HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/17/95COUNCIL WORK SESSION
April 17, 1995
4:45 p.m.
Large Conference Room
Members present: Mayor Rooff, Anders, Jordan, Murphy, Getty,
Krizek, Collier, Mollenhoff.
Moved by Murphy, seconded by Collier that the Agenda, as proposed,
be approved. Ayes: Six. Absent: Mollenhoff. Motion carried.
Administrative Director Bob Stevenson requested this session to
update the Mayor and Council on the progression of the Wastewater
Treatment Facility project. The EPA agreement and addendum was
approved by Council action and the agreement was accepted by the
EPA. The addendum required additional support documents and those
have been provided and are now being reviewed. The satellite
project design has been reviewed and only minor changes have been
requested by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, all of which
are easily attainable.
Rust Environment and Infrastructure staff was in attendance to
review the progress to date on each project and provide information
about the partnering process.
Councilperson Mollenhoff now in attendance at 4:50 p.m.
Bob Bamsey summarized some of the decisions reached by the
partnering group that have impacted the project. The group agreed
to move from a gravity thickening process to a belt thickening
process which will result in some cost savings by not requiring a
new digester. Larry Smith, Collection Systems Supervisor,
requested that the design implement a change from a force main to
a gravity main and move the proposed pump station to the plant.
The engineers have reviewed this request and support the change.
The partnering group changed the design to include just one river
diffuser, design the resulting Expanded Phase I and design the
construction of a new administration building.
Plan designs were presented for the satellite project and the river
diffusion. The river diffuser will diffuse flow from both the
satellite facility and the old treatment plant. Discharge will be
spread across the width of the river to help dilute the ammonia
levels. The diffuser is a 48 inch diameter pipe with 36 open
discharge points and another 50 points capped but available for use
if the current shifts. The flow discharge pipes are installed at
a thirty degree angle to allow the river current to facilitate the
discharge process. This section of the river will be posted with
warning signs for boaters during low flow conditions. RUST will be
recommending that this project be constructed starting in November.
This would assist the contractor in establishing the dams needed
for construction during the lowest river level season.
The satellite plant design has been submitted to the consultants
design review section and should be ready for submittal according
to schedule. RUST provided a schedule comparing the current and
projected flows and loadings.
An architectural rendering of the Administration Building was
presented. The building will contain administrative offices,
meeting rooms, control rooms and the laboratory.
The wetlands mitigation process has been completed and the
historical and archeological compliance process is near completion.
The interceptor project design is scheduled for a June submittal.
It combines some projects lower in priority into this project such
as the pump station construction. Updated costs for the projects
designed for completion to date are:
Council Work Session
April 17, 1995
Page 2
Project
Expanded Phase I
Includes Administration
Satellite Interceptor
Satellite Pump Station
Diffuser
Flow Equalization
Biogas Recovery
Construction Costs
$16,500,000
$ 4,190,000
$ 1,084,000
833,000
$ 5,124,000
$ 3,000,000
These figures represent a decrease in estimated construction costs
from the initial RFP.
RUST has reviewed the energy study and a substantial amount of
energy will be available for recovery. Energy recovery funds
should be available to supplement the investment in biogas
recovery.
Mayor Rooff requested that City staff and RUST help each other in
evaluating the effects on the design by ongoing plant improvements.
Attorney Jim Walsh reminded the Council that there will be ongoing
compliance issues for the City to deal with until a substantial
portion of the work is completed and the new plant is online.
With no further discussion it was moved by Getty, seconded by
Jordan that the meeting be adjourned at 5:20 p.m. Ayes: Seven.
Motion carried.
Susan Fangman
City Clerk
COUNCIL WORK SESSION
April 17, 1995
5:15 p.m.
Large Conference Room
Members present: Mayor Rooff, Anders, Jordan, Murphy, Getty,
Krizek, Collier, Mollenhoff.
Moved by Krizek, seconded by Murphy that the Agenda, as proposed,
be approved. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried.
The Council reviewed three options that are being considered for
providing management information services.
Option one is to make no changes to the current policy and continue
with the Computer Technical Review Committee approval for
purchases.
Option two is to utilize current staff to reorganize into a
Management Information Systems department. The systems manager in
the police and planning departments may be able to provide this
service if they are allowed to dedicate full time to computer
services. Currently the systems manager in the police department
is working approximately half time on systems management and the
other half is spent supervising records personnel. Total costs
estimates for establishing a Management Information Services
department using option two would be an additional cost of $14,886.
The third option is to hire a MIS director and systems analyst to
work full time on managing the system, analyzing needs and
providing technical support and training. This would have an
impact on the budget of approximately $96,000. It is recommended
that the costs would be proportioned out to each department as
services would be provided city-wide.
Councilperson Anders stated his recommendation that a manager and
systems analyst are necessary to provide quality systems
management. McGladrey & Pullan reported that they could provide
any part of the systems management function from the employee
search to systems evaluation and long range planning efforts. He
recommends that funding sources should reflect an allocation of
costs to each department because all will benefit from the
services.
Councilperson Krizek reported that the need to establish a
management information department has been recommended by the
Budget Review Committee, Computer Technical Review Committee and
the City Councilmembers on the CTRC.
Discussion was heard on the possibility of hiring internally versus
externally. Councilperson Mollenhoff expressed his opinion that
hiring externally generally gives you the widest range of
experience which is important in this position.
Councilperson Anders stated that the options presented don't
include any costs for consultant fees and in all probability a
consultant would be needed. McGladrey & Pullan estimated with the
qualifications the City needs the MIS manager should cost between
forty and forty-five thousand dollars. Councilperson Murphy
expressed his concern that funding needs to be identified before
any further action is taken.
Mayor Rooff brought up the possibility of consolidating services
with the County. The CTRC did discuss this possibility but it was
determined that the County doesn't currently have the staff to
accommodate our needs. Councilperson Krizek explained that it was
the general consensus to move ahead with a long range planning
policy for computerization and the most expeditious manner to do
that is to hire a Management Information Systems Manager.
Councilperson Getty recommended that a third party consultant
Council Work Session
April 17, 1995
Page 2
Councilperson Getty recommended that a third party consultant
should come in and complete a needs analysis before hiring is
approved. Mayor Rooff agreed that planning needs to be done to
move the City's systems into the twentieth century and suggested
the hiring of a consultant could accomplish this. It was requested
that the CTRC evaluate another local vendor as a consultant and
report back to the council.
With no further business before the council, it was moved by Getty,
seconded by Jordan that the meeting be adjourned at 5:55 p.m.
Ayes: Seven. Motion carried.
Susan Fangman
City Clerk