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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-20-2010TO: Members of the Sebastian City Council FROM: Al Minner, City Manager RE: CURRENT TOPICS UPDATE DATE: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 PROJECTS NEARLY COMPLETE The City currently has several projects wrapping up. Below are briefs on each of these projects: COLLIER CREEK At this time all major work associated with the project such as walls, dredging, clean-up, side -yard piping of lateral ditches and the mitigation planting at Hardee Park is complete. The only activity that still continues, is addressing individual ROW clean-up complaints from residents; however, these complaints have been limited and only one remains outstanding. All in all, it is fair to report the project went well. One administrative matter remains unresolved prior to formally closing out the project and returning unspent project money to the Stormwater Fund. This matter concerns pay -out to SE Cline in the amount of $101,489 ($80,684 — Final Change Order for dredging and $20,805 — retainage). Before the final change order and retainage is paid, Neel -Schaffer and the Administrative Services Department are ensuring accurate dredging quantities. Once this is complete, the matter will require Council review. After this action, the project can be closed. In an effort to provide a final cost report on the project, below is a chart presenting preliminary project costs. At the project's final close out, the Administrative Services Department will update these figures: ITEM COST S.E. Cline $4,231,759 CDM Engineering 566,032 MISC 65,570 Land Leases 40,857 Mitigation (Hardee Park) 23,800 Permitting 5,250 Water Monitoring 4,140 Neel Schaffer Engineering 5,000 TOTAL $4,942,408 SOURCE AMOUNT Series 2003 Debt Proceeds $3,631,136 Bond Interest Earnings 864,190 Cash — Stormwater Reserve Fund 500,000 DEP - 319 Grant 500,000 TOTAL $5,496,326 At this time, approximately $552.918 may be available for return to the Stormwater Fund. AIRPORT ACCESS ROAD The Administrative Services Department is finalizing the Airport Access Road project. This project aimed to extend Airport Drive East into open airport property and install water, wastewater, road and electric infrastructure. In so doing, approximately 10 acres is now ready for industrial development. On August 13, 2009, a Construction Services Agreement was executed with H&D Construction for the project. The project originally started in 2003 (funded by an FDOT Grant) and was scheduled to make access improvements for the west side of the airport. However, after delays and more study, the FDOT was asked to shift the money and commingle it with other funds to create to a $990,086 budget to complete the aforementioned eastern side improvements. Final projected costs will be reported by the Administrative Services Department shortly. AIRPORT RUNWAY Another airport project in its final stage is the Runway 4/22 project. This project was an FAA directive which required runway lights being located closer to the edge of pavement. To meet the specifications of the directive and reduce future maintenance costs, the runway's (1) width was reduced from 150' to 75'; and, (2) lighting was realigned. The project budget was $434,657 with 95% of the funding coming from an FAA grant and 2.5% coming from both the Airport Fund and FDOT. Final projected costs will be reported by the Administrative Services Department shortly. GEORGE STREET The project to cover a major open ditch in the 900 block of George Street is now complete. $98,000 was budgeted for the project form the Stormwater Fund. In September 2009, City Council executed a contract with Sunshine Land Design for project construction. Final projected costs are $97,803. PROJECTS IN "START-UP" PHASE With several projects ending, the City is in the process of beginning a number of other improvements. These projects are as follows: BARBER STREET RENOVATION — STIMULUS PROJECT As you know, a delay on the Barber Street Renovation Project occurred due to SRJWMD permitting. FDOT has now received all proper permitting and the new start date for the project was March 29, 2010. While this date has passed, the project has started in a survey and administrative capacity; however, actual road construction has not started. In a conversation with FDOT officials, Sheltra and Sons Construction has been coordinating bus routes with the Indian River County School Board prior to construction. It is anticipated that actual "heavy" construction will begin on Wednesday, April 21, 2010. Obviously because the FDOT is managing this project, it has been hard to keep up with the project parameters; however, City staff is doing as much as possible to update and keep the citizenry posted on matters concerning this project. 2010 GAS TAX BANK NOTE On February 10, 2010, City Council authorized the refinancing of the 1998 outstanding road paving note to generate approximately $1,250,000 that could be used for road resurfacing. Roads scheduled for improvement were Laconia, Periwinkle, South Easy, Schumann and other riverfront roads. At the time the bond was approved, the Indian River MPO informed the City of the "Jobs for Main Street Act" being considered by Congress as a second round of stimulus funding. Streets qualifying for this program were Laconia and South Easy. This was obviously positive, because South Easy and Laconia would have qualified for the stimulus funding, freeing -up money for other City streets. However, Phil Matson of the IRC MPO has recently informed the City that the construction funds portion of the bill was eliminated by Congress. Therefore, at this time, no federal funding exists for Laconia and South East to be paved and the City needs to move back to the original plan — using 2010 Gas Tax funds to resurface these streets. During the delay, two other issues were reviewed. First, the services of Neel -Schaffer were employed to help update a City-wide road survey. The survey is about complete and will be used to ensure that the proper roads are funded. Second, Neel -Schaffer and staff examined the possibility of micro -resurfacing. This process uses a different, stronger, thinner material to resurface streets. While the material does not last as long as the typical asphaltic overlay, dollar for dollar it is worth the value and permits more work to be completed. For your regular meeting on May 12'", staff will be ready with a report, seeking Council authority to move forward on resurfacing efforts. POWERLINE ROAD Masteller/Moler is nearly complete with the design phase of the Powerline Road extension. As you know, this project aims to extend Powerline Road from Main Street to Sebastian Boulevard. At this time, the City has been in negotiations with the Indian River County School Board to acquire a 1.2 acre parcel along Sebastian Boulevard, enabling Powerline Road to connect into the Sebastian Boulevard/Delaware Avenue intersection. The ROW dedication agreement has received a favorable recommendation from the School Board Facilities Committee and we anticipate Board review of the request in May. Assuming dedication of the ROW, final permitting, public input and Council review will be sought. Upon acceptance by the City, the road may be ready for bidding and construction this summer. 512 BEAUTIFICATION The Office of the City Manager continues to work with FDOT officials to receive Local Agency Participation Certification (LAP — CERT) in order to commence the 512 Beautification Project. Because of the grant funding involved, the State requires that local jurisdictions provide the proper documentation detailing capital project management policies. I am now in receipt of the LAP Documents for Council review and these will be on your May 12, 2010 agenda. Upon accepting the agreements, I am under the assumption that LAP certification is imminent and construction can begin after the procurement process. Frankly, LAP certification is the sole reason for the project delay. It has been difficult working through this process. I am hopeful that the project will be moving forward this summer. CRA With regard to the CRA, Schulke, Bittle and Stoddard should have concepts and price estimates for the US 1 Bump -Outs in May. Upon receipt, Council and community input will be sought. Neel -Schaffer is working on the Gateway Concepts. Frank Watanabe will be getting in touch with each of you seeking input. Once this is sought, concepts will be developed and presented in an "input" workshop for the community and Council. It is anticipated that the gateway concepts will be ready for review in May. Finally, professional services are being sought for a CRA Master Plan Update. Facilitation assistance may be available through the Florida Redevelopment Association for a nominal fee. If that is not feasible, the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council may be willing to help facilitate CRA project planning as they have done in the past. More on this topic as plans to receive a facilitator are formalized. OTHER MATTERS AND INFORMATION HEALTH INSURANCE RFP On January 27, 2010, a periodic meeting was conducted with the Gehring Group, the City's health insurance broker, in order to discuss the City's most recent loss -ratio report. The loss - ratio report provides information which compares the City's insurance premiums paid "in" vs. health care claims paid "out". Generally, a claims ratio is considered good when claims are 80% of premium payments. For the twelve months between December 2008 and November 2009, the City's loss ratio was 54.5%. The City has not experienced such a competitive ratio in some time. In order to capitalize on the positive experience, both City staff and our broker, believe it critical to immediately conduct an RFP for renewal, prior to our renewal date. From this action we hope to secure a reduced health insurance cost for the remainder of FY 10 and into FY 11. On April 23, 2010, a second meeting has been scheduled with the Gehring Group in order to analyze the results of health insurance RFP. More information on this topic to be provided to Council in the next several weeks. WORKING WATERFRONT PROJECT Rebecca Grohall has continued dialog with Delbert Harvey of the Florida Communities Trust (FCT) in order to close on both the Dabrowski and Hurricane Harbor parcels. FCT believes the parcels will be ready to close by June. In the interim, Rebecca and I have met with Charlie Sembler, Sebastian Fisherman's Landing Inc., to start discussing parameters for a lease and to set goals for the project. To that end, I am drafting a lease and Rebecca is working on the Management Plan, required by FCT. These documents should be ready for Council review in mid -late May. As always, if you have any question on these or any other matters, please feel free to contact me at your earliest convenience.