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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06.26.2008• • June 26, 2008 The Council of the City of Waterloo, Iowa, met in Special Session at City Hall Council Chambers, Waterloo, Iowa, at 1:00 p.m., on Thursday, June 26, 2008. Mayor Timothy J. Hurley in the Chair. Roll Call: Cole, Getty, Hart, Greenwood, Steve Schmitt, Welper, Reggie Schmitt. 127397 Reggie Schmitt/Steve Schmitt that the Agenda, as amended, for the Special Session on Thursday, June 26, 2008, at 1:00 p.m., be accepted and approved. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. 127398 - Reggie Schmitt/Welper that copies of Call for Special Session on Thursday, June 26, 2008, at 1:00 p.m., be received and placed on file. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried. DOCUMENTS 127399 - Reggie Schmitt/Welper that "Resolution approving bills payment in the amount of $202,635.07 to First Administrators, Inc.", be adopted. Ayes: Seven. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-563. 127400 - Cole/Reggie Schmitt that Professional Services Contract with Beck Disaster Recovery, Inc. of Orlando, Florida for engineering consulting services related to public assistance flood recovery efforts to allocate for only items covered by FEMA with city's cost not to exceed $25,000.00 and all other items to come back to council for approval, be received, placed on file and "Resolution approving said contract", be adopted and Mayor authorized to exceed same. Prior to a vote on the above motion, the following comments were heard. Mayor Hurley reported that he was contacted by Jon Hoyle, Vice President of Beck Disaster Recovery, Inc., to monitor the contract the city has with Ceres Environmental for flood debris removal. Beck Disaster Recovery, Inc. (BDR) will help the city maximize any payments eligible from FEMA. Jon Hoyle, Vice President of Beck Disaster Recovery, Inc., explained that they contract with cities who have had major disasters. BDR provides professional services with expertise in accounting and finance work to augment debris removal. They ensure that the paperwork and documents are in place for federal and state review. BDR also helps to identify other funding sources. Mr. Hoyle noted that they provide services on an hourly basis, and that cost is reimbursable at a rate of 75 percent FEMA, 10 percent State and 15 percent local. Mr. Hoyle explained that they are proposing an ala carte contract, so that Mayor Hurley and city staff can decide what part of the services the city wants to use. Mayor Hurley noted that this is a professional services agreement, so the city was not required to competitively bid. Eric Thorson, City Engineer, reported that since it is an ala carte contract, they will look over things that will save staff time. At this time, the debris removal contract has one team in town and the engineering department has one engineering tech monitoring them. If the debris contractor bring in more teams, the engineering department would not have enough people to oversee them. Jamie Knutson, Associate Engineer, is working with the FEMA people. Councilperson Steve Schmitt stated that it was his understanding that the agreement approved on Monday night with Ceres for debris removal was per tonnage, so he thought there would be measurable means in place. Mr. Thorson responded that Ceres has a good ticket system, but FEMA requires that the city monitor them. Mayor Hurley reported that FEMA will audit what is submitted by the city, and it is important that we have documentation. Mayor Hurley stated that 90 percent of the debris is done by volume. June 26, 2008 Page 2 Documents - continued Councilperson Steve Schmitt asked if this work is strictly for the city and not businesses or citizens. Mayor Hurley responded that the city probably could add commercial, but Ceres is doing curbside debris pickup for residents and public infrastructure. Whether the city can do debris pickup for businesses is a question for Mr. Hoyle to find out from FEMA. Councilperson Steve Schmitt stated that he has heard stories of individuals receiving checks, but businesses are overwhelmed with paperwork and are not receiving any funds. Mayor Hurley responded that commercial reimbursement is a topic for FEMA. Mr. Hoyle noted that BDR provides case counselors to help with the paperwork, but that is not reimbursable and the city would have to pay in full. Mr. Hoyle explained that they worked with Parkersburg to get some commercial debris eligible for FEMA because it was a nuisance and threatened the public health. Mr. Hoyle noted that a request would have to be submitted to FEMA for eligibility for commercial debris pickup. Councilperson Steve Schmitt stated that concerning the Small Business Administration and FEMA he has a problem with using taxpayers' money to get taxpayers' money. Michelle Weidner, Chief Financial Officer, reported that the Small Business Administration and FEMA have specialists to help businesses. Councilperson Reggie Schmitt noted that this agreement is to contract our administrative services, and if done correctly the contract with BDR is totally reimbursable from FEMA, and BDR also can provide additional services. Mr. Hoyle responded that they would notify the city of any services not reimbursable from FEMA. The public assistance program says the city is eligible, but the city is responsible to see that the funds are spent appropriately. Councilperson Hart stated that according to page 3 of the document, the debris removal would be reimbursed up to $1 million, and he asked if the city does not use BDRs services would we still be reimbursed. Ms. Weidner responded that getting reimbursed from FEMA has nothing to do with this contract. Councilperson Hart commented that his understanding is that contracting with this company is to make sure that the city keeps things in order for FEMA. Councilperson Reggie Schmitt stated that BDR will make sure that all our Ts are cross and our Is are dotted. Councilperson Hart noted that the debris company's contract does provide for recordkeeping. Mr. Weidner responded that FEMA requires someone to monitor the debris removal, either the city or a firm like BDR. Noel Anderson, Community Planning and Development Director, asked if BDR helps cities with small businesses, such as in the Brownfields, to find additional funding. Mr. Hoyle responded to the extent the city needs that. The city could do in -kind services or use volunteer hours for those who helped with the sandbagging. Mr. Hoyle stated there are various ways to reduce the city's burden, but that service would not be FEMA reimbursable. Councilperson Getty stated he is against this contract. The city hired Ceres and now Mayor Hurley says we have to have someone to watch over the debris removal. Councilperson Getty stated he feels the city has enough staff to keep an eye on Ceres and monitor the loads and make sure it is flood related. Mayor Hurley noted that not all city staff is available nor trained for this kind of work. Mr. Hoyle stated the hourly fee is to provide the personnel to help verify invoices and trip tickets. Councilperson Getty stated that he feels this is money the city does not need to spend. .4 • • • June 26, 2008 Page 3 Documents - continued Councilperson Greenwood stated that he recognizes that the city has to know how to bill in order to maximize our return. We have a Senator who lives 25 miles from here and he knows about the devastation. It looks like the city will need another company to make sure Ceres is performing. Councilperson Greenwood stated he feels FEMA should be helping the city fill out our forms. The city is trying to mitigate its damages, and if the bureaucracy is that large there is something wrong with the system. Mayor Hurley stated that he has been told stories about companies getting paid for more than the services they provided. Councilperson Cole stated she concurs with Councilperson Greenwood that we have one of the most powerful senators living in New Hartford and another senator in Cedar Terrace who is very important. Councilperson Cole stated she feels there is something wrong with the system when we have to go to a private company to deal with another company. As bad as things are here, we are not dealing with the scope of Katrina. Councilperson Cole suggested that an alternative would be for Mr. Thorson to hire a local firm to supervise our debris removal contractor. Councilperson Reggie Schmitt stated that there might be a lot of paperwork, and the city needs to hire BDR or whatever company to protect ourselves. Mayor Hurley stated that we have no idea what is coming at us in red tape. They are going to want to know how many homes and the assessed value. Lou Cutwright, Building Official/Maintenance Administrator, reported that there are 534 properties that have been affected by the flood, and they have performed 856 flood related inspections on these properties. Councilperson Welper noted that he was against this contract until he heard what was said today. It is too late to change what FEMA is doing or not doing, it involves paperwork and personnel. The city is shorthanded, and he sees this as an opportunity for the city to get help. Mayor Hurley noted that the contact allows for the city to commit to a minimum of service with options to pick other services if needed. Councilperson Hart stated that it looks like there are two areas that will be covered by BDR: monitoring of debris pickup and accurate record documentation to complete FEMA paperwork. Mr. Hoyle stated that if the city contracts simply for monitoring that would be the positions at the two lowest rates. FEMA paperwork is similar to the IRS tax papers, with the simple form we can do ourselves. With a large scale disaster, the paperwork is more complicated, and that is when a business would get an accountant because it saves money for any mistakes. Councilperson Hart noted that the cost for monitoring is $45.26 and $41.96 per hour, and that if that is the area the city needs those would be the folks we would get. Mr. Hoyle responded that he believes it would be the $41.96 per hours, as he doesn't believe the city will need anyone on the tower, just to monitor the scale tickets. Councilperson Hart stated that he is hearing that the city's most immediate needs are communication with FEMA, documentation and making sure the city fills out the proper paperwork. Councilperson Greenwood stated that it sounds like BDR has a good relationship with FEMA and asked if BDR is an advocate or advisory for FEMA. Mr. Hoyle responded that usually at the local level, they have a cooperative relationship. FEMA has contracts with folks who help save FEMA money. FEMA wants to give everything legal to the city. Councilperson Getty asked if the Board of Supervisors is contracting with BDR. Mr. Hoyle responded he has met with Frank Magsamen. Mr. Anderson stated that he feels the city needs BDRs expertise to find funding sources for citizens for help with their repairs. Councilperson Getty called the question. June 26, 2008 Page 4 Documents - continued Following comments a vote was taken on the above motion with the following result. Ayes: Five. Nays: Getty, Steve Schmitt. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2008-564. Councilmembers briefly discussed waiver of building permit fees and took no formal action. Lou Cutwright, Building Official/Maintenance Administrator, reported there are lots of things to take into consideration regarding the building permits. The city has already issued 400 permits where they have paid fees to the contractor. Do we go back and reimburse them. Mr. Cutwright noted that staff is putting time into the inspections, and if we waive the permit fees will that staff time not be covered by FEMA. Mr. Cutwright suggested that if council decides to waive the permit fees, he would suggest only on the building permits and not on the electrical or heating permits. Mr. Cutwright noted that waiving any fees will reduce the revenue stream that pays for the inspectors. Mr. Cutwright asked how do we differentiate from a flooded basement to someone putting in an addition, do we waive those fees. Mayor Hurley stated that he had heard about other cities waiving the fees and it was just a knee jerk reaction to put this item on the agenda, and that he thinks it is premature to do anything. Mr. Cutwright stated that he received two phone calls, with one person saying they heard they did not need a building permit because of the flood. People hear no permit necessary, not waiving the fees. Getty now absent at 2:18 p.m. Councilperson Schmitt suggested that requests for rebates for permit fees and sewer fees could be processed through the Finance Committee. ADJOURNMENT 127401 - Steve Schmitt/Cole that the Council adjourn at 2:20 p.m. Ayes: Six. Absent: Getty. Motion carried. Ne t Nancy Eckert, CMC City Clerk •