Staff:     E. Marx, Planning Commissioner; C. Nelson, Public Works Administration; P. Messmer, Highway; J. Lampman, Highway; R. Nicholas, Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport, L. Jehu, Purchasing

Called to Order

 Mr. Booth called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m.

1)  Chair's Report

 Mr. Booth said he did not have a report for the Committee.

2)  Persons Wishing to Address the Committee

No persons wished to address the Committee.

3)  Minutes of June 24, 2003 and July 8, 2003

MOVED by Mr. Winch, seconded by Ms. Robertson to approve the minutes of June 24, 2003 as amended.  Ms. Kiefer requested and was allowed to be excused from the vote because she had not had an opportunity to review the minutes in advance.  A voice vote resulted as follows:  Ayes - 4, Excused - 1 (Legislator Kiefer).  MINUTES APPROVED.

MOVED by Mr. Winch, seconded by Ms. Blanchard to approve the minutes of July 8, 2003 as amended.  Ms. Kiefer requested and was allowed to be excused from the vote because she had not had an opportunity to review the minutes in advance.  A voice vote resulted as follows:  Ayes - 4, Excused - 1 (Legislator Kiefer).  MINUTES APPROVED

4)  Award of bid - Elevator Maintenance Services

RESOLUTION NO.         - AWARD OF BID – ELEVATOR MAINTENANCE SERVICES

 MOVED by Mr. Winch, seconded by Ms. Robertson to submit the following resolution to the full Legislature for approval.  A brief discussion took place regarding the lack of inclusion of the special elevator lift located at the Workforce Development office in Center Ithaca.  It was noted that this particular unit was not included in the bid specifications.  Ms. Jehu said that Mr. LeMaro will be including this lift elevator with his lift equipment bids during the next contract period and that he anticipates this will result in a less expensive maintenance contract for the lift at the Workforce Development Office.  For the time being this lift will be serviced by the original installer.  Ms. Kiefer and Ms. Robertson asked if there had been any attempt to contact Otis, the low bidder, to get the missing information; this was not done.  A question was raised as to the price in the previous contract; Ms. Jehu did not have that information.  The Committee was also informed that ThyssenKrupp Elevator of East Syracuse, New York has a local contact person who will service the County's elevators.  A voice vote resulted as follows:  Ayes - 5, Noes - 0.  MOTION APPROVED

    WHEREAS, The Department of Finance - Division of Purchasing has duly advertised for bids for Elevator Maintenance Services for Tompkins County, and
    WHEREAS, three (3) bids were received and publicly opened on June 12, 2003, and
    WHEREAS, the bid received from Otis Elevator Company of East Syracuse, New York, lacks pertinent information pertaining to experience and qualifications, now therefore be it,
    RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Facilities and Infrastructure Committee, That the bid from Otis Elevator Company be rejected as non-responsive,
    RESOLVED, further, That the bid shall be awarded to ThyssenKrupp Elevator of East Syracuse, NY as the lowest responsible bidder with a bid price of $17,352 annually,
     RESOLVED, further, That the funds are available in Facilities budget, Account No. 1620.54425.
SEQR ACTION:  TYPE II-20

Explanatory Note: This contract is for a one year period, with the possibility of three one-year extensions.  Otis Elevator did not submit a complete proposal per Section III, Bidder Qualifications.  They were unable to demonstrate their experience and qualifications to service the Dover, Schindler, Haughton, and Midstate elevators currently owned by Tompkins County.

Section 2.1.6 – Instructions to Bidders stated:  “Bids will be evaluated based on the technical and cost criteria described in Section 2.5.  Technical and cost considerations are of equal importance in the evaluation of this bid.  The approach will generally be to evaluate all bids based upon the Technical qualifications first.  Then, among those which are acceptable, a contract will be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder meeting all specifications, with acceptable deviations if applicable.  Where technical and cost factors are equally competitive, programmatic considerations will then impact the final determination.”

5)  Approval to Seek Bids and Level of Committee Involvement - High-Lift Truck for Repair of Ramp, Parking Lot Lights, etc.

 Mr. Nicholas, Airport Manager, provided written information on the purchase of the high-lift truck for use at the airport, noting that the primary use for this truck would be snow plowing in the winter.  The high-lift equipment will be mounted on the back of this truck.  He indicated that it is not viable to rent or lease this snow plow from municipalities because the  Federal Aviation Authority will not permit airports to use equipment that has utilized salt products.  Mr. Nicholas also said that during off periods the high-lift truck could be used by other County departments, provided a fee is charged for the use of this equipment and for the airport personnel who will operate it.  He noted that charging other departments rental fees for equipment was a standard practice and that doing so assisted in providing funds for necessary maintenance or repairs.  The inclusion of an operator in this charge, rather than permitting another department to use its own personnel and operate the equipment, would eliminate the need for the airport to train others in the use of the truck and would keep the truck in the hands of airport personnel who are responsible for its continuing maintenance and use.  Ms. Kiefer asked if borrowing or renting high-left equipment from facilities (the electric company or fire department) had been checked, and was told it had not.  By consensus the Committee approved seeking bids for the high lift truck.

6)  Budget Transfer - Airport

Mr. Nicholas provided information on a budget transfer related to the purchase of two ticket- dispensing machines for the parking lot. The present machines are ten years old and this is the first two of four to be replaced.  He plans to replace the remaining two machines in 2004.  Mr. Nicholas replied to an inquiry about unit pricing structure that there is no additional savings that would occur to purchase all units at the same time.  No action was required.

7)  Other Airport Matters

 
Contract Negotiations

 Mr. Nicholas has not yet received any additional information regarding contract negotiations.

Small-Community Air Service Grant Application

 Mr. Nicholas reported that he received information from Senator Seward's office that the airport will be receiving $60,000 from the State to assist the County in its application for a  Small-Community Air Service  Federal Grant.    This  $60,000 total includes $10,000 that will be used to pay for the consultant assisting in completing the grant application and $50,000 toward the local funds ,syvj needed to make this application for Federal Funding.  This $60,000 amount brings the total local funds raised to $110,000. The grant application funding would provide Federal monies to provide incentives for additional air service in Tompkins County.

8) Culvert Outsourcing

RESOLUTION NO.  - AUTHORIZATION TO TRANSFER RESPONSIBILITY FOR NEW DRIVEWAY CULVERT INSTALLATION TO LANDOWNERS

MOVED by Mr. Winch, seconded by Ms. Robertson, to submit the following resolution to the full Legislature for approval.  A discussion took place regarding the need to appropriately inform the public of this change in installation of culverts within the County.  Members desired to have the Public Information Officer prepare a press release indicating what the changes mean and how this will improve the County's ability to maintain County roadways by freeing up crews previously dedicated to installation of culverts under privately owned driveways.

The Committee reviewed the text of the resolution, inquiring what the term "roadside features" referred to in the proposed policy would mean.  Mr. Messmer explained that it did not seem desirable to list all of the features along a roadway that might be covered under this provision, including cutting banks for sight distance, storm sewers, guard rails, etc.  The Committee then discussed the engineering technician position, reviewing the scope of job duties and the ultimate need for this position.  Mr. Messmer said that the Highway Division has previously filled this position as a temporary summer position and that what is being proposed is expanding that temporary position to a full-time position that is already on the books for the Highway Division.  It was explained that the person in this position would provide training to contractors desiring to be approved for culvert work, perform inspections of the work done by approved contractors to assure it has been completed according to County specifications; that this person would also work in the resource room that is presently being developed, in the highway soils laboratory, in the pavement quality assurance and  coring program dealing with the new "superpaving" milling, are in field survey work; and that this person would also complete such other duties as are assigned.  A description of this position and duties involved will be provided to the full Legislature.  A voice vote on the motion resulted as follows:  Ayes - 5, Noes - 0.  MOTION CARRIED.

    WHEREAS, the Tompkins County Highway Division has historically been responsible for installing driveway culverts in the County road right-of-way, and
    WHEREAS, in recent years the proliferation of such work combined with other fiscal and workforce factors have led to the sacrifice of essential maintenance, such as ditching, shoulder cutting, roadside brush removal, now therefore be it
    RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Facilities and Infrastructure Committee, That, property owners shall be responsible for the installation of driveway culverts for new driveways in the County right-of-way in accordance with County specifications, and directly pay for all the services of contractors and materials,
     RESOLVED, further, that new driveway culvert installations shall only be performed by individuals that are certified by the Highway Division as qualified to perform this work, as evidenced by fiscal accountability, access to appropriate equipment, and certification of technical and safety training,
     RESOLVED, further, that the Highway Division shall provide technical and safety training to contractors interested in installing new driveway culverts and maintain a list of contractors that are qualified to perform this work,
    RESOLVED, further, that the Highway Division shall provide qualified technical personnel to inspect private culvert installations and certify the quality of workmanship,
    RESOLVED, further, that a permit fee shall be maintained to offset the cost of Highway Division training, design, and inspection services,
    RESOLVED, further, that, at the discretion of the Highway Manager, the efforts of County personnel and equipment previously dedicated to culvert installation shall be redirected to roadway and roadside maintenance,
    RESOLVED, further, that the Highway Manager shall develop a policy regarding installation of private storm sewers, the replacement of existing driveway culverts, and treatment of other roadside features.
SEQR ACTION: TYPE II- 20  (No further action required)

Explanation.  In recent years driveway installation has become a major component of the Highway Division’s workload.  In 2002 the Division installed 84 driveways.  When taken in combination with both a funding shortfall and a reduction in size of the highway staff since 1995, continuing to dedicate high levels of effort to this work forces the sacrifice of essential maintenance, such as ditching, shoulder cutting, roadside brush removal, etc.  Redirecting crews currently installing private culverts to routine maintenance would direct $66,000/ year to this work, or 40% of the projected annual need for these maintenance purposes.

9)  Capital Project Payments

 The Committee reviewed the Capital Project Payments with Mr. Messmer. The discussion included the following item of note:

· A question arose regarding the appropriate committee to review payment for change orders.  With regard to the Public Safety Communications Center (i.e., the new Emergency Response Center) it was noted that the Communications and Capital Projects Committee would approve payment of these orders and that the Facilities and Infrastructure Committee would receive information regarding them.  A question then arose regarding the Public Safety Building change orders, and Mr. Marx was asked to have Administration return to the Committee with a proposal regarding how these matters should be handled by the Legislature's Committees.  It was also noted that the Committee has not yet resolved how requests from other Committees to the Facilities Division should be routed through the Facilities and Infrastructure Committee.

10)  Highways and Bridges Project Report

  The Committee reviewed the Highway and Bridges Report with Mr. Messmer. The discussion included the following items of note:

· Ellis Hollow Road - It was reported that Fisher Associates performed engineering work on this project prior to its cancellation and presently is owed $26,000 for these services.  Mr. Messmer explained that it would be paid from Highway Materials and that a resolution would be brought to a future Committee meeting requesting that the Division's budget be reimbursed from the Contingency Fund.  The Committee recommended that in the future this type of payment should always be made from the Contingent Fund and should not be paid for through the Highway Materials budget.  It was noted that future work on this road would be preceded by public meetings.

· Champlin Road - This project is underway, with one-half the bridge removed.  A delay is presently taking place due to nesting birds in the other portion of the bridge.  A wildlife rehabilitation specialist will assist in removal of the nest.  A suggestion was made to contact the Ornithology Lab for assistance.
 
· Beach Road - The abutments are completed at this time.  The Committee stressed the importance of limiting the County contribution to a total of $10,000, noting the unspent balance of the County contribution is $263.

· McLean - Cortland Road  - The drainage improvements work is ongoing, and it is anticipated that the lane work will shortly take place.

· Lounsbery Bridge - Rock anchors were started.  However, work on this project is temporarily delayed due to extreme storm activity.

· Uninitiated FHWA-Funded Projects - It was noted that New York State Department of Transportation will not authorize the County to locally administer these projects until Federal funding obligations are finalized.

11)  Solid Waste Tire Recycling

 Ms. Kiefer informed the Committee of a one-day collection at the Town of Lansing Highway barns, noting that it would be advisable to advertise this at the Solid Waste facility.  Ms. Kiefer said that tires on rims would be accepted.

12)  Adjournment

 The meeting adjourned at 3:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Karen Fuller, Deputy Clerk, Tompkins County Legislature