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City Council - 14 April 2008 Agenda

6:30 P.M. – WORK SESSION Main Street Conference Room

7:00 P.M. - CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Nancy Harris
INVOCATION/PLEDGE:    Rev. Dick Baker
WELCOME RESIDENTS: McClure Place | Windsor Gate

 

  1. CEREMONIAL MATTERS
    1. RECOGNITION – DULUTH HS MOCK TRIAL
      Mayor Harris to recognize the Duluth High School Mock Trail Team who placed 1st in Gwinnett County and went on to win the Regional Championship. The Duluth High School Mock Trail team competed against 13 other high schools in this region in the first round of competition. With a number of outstanding attorney awards and outstanding witness awards in hand, the team finished in first place. This positioned them to move on to the state competition where 16 teams met for the finals. In addition to the great accomplishment of just rising to this level, they again received two “outstanding attorney” and one “outstanding witness” award. Further, two of the students also passed their bar exams and were admitted to the Student Bar Association.

      Team members: Lexi Anderson, Kameron Dawson, Julia Huth, Su Ji Kang, Kayla McKenzie, Ben Oakes, Matt O’Donnell, Roger Ou, Kearstin Sale, Michael Travieso, Mary Thumaty, Jeff Tinsley, Sujith Vadlamudi, Taylor Weaver, Marcus Wells, Montana Wong and Serena Zhang, led by Tracie Cason, David Cason, Evan Mermelstein, Mary Ann Meeks and Sarah Eddy.
    2. PRESENTATION OF DONATION - AMERICAN LEGION RIDERS
      Mayor Harris to welcome and acknowledge The American Legion Riders: Rick Griepentrog, Leonard Sobczynski, Don Harshbarger, Tom Kososki and Jim A. Lefty. Each year this group of outstanding men and women known as the American Legion Riders conduct an annual ride to help raise funds for a worthy cause. This year we are honored that they selected the City’s Living Memorial Design/Build Fund. The Living Memorial is being built to honor those who are currently serving and protecting all citizens in areas of Law Enforcement, Fire/EMT’s and the Military. They are here tonight to present to the City a donation in the amount of $2,251 and letters of appreciation to the City, as well as to Police Chief Randy Belcher.
    3. APPRECIATION FOR SERVICE - AWARDS
      Mayor Harris to present a plaque in appreciation to Municipal Court Judge Steven Leibel. Judge Leibel was first appointed in January of 2000, and has served the City with high ethical standards and distinction. The Court thanks him, and extends to him best wishes in his future pursuits.

      Mayor Harris to present a plaque in appreciation to Downtown Development Authority member Terrie Needham. Ms. Needham was appointed to serve from March 2007 to March 2008. She is highly regarded as a local business owner in the City’s Downtown and continues to work to further enhance the goals and visions of the City and DDA. The City and DDA Board extends to her their gratitude for her continuous support in helping to fulfill the goals and visions for a prosperous downtown.

      Mayor Harris to present a plaque in appreciation to Greg Whitlock for his service to the Downtown Development Authority and as a member of the Finance Committee. Mr. Whitlock was first appointed to the Downtown Development Authority June 2003 and to the Finance Committee in 2005. The City, DDA and Finance Committee members extend their gratitude for his continuous support in fulfilling the goals and visions of the City.
    4. PROCLAMATION – PATRIOT’S DAY
      Mayor Harris to proclaim April 19th as Patriot’s Day in the City of Duluth and present to members of the Piedmont Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution.
    5. PROCLAMATION – NATIONAL DONATE LIFE MONTH
      Mayor Harris to proclaim April as “National Donate Life” Month as part of a national awareness campaign for organ donation.
    6. RESOLUTION – GEORGIA CITIES WEEK
      Mayor Harris to note that, as promoted through the Georgia Municipal Association, cities across Georgia are encouraged to celebrate Georgia Cities Week from April 20-26, 2008 with the theme Living It Up Downtown. Georgia Cities Week gives cities an opportunity to share information about the valuable services cities provide to residents.
    7. OATHS OF OFFICE – CITY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
      Mayor Harris to administer Oaths of Office to the remaining board members appointed at the March 10th and 24th meetings.
  2. CONSENT AGENDA
    1. APPROVAL OF MARCH 24, 2008 MINUTES
    2. ACCEPTANCE OF DONATION – AMERICAN LEGION RIDERS
      Approval of this item accepts the donation presented by the American Legion Riders in the amount of $2,251 to be credited to the Living Memorial for account number, CA-23-07, 531/000037121.
  3. OLD BUSINESS
    1. AMENDMENT TO CO-SPONSORSHIP AGREEMENT - BRIDGEWORKS
      In the co-sponsorship request and agreement for the Summer 2008 concert series presented to Council by Bridgeworks Productions on March 24, 2008, there was a notation that no ticket would exceed $25 for the 2008 series. Bridgeworks is currently negotiating with bigger name bands and the ticket price for those shows may possibly exceed that amount, and therefore they request that this statement be deleted out of the original proposal. Also, Bridgeworks requested clarification that Council agrees to the concert that is scheduled to be held on Saturday August 9th, since all of the other concerts are scheduled to be held on Friday evenings.

      The Mayor and Council to consider amending the agreement by striking the language on page 1, lines 12 &13 of the second paragraph for maximum ticket prices “No ticket shall exceed $25 during the year of 2008”, and further clarifies the August 9th concert as being on a Saturday in lieu of a Friday event.
  4. New Business
    1. ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE FY08 BUDGET - DONATIONS AND DAMAGE DEPOSIT
      Approval of this amendment will allow for the following changes to the budget:

      Acceptance of funds in the amount of $670.67 from the Hispanic Events Production, LLC for the replacement of two (2) tables and carpet cleaning. These funds will be placed in the Festival Center Equipment/Maintenance Line Item.
      Accept donation in the amount of $500.00 from the American Legion to help offset the cost for the purchase of Memorial Day Coins.
      Accept a $2,251 donation from the American Legion Riders for the Living Memorial.
    2. CONTINGENCY REQUEST – $55,000 - GAS/OIL/DIESEL
      Due to increases in the cost of gas and diesel and as a result of receiving late invoices (Feb – March ’07) from Gwinnett County in March of this year, a transfer from contingency MC – 02 Line Item 100-102-111057201 to GG-08 Fuel/Oil, Line Item 100-921-321053126 in the amount of $55,000 is needed to cover the current invoices plus (projected) expenditures beginning with March 2008 invoice through June 30, 2008 invoice. The city averages approximately $13,700 per month for the purchase of gas/oil and diesel.

      The City purchases the majority of it fuel from Gwinnett County. Due to operational hours of the County facility, some purchases are made at other locations (QT) due to travel, diesel purchases for equipment, etc. This request does not take into account any future increases in cost of gas/oil or diesel. This will leave a contingency balance of $78,498.
    3. AWARD OF BID – ROGERS BRIDGE GREENWAY TRAIL - CD-31-08
      The Mayor and Council to consider awarding a contract for design engineering on a portion of the Greenway Trail from Rogers Bridge along the Chattahoochee River as part of the DNR grant ($100,000) matched by the City ($100,000). The City of Duluth received nine bids . Bron Cleveland Associates evaluated all nine bids and recommended choosing one of the following three:

      Pond & Company - $39,250
      HDR Engineering, Inc – $59,000
      MA/Moreland Altobelli Associates - $27,470

      Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Chairman Wanda Bennewitz and Director Kathy Marelle evaluated the top three and recommend HDR Engineering, Inc., based upon the following qualifications.

      Experienced with multiple trail designs with parks in the area.
      Experienced with the type and magnitude of design trail that would be required on the Rogers Bridge Trail project.
      Knowledgeable on the quality standards of park trails in the area.
      Informative on the Duluth park system and the trail requirements proposed along the river.
      The price is realistic and reasonable of what is required in the project.

      The City Administrators opinion is to award the contract to Pond ($39,250) because of their slightly higher qualification score, their lower price, and their equal abilities. Both firms are felt to be qualified and have done very similar projects.
    4. AUTHORIZATION FOR PURCHASE/LINE ITEM TRANSFERS – NEW FIREARMS
      The Mayor and Council to consider authorizing the purchase of new pistols for all sworn police officers. During annual firearms inspection, it was noted that many repairs are needed on the current pistols. After research, it appears that the Smith & Wesson M7P 45acp pistol will suit the needs of most of the law enforcement officers as it is configurable by the user. The total amount of purchase is $27,007.50. There is a licensed dealer in Florida who has agreed to purchase the City’s Glock pistols for $22,000. Chief Belcher requests the Council authorize the purchase as well as the proposed line item transfers to cover the invoice. (list out)
    5. AWARD OF BID – BRANDING/MARKETING CONTRACT – GOGO CREATIVE
      The Mayor and Council to consider awarding the contract for branding the City to GoGo Creative. The City advertised and requested proposals for this contract. Approximately 22 companies submitted proposals and 4 companies were asked to come talk in more depth with City stakeholders. Staff and Council reviewed all proposals and performed reference checks. A vote was taken of Council and Department Heads and GoGo Creative was determined to be the company we would like to work with on this project.

      Staff recommends that GoGo Creative be awarded the contract in the amount of $41,500 with the option of adding additional phases after the initial Phases 1 – 4 listed in Exhibit A are complete. Partial funding is already included in the FY08 budget but it will be necessary to budget additional funds for fiscal year 2009.
  5. matters from citizens
  6. MATTERS FROM COUNCIL/DEPT HEADS/CITY ATTORNEY
  7. ADJOURNMENT

UPON ADJOURNMENT, A WORK SESSION WILL BE HELD IN THE MAIN STREET CONFERENCE ROOM. The following items will be discussed .