City of Duluth, Georgia

April 12, 2010 Agenda

AGENDA
MAYOR AND COUNCIL
CITY OF DULUTH, GA
APRIL 12, 2010

6:15P.M. – AGENDA REVIEW WORK SESSION Main Street Conference Room
6:45 P.M. – PHOTOS
7:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Harris
INVOCATION/PLEDGE: Pastor Victor Massey, Life Church

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Mayor Harris was featured in the April 2010 Q&A section of the Metro Atlanta Mayor’s Association magazine, which is an affiliate of the Georgia Municipal Association.

1. CONSENT AGENDA
   1. APPROVAL OF MARCH 8, 22 and 29th MINUTES/NOTES
   2. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING DOT CONTRACT – DAVENPORT SIDEWALK PROJECT
      Approval of this item authorizes the Mayor to enter into a contract with the Georgia Department of Transportation to certify the availability of funds to move forward with the letting/ construction of the Davenport Sidewalk project (P.I. Number 0008147), CD 23-10.
   3. ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE DULUTH CODE – FINANCE COMMITTEE
      Approval of this item approves an ordinance which corrects a previous amendment to the Duluth Code and clarifies which members are eligible for compensation.
   4. ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE DULUTH CODE – FSA MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT
      Approval of this item approves an ordinance to clarify that all mileage reimbursement will be set by ordinance in accordance with Internal Revenue Service guidelines.
   5. CONTRACT AGREEMENT – DULUTH FINE ART LEAGUE – LIVING HONORARIUM
      Approval of this item authorizes the City Administrator to execute a contract agreement with the Duluth Fine Arts League for the design/ build of the Living Honorarium (previously titled the “Living Memorial”).
   6. AUTHORIZATION AND WAIVERS – 2010 CITY EVENTS
      The following downtown events are deemed sponsored by the City of Duluth for 2010. Approval of this item waives food service requirements per Section 26-2-370 of the Official Code of GA, which exempts food vendors from having to obtain said permits provided that the event lasts 120 hours or less. It also waives signage fee and location requirements provided that the City Clerk and Public Works Director are given a list of where signs will be erected throughout the City for promotion of approved events. (Alcohol will be permitted only for events or portions of events denoted with asterisks.) The following are scheduled events thus far:

      General/Special Events:

      Duluth’s European Market (April 17th – October 16th; 3rd Saturday of each month)
      Barefoot in the Park Fine Arts Festival** (May 8th and 9th)
      Memorial Day Services (May 29th)
      Duluth Celebrates America** (Hudgens Park, July 3)
      Brown Bag Lunches (Thursdays, June 3rd – August 5th)
      Duluth Fall Festival** (September 24-26)
      Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast (Bunten Road Park, October)
      Annual Hometown Holiday Festival/Tree lighting**(December 4th and 5th).
      New Year’s Eve Extravaganza**

      Flicks on the Bricks 2010 Family Film Festival:

      June 12th
      July 10th
      August 7th
      October 2nd
      October 23rd

      SummerStage Concert Series:

      ** May 22nd
      ** June 26th
      Symphony on the Green-Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra and Chorus** (June 18th, July 16th, August 20st)
      Fall Festival Concert ** (Sept 11th)
      Music Festival** (August 28th)

   7. CONDEMNATION AUTHORIZATIONS – IRVINDALE SIDEWALK PROJECT
      Approval of this item authorizes the City Attorney to file condemnation, if necessary, for the remaining parcels needed to obtain easements for the Irvindale Sidewalk Project. Every effort has been made previously to obtain these easements. Should it become necessary to meet project deadlines, this approval authorizes that the following properties may be included in condemnation proceedings: Parcel 1: PIN 6-295-024 (Owner: Duluth Professional Park HOA), Parcel 4b: PIN 6-322-133 (Owner: RRE Howell Bridge Holdings, LLC) and Parcel 5: PIN 6-322-099 (Owner: Ernesto Martinez).
2. NEW BUSINESS
   1. AWARD OF BID – SOLID WASTE SERVICES
      Council reviewed and discussed the solid waste proposals during their work session held on March 22, 2010. Approval of this item award the City’s four year contract for solid waste services to ________ , and further authorizes the City Attorney to draft a contract agreement for the City Administrator’s execution.
   2. AWARD OF BID – SCOTT HUDGENS RESTROOM FACILITIY
      Eleven bids were received for the Scott Hudgens Park restroom facility project. Ten bids qualified and were evaluated on the following criteria; cost of services (including general conditions, overhead and profit), experience with similar projects, project time line, and references. The qualified bidders with project price and project bid score are as follows:

      Ward Construction
      $253,409.00
      17.36

      Mathias Corporation
      $247,900.00
      84.23

      Rendrag Construction Company
      $252,736.00
      14.03

      PE Structures/Artlantic, Inc.
      $318,766.36
      13.36

      McClure Design
      $311,946.00
      12.91

      John Watts Construction Inc.
      $278,946.00
      63.57

      Wells General Contractors, Inc.
      $230,860.30
      16.00

      Burrson Construction Group, Inc.
      $213,610.00
      86.17

      Reliant Construction, Inc.
      $226,500.00
      19.58

      Strickland Construction
      $334,978.00
      13.79

      **Prime Contractors did not submit all required bid documents, therefore was disqualified.

      Mathias Corporation, Burrson Construction Group, and John Watts Construction were the three most qualified bids.

      The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board reviewed the bid documents on Wednesday, April 7. The Board analyzed all bid data submitted by Hill, Foley and Rossi and recommends awarding the bid to Burrson Construction Group based on the highest score from bid tabulation and the best project price for the project.

      The City Administrator, Parks Director, and Architect interviewed Burrson to discuss and to determine bid verification with scope of project. Burrson Construction Group successfully constructed the restroom/concession facilities at Bunten Road Park and is very knowledgeable on all aspects of the Scott Hudgens project. Mathias Corporation was valued as the next most qualified bid and differed from Burrson in the project cost of an additional 30,000.00 in general conditions.

      Staff recommends the Burrson Construction Group for the Scott Hudgens Project not to exceed $213,610.

   3. AWARD OF BID – RED CLAY THEATRE DEMOLITION
      The City received four qualified bids for the Red Clay Theatre demolition project. Approval of this item awards the bid to ___________in the amount not to exceed of $___________for the demolition of a portion of the Red Clay Theatre Building located at 3116 Main Street, and to further authorize the City Administrator to enter into a contract for these services.
   4. ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE DULUTH CODE – INSOLVENCY/UNCOLLECTIBLE TAXES
      Approval of this item approves an ordinance to amend the Duluth Code authorizing the City Clerk to declare certain accounts insolvent. According to the ordinance, the attached “Insolvent List” is for taxes determined to be uncollectible for years 1986-2006 in the amount of $230,561.35. These outstanding taxes are balances owed on mobile homes, boats, large vehicles (RV’s) and business inventory taxes. Accounts are considered insolvent only after every effort within staff’s powers to collect has been exhausted. Insolvent classification occurs after the following resources have been utilized: cross checks with the Gwinnett County’s Tax Assessors’ real and personal property tax files, cross check with Occupational Taxes, Secretary of State’s files, phone company listings, Dept. of Natural Resources for Boat Registrations, and Internet websites, etc.

      Each year the City Clerk projects and budgets to collect 98% of the tax digest with a 2-3% uncollectible rate which accounts for business/inventory taxes, bankruptcies, etc. This is noted in each year’s budget summary for tax revenues. The City’s tax collection rate for the past 15 years has been at a 98% collection rate with some years at a 99% collections rate, due to immediately beginning collection procedures once the tax is considered delinquent. The fact that property taxes have been determined to be uncollectible and placed on the insolvent list shall in no way relieve the taxpayer of the obligations to pay said taxes provided that taxes are otherwise lawfully collectible under Georgia Law. The outstanding balance includes penalties and interest which accrues each month. The total tax is $118,890.10, penalty $11,858.56, interest $99,812.69.

   5. CONTINGENCY REQUEST – $72,000 – ATTORNEY FEES
      Approval of this item, transfer $72,000 from Contingency to Attorney Fees to cover the cost associated with service delivery and other legal fees.
   6. LINE ITEM TRANSFER – $431.00 – ALCOHOL BOARD SALARY
      Approval of this item transfer $431.00 from 100-1040-1330-531701 to Alcohol Board Salary and FICA line item to cover the salaries for Judge and Board members associated with “appeals hearings”.
   7. BID AWARD – STREET RESURFACING
      As the City received only one bid for street resurfacing, at this point, Staff recommended rejection of the bid and re-advertisement at a later date.
3. PUBLIC HEARING
   1. ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE DULUTH ZONING ORDINANCE- ARTICLE 24
      This public hearing is to consider an ordinance to amend the Duluth Zoning Ordinance to clarify the boundaries of the Buford Highway overlay district and better facilitate development of property carrying the M-2 (Heavy Industrial) zoning designation. The request is to alter the boundary of the Buford Highway Overlay district on its southern end. The effect of this alteration would be the removal of property known as Parcel 6-261-009 from the Overlay District.

      The boundary was originally drawn around this property with the intent that redevelopment may occur on the site. Since that time, it has been become apparent that there is a need for full utility of heavy industrial sites (M-2 zoning) within the City limits.

      The Planning Commission recommended approval of the amendment.

4. MATTERS FROM CITIZENS
5. MATTERS FROM COUNCIL/DEPT HEADS/CITY ATTORNEY
   1. SERVICE DELIVERY STIPULATION AND AGREEMENT – RESCIND MOTION
6. ADJOURNMENT