Director of the Main Street Program, made a special presentation to the City Council soliciting the Council's participation in signing a card, which will be sent to the Mayor and citizens of New York City in remembrance of the September 11,2001 event, and wishing them a good year. The card had been on display at various locations in the City. Councilmembers signed the card. Regular City Council Meeting February 6, 2002 Page 1 of 6 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 4a. Regular Meeting of January_ 16, 2002 City Clerk Ulvila advised that minutes of January 16, 2002 are not complete and would be placed on the February 20, 2002 Council agenda. 5. RIGHT TO APPEAL DECISION Vice-Mayor Baldwin read the appeal process. 6. CONSENT CALENDAR Vice-Mayor Baldwin announced that a member of the audience would like to address Council regarding item 6h "Award of Bid to US Cellular for Wireless Telephone Service for all City Departments." Mark Wriggle, Area Manager for Edge Wireless, stated they reviewed the agenda summary report concerning this item and wanted to offer some observations. Edge Wireless wanted to offer some additional items that they hope will compel the Council to abstain from the decision to choose US Cellular as their carrier until further notice when more thorough comparisons could be conducted. He continued to discuss points of the bid. US Cellular ranked marked high points in light of their existing contract for price services, features, and equipment. If the City is to evaluate the high points for potential carriers, they may want to also consider all points, e.g. vendor's interaction with the Planning Commission, zoning procedures, the community at large and what they have done for the community, and their exposure as it relates to the media. He continued to discuss various points of the bid, including pricing and service. The reason he is approaching the Council is because in the RFP and the Agenda Summary Report, this is a commitment for three years. Technology can change in three years and in their response to the RFP they made mention that they would keep up with technology and retrofit the City. Before Council endorses the contract, they asked that take a more robust look at this and evaluate it before making a final decision. Councilmember Libby requested that item 6h be pulled from the Consent Calendar and heard under New Business as item 8b. M/S Smith/Larson approving items a through g of the Consent Calendar as follows: a. Received Report of the Acquisition of Emergency Traffic Signal Repair Services from Republic Electric in the Amount of $7,692; b. Awarded Bid for Liquid Polymer-Alkyamine to Stockhausen for the Sum of $14,44; c. Awarded Bid for Liquid Polymer Emulsion to Stockhausen for the Sum of $10,080; d. Authorized Amendment to Agreement for Professional Consulting Services with 3Di Technologies, Inc., to Perform Additional Aerial Photography and Digital Mapping Services, in a Lump Sum Amount of $10,865; e. Authorized Amendment to Agreement for Professional Consulting Services with T.M. Herman and Associates for Additional Land Surveying Services, in an Amount Not to Exceed $10,000; Regular City Council Meeting February 6, 2002 Page 2 of 6 g. Rejected Claim for Damages Received from Isaias N. Garcia and Referred to Joint Powers Authority, Redwood Empire Municipal Insurance Fund; Approved Agreement with Ornbaun Enterprises for Real Property Appraisal. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: AYES: Councilmembers Larson, Smith, Libby, and Vice-Mayor Baldwin. NOES: None. ABSENT: Mayor Ashiku. ABSTAIN: None. 7. AUDIENCE COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS No one came forward to address Council. 8. NEW BUSINESS 8a. Consideration of Calendar for November 2002 Municipal Election City Clerk Ulvila advised that the next Ukiah Municipal Election would be held on November 5, 2002. A calendar noting the deadlines with regard to this election was distributed to Council for review and consideration. She discussed the deadlines related to submittal of Ballot Measures and recommended that, due to the complexity of Ballot Measures, Council should begin to consider whether it is appropriate to place a Ballot Measure before the voters at this election. As noted from previous Council discussions, a .005% sales tax for road repairs may be a viable measure depending on the results of MCOG's surveys. A brief discussion of the calendar followed. Councilmember Larson advised that he might be able to provide Council with a report of the MCOG survey once it is completed. 8b. (6H) Award of Bid to US Cellular for Wireless Telephone Service for all City Departments Assistant City Manager Fierro advised that Staff put together a subcommittee to review the bid because they realized that it was going to be substantial, for a three-year commitment, and they wanted to get the best provider for the dollar. The subcommittee consisted of the Finance Director, Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable representatives, and himself. They tracked the City's usage over the last two years and reviewed all of the proposals from the vendors, and made a comparison with regard to equipment, service, and rating. It was determined that the current provider was the Iow bidder. Staff looked at this carefully and he assured Council that their goal was to review the City's current service, what the cost would be by the proposals submitted, and the equipment as an element of why we would go with the current vendor or another vendor. City Manager Horsley explained that a table was prepared that compared the vendors and the Finance Director double checked the table and verified the calculations from the bids. Councilmember Libby inquired if the City awarded the bid to a vendor, other than US Cellular, would new phones need to be purchased? Mr. Fierro explained that the vendors would ask the City to use their equipment and there would be a change over with new phones. He discussed the varying amounts charged for phones by the vendors, which is minimal. He explained that the FCC requires that there Regular City Council Meeting February 6, 2002 Page 3 of 6 have to be some transactional costs and in the City's situation, we would not have to purchase new phones because we have existing phones that were given to us as part of the account. Councilmember Libby asked if the City goes over the 6,000 minutes per month, what is the fee? Mr. Fierro explained that if the City goes over that amount it would probably mean that we ended up purchasing more lines, and if more lines and minutes are being used, there would be charged. City Manager Horsley advised that she audits cell phone use each month for the City. Presently those that have cell phones really need them. The City's usage averages about 5,000 minutes per month and staff felt that over a three-year time period there would be no problem exceeding the limit. Councilmember Libby advised that after comparing the bids, she did not feel comfortable voting "yes" on this item. M/S Smith/Baldwin awarding bid to US Cellular for wireless telephone service for all City Departments; carried by the following roll call vote: AYES: Councilmembers Larson, Smith, Vice-Mayor Baldwin. NOES' Councilmember Libby. ABSENT: Mayor Ashiku. ABSTAIN: None. 9. COUNCIL REPORTS Councilmember Larson reported attending a MSWA meeting in Willits, the Chamber of Commerce luncheon, the Chamber of Commerce Mixer at the Todd Grove Room, the luncheon for Fire Chief Dan Grebil, and the Firefighters Annual Dinner. He understood that next year he would receive an award for being the only Councilmember that dared to show up. Councilmember Smith reported that he could not attend the Firefighters Annual Dinner because he was in Washington, DC on City business. The week prior to that he was in Sacramento at the NCPA Regulatory Workshop Session. He reported that the group was able to determine some priorities of what we want, which was to help guide us in our activities in Washington, DC. The four interests are 1) reasonable cost power, 2) predictability, 3) firm transmission, and 4) local control. In regards to that, they attended the American Public Power Association (APPA) Legislative Rally in Washington, DC. He provided Council with a summary of the major issues that they met with legislators Diane Feinstein and Mike Thompson. These are the major issues. The electricity restructuring legislation, the tradable tax credits, CalFed, purchase power and wheeling, Trinity River Restoration, and reform of the California ISO. He has information available for Council to review about each item. Earlier this week he participated in a conference call with Jim Whalen, NCPA staff and finance expert, and discussed restructuring of bonds. They discussed with Public Utilities Director Barnes about arranging a presentation to Council in the future concerning this Regular City Council Meeting February 6, 2002 Page 4 of 6 matter. In addition, George Frasier, General Manager of NCPA, will be visiting Ukiah on February 19, 2002 and will meet at 3:00 p.m. with City Manager Horsley, Public Utilities Director Barnes, possibly the Mayor, and himself. He advised that he attended the Chamber of Commerce Installation Luncheon. Councilmember Libby reported that last month she attended a workshop for the Chamber of Commerce. She was not able to attend the Fire Department's Recognition Dinner because she was out of town. She reminded Council of an Economic Development workshop to be held tomorrow from 8:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the Conference Center. Vice-Mayor Baldwin reported that on January 25th he went to San Jose for a League of California Cities Community Services Subcommittee meeting. About two hours of the meeting was dedicated the problems with the budget in Sacramento and the remainder of the meeting included a presentation by a Palo Alto agency of the city that coordinates communication for community access to the various programs they offer. He was a little disappointed that there was not more information about community programs such as parks, recreation, museums, and libraries, which is the primary focus of the Subcommittee. He advised that this Saturday there is a Water Forum at the Civic Center. City Manager Horsley advised that the City would be taping the Forum. The Farm Bureau is the sponsor and the Mendocino County Inland Water and Power is also participating in the Forum. Vice-Mayor Baldwin advised that he would attend the Water Forum since the Mayor is out of town. 12. CITY MANAGER/CITY CLERK/DIRECTOR REPORTS City Manager Horsley advised that she provided Council a letter in which the City asks Solid Waste Systems to send to their customers regarding the delay in distribution of the new bins and to also apologize for the delay. That letter was sent on Monday. She referred to an article in the paper about Adelphia. The City has shut them down and CALOSHA has come to Ukiah and are investigating the situation. The City was very concerned that someone would get hurt. Adelphia went into our electric drawing twice in three days, and they also went through one of our water lines. Adelphia is shut down from doing any type of work until further notice. She advised that the City received some money through the STIP through the year 2000 and the 2002 STIP. Advisors in Sacramento are now saying that for the 2002 STIP that cities should hold off their projects until 2004. She discussed AB 680, which has already passed the Assembly, and it will redistribute sales tax in the Sacramento region. Many cities are very concerned about this because of where they will redistribute the sales tax from and whom they will give the funds to. She has information concerning AB 680 for Council's review. Regular City Council Meeting February 6, 2002 Page 5 of 6 City Clerk Ulvila reminded Council that Statements of Economic Interests, FPPC Form 700, are due by April 2, 2002 in the City Clerk's office. She reminded Council of a public meeting notice workshop regarding water supply to be held on February 28th in Petaluma. She explained that every Friday she has been sending out the Press Release regarding the vacancy on the Parks, Recreation, and Golf Commission and has not received any applications. She also reported that she has been awarded a $250 scholarship from the Northern California City Clerk's Association towards training. Councilmember Libby requested that staff provide her copy of the bidding process for the cell phones, a copy of the bids and the RFP. Adjourned to Closed Session: 7:24 p.m. 13. CLOSED SESSION a. G.C. §54957.6 - Conference with Labor Negotiator Employee Negotiations: Fire Unit Labor Negotiator: Candace Horsley b. G.C. §54957.6- Conference with Labor Negotiator Employee Negotiations: Police Unit Labor Negotiator: Candace Horsley Reconvened at: 9:10 p.m. 14. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the City Council meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m. Marie Ulvila, City Clerk Regular City Council Meeting February 6, 2002 Page 6 of 6