Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Study session recap: Sept. 23, 2013

(STILLWATER, OKLA. / Posted Sept. 24, 2013) - The Stillwater City Council met for a study session in room 2073 in the Stillwater Municipal Building on Monday, Sept. 23, 2013. (View the meeting agenda here)

Presentation by CFO Marcy Lamb on Public Debt Financing
The City's Chief Financial Officer Marcy Lamb conducted a approximately 50-minute presentation on the processes on issuing municipal debt. Mayor, councilor, City staff and members of the audience listened to information about why municipalities issue debt, the difference between revenue bonds verses general obligation bonds and their advantages and disadvantages. Also, Lamb talked about the personnel who are involved in the financing process and the types of bond documents included in the process.


No action was taken. All councilors were present except for Councilor Cody Scott.

Adjournment was approved 4-0.

END

Recap by Blake Schaich, Marketing and Public Relations.


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Next City Council work session is Oct. 7, 2013, beginning at 5:30 p.m. This meeting will be televised on Suddenlink channel 23 and AT&T U-verse channel 99).  Click here for agendas


Watch the City Council Meetings:  Videos of Stillwater City Council meetings are made available on the City of Stillwater's YouTube.com channel within five days of the meeting. You can watch the meetings live on City of Stillwater Television (Suddenlink channel 23 and AT&T U-verse channel 99).

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Meeting Recap: September 16, 2013

Note: Items of discussion in this recap includes a link indexed to that portion of the City Council meeting replay. Click on bold headers that are linked to view that portion of the video.
(STILLWATER, OKLA. / Posted Sept. 18, 2013) - The Stillwater City Council met for its regular meeting Monday, Sept. 16, 2013. (View the meeting agenda here)

Pledge of Allegiance
a. Presented by Abigail Alred, Stillwater High School senior and national FCCLA vice president of community service.

Proclamations & Presentations
a. National Adult Day Services Week
b. Drive 4 Pledges Day - September 19, 2013
c. Constitution Week
View Proclamation photos here.

Consent Docket
a. Approval of minutes: Regular meeting, Sept. 5, 2013; Executive Session, Sept. 5, 2013
b. Library Trust annual report
c. Bid recommendation for the repair of tennis courts (CC-13-78)
d. Budget amendments reflecting revenue and expenditure of a $75,000 grant from Oklahoma Department of Libraries toward the purchase of downloadable books and audios for statewide OK Virtual Library consortium.

Council approved Consent Docket 5-0.
a. Receive public comments regarding a request from Progress Builders for a map amendment for a preliminary planned unit development at 1400 N. Boomer Road (Postponed from Sept. 5, 2013) (See staff memo to postpone to Oct. 7, 2013)

Council moved to postpone item 'a' 5-0.

General Orders
a. Bid results for the west college sewer line replacement project, phase I (CC-13-77)

Brandon Neal, Water Utilities engineer, presented the bid results for the sewer line replacement project to the Council. Neal started with a recap on the location and details of the project. The project is a complete sewer system replacement project for the area bounded by Sixth and University avenues and Walnut and Blakeley streets plus the additional replacement of a trunk line from Blakeley to Jefferson streets.

Neal said Water Utilities advertised for bids in accordance with the purchasing manual and the requirements for the Community Development Block Grant (CBDG) project. Eleven eligible bidders came to the prebid meeting and received one bid. Neal said the bid came in higher than the engineers' original estimate. After asking former bid candidates what they thought of the project, Neal said one of the issues with the project was a matter of timing the City's project with other projects, which explains the one bid. 

Councilor Joe Weaver asked Neal when Water Utilities is planning to start the project. Neal said the project will begin after Oklahoma State University homecoming (after Oct. 19, 2013).

Neal said another unusual aspect about this project is that it includes plumbing work. Because the project moves services lines, Water Utilities will have to reroute affected residents' service lines from their backyards to front yards. There are also challenges in it being a heavy traffic area, school being in session and working within the scheduling restraints of the CBDG grant.

Councilor Gina Noble asked what restraints the CDBG enforces to the time period of the project. Valerie Silvers, grants coordinator for the City of Stillwater, said the grant must be 100 percent expended by August 2014.

Neal said that although the bid price was higher than expected it appears to be a real price and that it doesn't appear that the City would get a better price if it came back to do the project. The City of Stillwater has not worked with McGuire Brothers in the past but Neal said they came well recommended by the City engineer and the bid met all the requirements of the contract documents. Neal said the City engineer also recommended in writing that the Council award the contract to McGuire Brothers.

Councilor Cody Scott asked if it were a possibility for the City to split up the plumbing work and contracting work to reduce costs or if it was necessary to engineer them together. Neal said the City looked at a similar option but one of the key benefits of going to one contractor is that the contractor has sole responsibility of the destiny of the project. Also, to qualify for  reimbursement from the CDBG project, the customers have to take benefit of the improvement, meaning the pipeline must be constructed and the service line must be done. Neal said having two contractors working in the same arena toward the same deadline could work but is not as simple as having only one to rely on to finish the project by the CDBG deadline.

Neal said the budget unallocated in the waste water capital fund plus the CDBG grant combined is not sufficient to conduct the project. Neal requested an additional amount of about $800,000 to complete the project. Neal said Water Utilities is proposing using funds allocated to three other projects to revise the budget to fund the west college capital project. Neal said Water Utilities would move on to the other projects when the waste water capital fund builds back up from the rate increase money.

Councilor Weaver asked what the other three projects were. Neal said the first project is the miscellaneous sewer line replacement project, the second is the Doty-Stallard sewer line replacement project and the third is the Ramsey-Hester sewer line replacement project.

Councilor Weaver asked if the miscellaneous sewer line replacement source included the funding for emergency sewer line repairs or replacements or if there was another fund to cover emergency issues. Stillwater Utilities Authority Director Dan Blankenship said those events where operational and are budgeted into the waste water operation budget. Neal said the miscellaneous sewer line replacement source includes multiple locations for repairs and some require deep excavations which are not suited to City crews and require outside contracted help. 

Mayor John Bartley asked if it was fair to assume from the staff recommendation that the west college sewer line replacement project is a higher priority to finish with the CDBG grant fund in place of the other projects. Neal affirmed Mayor Bartley's question, CDBG notwithstanding. 

City Manager Dan Galloway said it is one of the City's higher priority areas that need to be refurbished. Galloway said the bid would be the same with or without the CDBG grant and taking advantage of the savings from using it is another priority. Galloway said the additional funding is still from the capital improvement fund for sewer but is just reshuffled. Galloway said the City will recover the funding and be back on track in a few months.

Councilor Scott asked how soon the additional projects were anticipated to start. Neal said Water Utilities is still planning to advertise for bids on the miscellaneous sewer line replacement projects later this year. The other two projects were a few months out but an engineer has yet to be selected. 

Councilor Scott inquired to the Council if there was another way to help fund the project without taking funding from the other three projects. 

Councilor Noble reaffirmed that it was staff recommendation to postpone the other three projects to help fund the west college sewer line replacement project. Neal confirmed Councilor Noble's question.

Councilor Weaver asked what sewer line disruption residents would face during the project. Neal said the old line will remain in service during construction of the new line. Customers may experience shut off for a few hours when the new line is connected to the pre-existing line.

Staff recommended that Council authorize the use of the $117,059 CDBG funds for a portion of the work of the subject project, that the contract be awarded to McGuire Brothers Construction Inc., authorize staff to execute the construction contract in the amount of $2,372,451, authorize expenditures up to $2,633,421 for the completion of the project, including contingency and other miscellaneous costs (will be addressed in Stillwater Utilities Authority as well).

Council moved to approve staff recommendation 5-0.

a. (first reading)
i) Ordinance No. 3240: An ordinance authorizing the sale of a certain parcel of property located at 4220 N. Perkins Road; providing for citizen initiated referendum of said sale in accordance with section 4-2 of the city charter (read title only).

Council approved 5-0.

b. (second reading)
i) Ordinance No. 3238: An ordinance closing utility easements at a property addressed as 711 W. Peaceable Acres Road.

Council approved 5-0.

ii) Ordinance No. 3239: An ordinance rezoning a tract of land located at 4599 N. Washington St. from CB-PUD, commercial business planned unit development, to RTM-PUD, two family and multi-family planned unit development.

Council approved 5-0.

Reports from Officers and Boards
City Manager Galloway - Said he would be in Tulsa for about two and a half days this week representing Stillwater in the Oklahoma Municipal League's annual conference. Next week he will attend the International City Manager's Association conference Monday through Wednesday.

Mayor Bartley - Wished Councilor Weaver a happy birthday and announced that Councilor Weaver would be on Radio KSPI 780 at 8:15 a.m. and that Mayor Bartley would be on Triple Play Radio Thursday and next Tuesday. 

City Council is adjourned; Stillwater Utilities Authority is called to order.

Consent Docket
a. Approval of minutes: Regular Meeting, Sept. 5, 2013

Trustees approved 4-1. Councilor Weaver abstained.

General Orders
a. Bid results for the west college sewer line replacement project, phase I (SUA-13-36)

Trustees approved 4-1. Councilor Scott voted 'No'.
SUA is adjourned: Stillwater Economic Development Authority is called to order.

a. Regular Meeting: Aug. 13, 2013
b. Executive Session: Aug. 13, 2013

Council approved 5-0.
a. Request for an executive session pursuant to 25 0.S. 307 (C) (10) for the purpose of considering a Business Improvement District #1 business development advance incentive agreement between Stillwater Economic Development Authority and Odd Fellows Group, LLC.

Mayor Bartley confirmed with City Manager Galloway that an executive session was not necessary for item 'a' and that a presentation would be given instead. Galloway said the discussion was fairly brief. Galloway said the Business Improvement District #1 has a standing policy that if a newly created or expanding business can apply for an incentive development of either a sales tax rebate or, if they own the property, grant the BID mortgage on the property they can qualify for an upfront interest loan that will be repaid by the sales tax rebate.

Ford Development, LLC and Stone Development, LLC have formed a new corporation called Odd Fellows Group, LLC, named after the Odd Fellows building at the corner of Fifth and Main, which they have purchased. Galloway said it would house Keystone Food Services, a retail sales tax generating business. Galloway said they have applied for a $42,500 incentive agreement which is for the development of parking facilities on the north side of the property and repaving the parking facilities on the west side.

Galloway said the agreement would be that of the new sales tax generated, an amount equal to one percent of the sales tax would go to defray the loan over a period of five years. At the end of five years, if they have not generated enough new sales to retire the debt, the balance would be due in pay to the City with an interest rate of two percent.  

Galloway requested the SEDA Council prepare the agreement and authorize its signature.

Councilor Weaver asked where the existing food business is currently located. Galloway said he did not remember the exact address but that the City has authorized their tax returns and that they do catering food services for OSU and the University of Oklahoma as well across the state. Galloway said only the sales that occur in Stillwater are the basis of the agreement.

Councilor Noble asked if this would be the company's second location or new location. Galloway said the company is expanding and it would be its new location.

Council approved request 5-0.

SEDA is adjourned


END


Recap by Meagan Kascsak, Marketing and Public Relations.


*****

Next City Council work session is Sept. 23, 2013, beginning at 5:30 p.m. This meeting will not be televised.  Click here for agendas


Watch the City Council Meetings:  Videos of Stillwater City Council meetings are made available on the City of Stillwater's YouTube.com channel within five days of the meeting. You can watch the meetings live on City of Stillwater Television (Suddenlink channel 23 and AT&T U-verse channel 99).

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Meeting Recap: September 5, 2013

Note: Items of discussion in this recap includes a link indexed to that portion of the City Council meeting replay. Click on bold headers that are linked to view that portion of the video.
(STILLWATER, OKLA. / Posted Sept. 7, 2013) - The Stillwater City Council met for its regular meeting Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013. (View the meeting agenda here)

Note: Councilors Cody Scott and Joe Weaver were not present at the Sept. 5, 2013, City Council and Stillwater Utilities Authority meetings.

Pledge of Allegiance
a. Presented by McKenzi Ormsbee, Stillwater High School Student Council vice president

Proclamations & Presentations
a. National Recovery Month
b.Recognition of Waste Management employee Matt Anson

View Proclamation photos here.
Consent Docket
a. Approval of minutes: Regular meeting, Aug. 19, 2013

Consent Docket approved by Council 3-0.

Public Hearings
a. Receive public comments regarding a request from Progress Builders for a map amendment for a preliminary planned unit development at 1400 N. Boomer Road (See staff memo to postpone this item to Sept. 16, 2013).
Council moved to postpone item 'a' 3-0.
b. Receive public comments regarding a request for a text amendment to the City of Stillwater land development code (See staff memo to dismiss this item).


General Orders
a. City of Stillwater quarterly financial reports (CC-13-76)

Marcy Lamb, chief financial officer for the City of Stillwater, addressed the Council on the City's fourth quarter performance of the fiscal year 2012-2013.

b. Design contract for reconstruction/maintenance of city bridges (CC-13-74)

Transportation Department Manager Jason Peek, Ph.D., led the Council through a presentation for a recommended design contract award to BKL Inc. to provide professional services on the maintenance of city bridges. The recommendation includes projects regarding potential reconstruction or rehabilitation of bridges and multiple bridge maintenance for six selected bridges.

Council moved to approve staff recommendation 3-0.

c. License agreement between the City of Stillwater and the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety (CC-13-75)

External Services Director John McClenny addressed the Council on an agreement between the City of Stillwater and the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety (DPS) to renovate an unused portion of the old naval reserve center at Couch Park for the DPS to operate drivers' license testing five days a week and to share a portion of the parking lot at Whittenberg Park for commercial license testing in exchange for a monthly license fee to the City of Stillwater. The DPS will also provide commercial license testing at a minimum of three days a week at the renovated facility. Staff recommended the Council to budget some of the unanticipated revenue received from water sales at Lake McMurtry to fund the renovation of the facility.

Council moved to approve the budget amendment and the agreement 3-0.

d. Operations agreement between the City of Stillwater and the Stillwater Area Sports Association (CC-13-73)

McClenny informed the Council on the formation of an agreement between the City of Stillwater and the Stillwater Area Sports Association (SASA) since the group's presentation to the Councl in July. McClenny noted some of the high points of the agreement and the City's obligations in the agreement and said the City already has the funding to fund the agreement in the fiscal year budget this year. Staff recommended the Council approve the operations agreement. 

Mayor John Bartley asked McClenny if the $75,000 the City of Stillwater would provide SASA for the first quarter is less than what the City would pay if it were operating the youth and adult sports program alone. McClenny confirmed that it would be less. 

Mayor Bartley also asked if McClenny felt assured the agreement had recreational sports programming available to children. McClenny replied that availability to recreational sports programming was part of the discussions and philosophical approach of SASA and that the City Attorney made sure to word the agreement to include access to recreational sports programming.

Council moved to approve the operations agreement 3-0.

e. Letter of intent between Oklahoma Commissioners of Land Office and City of Stillwater for exchange of properties located near the intersections of Jardot and Airport Roads and Perkins and Airport Roads.

Stillwater Utilities Authority Director Dan Blankenship addressed the Council regarding the letter of intent. Blankenship said it was an interim step in the process of land exchange for the City's power generation station and said it is standard practice to enter into a letter of intent with the Oklahoma Commissioners of Land Office for this situation. Blankenship said the letter of intent does not obligate the City but lays out the general terms of the agreement by allowing the mayor to sign the letter of intent to begin the process of swapping the land in the future. Staff recommended the Council approve the mayor to sign the letter of intent.

Council moved to approve staff recommendation 3-0.

a. (first reading)
i) Ordinance No. 3238: An ordinance closing utility easements at a property addressed as 711 W. Peaceable Acres Road.

Council approved 3-0.

ii) Ordinance No. 3239: An ordinance rezoning a tract of land located at 4599 N. Washington St. from CB-PUD, commercial business planned unit development, to RTM-PUD, two family and multi-family planned unit development.

Council approved 3-0.

b. (second reading)
i) Ordinance No. 3237: An ordinance amending the Stillwater Municipal Code by repealing chapter 39, taxation, article III, sales and use tax, division 6, transportation sales tax, sections 39-238 to 39-246, to create the "2013 Transportation Sales Tax" ordinance levying a sales tax of one percent (1%); providing an effective date; designation projects on which revenues can be expended; providing for definitions, exemptions and administrative procedures; and providing for payment of obligations incurred under Ordinance No. 2923, "2006 Transportation Sales Tax."

City Manager Dan Galloway noted the ordinance could be approved by Council but would not take effect unless the ordinance is approved by the public during election day on Nov. 12, 2013.

Council approved 3-0.

Reports from Officers and Boards
City Attorney John Dorman - Request for an Executive Session pursuant to 25 O.S. 307 (B)(4) for the purpose of confidential communication with the City Attorney regarding a pending workers' compensation claim filed by Stephen H. Hall. It is the opinion of the City Attorney that public disclosure of this matter will seriously impair the ability of the City Council to process this claim and/or conduct an investigation and/or to prosecute/defend any resulting litigation or proceeding in the public interest.

Mayor Bartley - Noted that Vice Mayor Chuck Hopkins would be on The Bill Van Ness Show Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 8:15 a.m., KSPI 780.

City Council is recessed; Stillwater Utilities Authority is called to order.

Consent Docket
a. Approval of minutes: Regular Meeting Aug. 19, 2013
b. Contract extension for uniform rental services (SUA-13-35)

Trustees approved Consent Docket 3-0.

Resolutions
a. Resolution SUA-2013-4: A resolution amending the City of Stillwater residential waste collection rate structure

Waste Management Manager Chris Knight informed the Trustees on requests from customers outside city limits on having another option than 96-gallon carts on trash cart size now that the City is offering curbside recycling. Knight said the amendment allows outside customers to choose from the three cart sizes and offers price break incentives similar to those customers inside city limits receive. Staff recommended the Trustees approve the new rate structure for residential trash service. 

Trustees approved staff recommendation 3-0. 


SUA is adjourned. City Council is reconvened. 

Executive Session
Councilor Gina Noble moved to enter into executive session. Vice Mayor Hopkins seconded the motion.

Council approved Executive Session 3-0.

Return From Executive Session

Council approved item 3-0.


END


Recap by Meagan Kascsak, Marketing and Public Relations.


*****

Next City Council meeting is Sept. 16, 2013, beginning at 5:30 p.m. This meeting will be televised.  Click here for agendas


Watch the City Council Meetings:  Videos of Stillwater City Council meetings are made available on the City of Stillwater's YouTube.com channel within five days of the meeting. You can watch the meetings live on City of Stillwater Television (Suddenlink channel 23 and AT&T U-verse channel 99).