HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRDA MINUTES 2005-05-19 r►
MINUTES OF THE 168th REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLYMOUTH ROAD
DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA
The 168th Regular Meeting of the Plymouth Road Development Authority of the City of
Livonia, Michigan was called to order at 3:00 p.m., Thursday, May 19, 2005, in the 4th
floor conference room of City Hall.
Members Present: Jack Engebretson,Mayor
John Walsh, Chairman
Wes Graff,Vice Chairman
Scott Grace
John Hiltz
Toni Mette
Greg Meyer
Lowell Peterson
Jerry Wordhouse
Members Absent: Stan Anderson(excused)
Dennis Kujawa(excused)
Marvin Walkon(excused)
(le Others Present: John J.Nagy, PRDA Director
Michael Slater, Finance Director
Jeff Bryant, Economic Development Director
Steve Levesque, Commercial Mowing Services
Ben Baker,Beckett&Raeder
Jason Faron, Holophane
Carl Sesta,Farmer Jack
Pete Pfeiffer, Ashley Capital
Sharane Hedges,Ashley Capital
Robert Auth, Citizen
Marge Watson, Secretary
1. Roll was called. A quorum was present
2. Adoption of the 167th Regular Meeting Minutes.
On a motion made by Peterson, supported by Wordhouse, and unanimously
adopted, it was
#2005-15 RESOLVED, that the Minutes of the 167th Regular Meeting, held on
April 21, 2005, by the Plymouth Road Development Authority are
hereby approved.
blare Mr. Walsh, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted.
1
3. Finance Report: The Financial Statements of the Authority's Special Revenue
Fund for the year ending April 30, 2005, were presented by Michael Slater, Finance
Director. The Balance Sheet reflects total assets in the amount of$1,380,904.58,
total liabilities in the amount of $523,286.70 and a total fund balance of
$857,617.88.
On a motion made by Hiltz, seconded by Graff, and unanimously adopted, it was
#2005-16 RESOLVED, that the Plymouth Road Development Authority does
hereby accept and approve the Financial Statements of the Authority's
Special Revenue Fund for the month ending April 30, 2005.
Mr. Walsh, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted.
4. Plymouth Road Tech Center/A&P Traffic Signal Invoice: Sharane Hedges,
Ashley Capital, addressed the timing and general operations of the traffic signal
installed at the Plymouth Road Tech Center just west of Harrison Street. The signal
will be on an 80-second cycle between 6:00 p.m. and midnight. It will flash yellow
from midnight to 6:00 a.m. From 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., it will be on a 90-second
cycle. It will be synchronized with the Harrison Street signal. Ms. Mette confirmed
that the light is functional, and based on her observations, she anticipates no
problem with its operation. Mr. Nagy inquired if the light will satisfy A&P's traffic
control needs, and Mr. Carl Sesta replied in the affirmative. Jeff Bryant, Economic
Development Director, requested the PRDA to approve a partial reimbursement of
the cost to Ashley Capital to fulfill the commitment made by the previous City
administration in the amount of$120,000.00, which represents only a portion of the
total expense incurred for the traffic signal. Mr. Grace stated that the Board had
come to a consensus that they would do so but would prefer that the reimbursement
take place over a two-year period. Mr. Bryant felt that Ashley Capital would agree
to that arrangement. Mr. Slater stated that the entire $120,000.00 will be reflected
on this year's financial statements, regardless of when it is actually paid out.
On a motion made by Peterson, seconded by Grace, and unanimously adopted, it
was
#2005-17 RESOLVED, that the Plymouth Road Development Authority does
hereby authorize reimbursement to Ashley Capital for a portion of the
cost for the installation of a traffic signal at the Plymouth Road Tech
Center in an amount not to exceed $120,000.00 over a two-year
period, with $60,000 to be reimbursed in Fiscal Year 2005 and the
remaining $60,000.00 to be reimbursed in Fiscal Year 2006.
Mr. Walsh, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution
adopted.
(10,
6. Beckett & Raeder: (1) Benjamin Baker, representative from Beckett & Raeder,
stated that Phase 5 is still open and will be closed out at the end of summer. Phase
2
6 is complete with the exception of the fence issue. Mr. Baker is in communication
with the contractor and he will keep the Board apprised of any progress.
(2) Mr. Baker has spoken with Bob Weeks, the brick supplier, in an effort to resolve
the issue of the brick chalking and will be meeting with him next week. The
company that supplied the face brick is now out of business.
(3) Mr. Baker submitted plans to correct the drainage problems in front of the
property owned by Richard George, located at 30835 Plymouth Road. It is
estimated that the cost will be $4,000. Mr. Wordhouse suggested that the work be
performed without delay and that the contractor and Beckett & Raeder should
absorb the cost for the repair since the problem resulted from their original design
and the work they performed on behalf of the PRDA. Mr. Baker agreed to present
the issue to his company's management.
(4) The Construction Committee did meet with representatives from Holophane
regarding the rusting and peeling light poles installed along Plymouth Road. Jason
Faron, representative from Holophane, distributed a letter addressed to him from
Steve Delawder, Manager Field Service/Quality Assurance, Holophane, dated May
19, 2005, regarding rusting poles, banner arms retaining water and ball finials
falling off. The following discussion took place.
Grace: It was my understanding as a result of the Construction Committee
Cie Meeting that Holophane was to come up with a solution to be
presented at today's meeting.
Faron: I want all the poles sanded, primed and repainted. Seaway Paint has
provided Holophane with a fairly high estimate of what it will cost to
repair the 398 poles. Holophane's upper management wants to
inspect 100 percent of the poles to make sure they all need to be
repainted. They don't want to write a check carte blanche to Seaway
to paint poles that don't need it. I am asking the Board for a two-
week window to allow time for management to come from Texas to
inspect the poles as they would be footing the bill for the repairs. At
that point, they will make a determination as to how to resolve the
problem.
Mette: All the poles definitely need to be repainted.
Hiltz: Even if some of the poles look fine today, the rusting problem may
surface at a later date since they were all manufactured at the same
time. If all the poles had been treated with the same process, and the
process has failed, why would you think that another inspection
would warrant a difference of opinion?
Faron: There were two processes. The process done in 2001 was more of a
bandaid approach to the problem. It was just spot repair. We are
now proposing a more comprehensive approach.
3
Wordhouse: I'm talking about the original manufacturing process, not the
temporary painting done earlier. The original manufacturing process
was obviously deficient, and the poles out there appear to be from
the same batch resulting in the poor quality we see today. That being
the case, it's a matter of time before even the replacement poles will
fail as well.
Faron: Sure. Actually, that process, from my research, was done from 1999
to 2001. As I said before, I'm kind of coming into this at the last
second here. I don't know if we had any phases after 2001.
Actually, we extended the warranty. The extended warranty was
technically expired; however, it doesn't make good business practice
not to back the product.
Mette Being out of warranty doesn't make any sense because we brought
the issue up during the warranty period, and the poles were not
repaired to our satisfaction.
Faron: Absolutely.
Mette So when you bring a warranty issue up and you have a problem that
you are discussing during the warranty period and there is no
satisfactory solution, the term of the warranty period is extended
accordingly.
Faron: Sure.
Mette: Just because your end takes longer to get back with us, and now it's
out of warranty,that's really not officially how it should work.
Faron: I understand 100 percent. We were aware of the fact that you were
experiencing problems. Even if it was out of warranty, it still
doesn't make sense for us to have these poles in the condition that
they're in. I know Plymouth Road is the centerpiece of Livonia, and
we want to make sure that it's right.
Wordhouse: So you agree that we notified you within the warranty period?
Faron: It was probably made before I was here.
Baker: Jason wouldn't be able to comment on that; we have to rely on the
paper trail.
Jason: I have a file probably about five inches thick that I've gone through a
couple times, and I want to be able to find that extended warranty -
when we were notified. I'm sure it was within the warranty period
but I can't say yes or no for sure.
4
Nagy: The other problem we discussed were the finials coming off and
retaining water. Can you tack weld the new finials to the arms when
the poles are being repaired?
Jason: Yes, absolutely.
Nagy: The other issue was the aluminum or cast aluminum bases which is a
different product than the poles and the flaking of the paint. Can you
discuss that with us? Will we get new ones?
Jason: What I mean by repainting the pole, I mean repainting the pole shaft
and the two-piece clamp on base. I don't think Seaway primes cast
aluminum. I'm not quite sure on the specifics of that. I know the
steel shaft will be sanded, primed and then painted. I can get you
information on the process for the base. I don't know.
Walsh: So who is coming to make the inspection?
Feron: Two gentlemen, Traverse Jones and Robert Best, and perhaps Robert
Gonzalez, who has already been up here They are senior people at
the manufacturing level who wanted to personally inspect the rusting
problem of the light poles.
Hiltz: What I remember from the Construction Committee meeting, the
plan was that these issues would be assessed by Holophane and
Beckett & Raeder. Then you were to present a recommendation as
to what Holophane proposed to do to correct the problems, and the
PRDA Construction Committee would review that for suitability.
That was to have been done prior to the l9th in preparation for a
presentation here. To come today and say that you want another few
weeks to go out there and inspect these poles, it's just continuing to
drag this thing out. What I'm not hearing is a solution. All of the
issues that were raised are being addressed again. You identified
that there's two different couplings on each pole. The problem is
that we're losing banners and that damage is being done to the
banners by the one coupling. You're identifying that there's two
couplings. What are you doing to fix that problem?
Feron: Do you mean the coupling for the banner arm?
Hiltz: That's what I understand. John, is that what is causing the damage
to our banners?
Nagy: The set screw sometimes comes lose and sticks out and it cuts the
hem on the bottom of the sleeve that goes over the arm. That causes
the banner to tear and that's why we think the solution is to have the
5
finial welded to the bracket arm when they are repairing the poles
Cif and do away with the set screws altogether.
Feron: I think we replaced some of these arms. Steel versus aluminum is a
problem. We have a new design, which is the cotter pin style. All
the banner arms you're using now have the cotter pin type.
Nagy: To the best of my knowledge,they are.
Mette: John brings up a very good point. We did hear the gentleman that
was with you say that he was going to have answers for us at this
meeting. I know you aren't the one that said that to be fair to you,
but he committed to us that he would have all the answers at this
meeting. I'm hoping you'll relay to him that we really want an
answer.
Feron: I actually did call him prior to coming in here, and I said, you know,
it looks like we're backpedaling on this. We made a commitment.
We should have some solutions. It doesn't look good. I have to go
into this meeting with my tail between my legs. But you have my
word, and it is in my interest as well as everyone else here that we
fix this issue with the paint being the most important. I have
requested our people from the plant, who would be responsible for
Lie footing this bill with Seaway, to come here within two weeks to
inspect all the poles.
Mette: What paint did you mention at the Construction Committee meeting?
Baker: Emron paint. That's usually what we spec.
Feron: I'm not familiar with Emron. I do apologize for not having the
solutions here, but we are making strides in the right direction. We
just need a couple more weeks to get our people up here to fix the
problem and quantify it. We all know it's probably going to be 100
percent of the poles.
Wordhouse: To Mr. Baker, will Becket & Raeder likely support a partial painting
of the poles or a complete paint job on all the poles? Is there any
chance you're going to feel comfortable recommending to this Board
that partial painting is going to be reasonable?
Baker: The onus will be on Holophane to convince me not to repaint 100
percent of the poles. At this point, I will not accept anything less
than 100 percent.
Coi Wordhouse: I would recommend that Beckett & Raeder separate their costs on
this particular item from the other work that they are doing for us
6
Baker: We are doing that.
Wordhouse: From the day we put the Holophane poles in, they have been a real
problem for this Board, and Holophane has not once been a part of
the solution. We've had them in here constantly going over
engineering issues and structural issues. As far as I'm concerned,
anything less than 100 percent repainting with the proper method
will not be acceptable. It's time to get the job done right once and
for all.
Hiltz I would like a schedule to accompany the recommendations.
Nagy: The Construction Committee will meet to discuss the solution to be
proposed by Holophane, and the Committee will make a
recommendation to the full board at the next meeting
7. Committee Reports:
Public Relations: Ms. Mette reported that the Spring Newsletter has been printed
and includes the Plymouth Road Taste Fest promotion cards and articles on several
renovations along Plymouth Road.
Construction Committee: (1) Ms. Mette reported that the traffic signal at the
Plymouth Road Tech Center is functional and working well. (2) A cable company
ruptured the water main in front of Media Play and reconstruction of the damaged
area is underway. The cost of the repair work will be reimbursed to the PRDA by
the cable company. (3) Commercial Mowing's mulch work around the trees is
looking good.
8. Directors Report: Mr. Nagy stated that he has sent a letter to Greg Davis
Landscaping, dated May 18, 2005, requesting the replacement of 15 dead trees
along Plymouth Road, which are covered under the warranty.
9. Polling of Members: (a) Lowell Peterson would like the welcome sign at Inkster
Road repaired/repainted; Mr. Baker stated that the cost is being put together. (b)
Jeff Bryant stated that there are several business expansions taking place in the
district; namely, Exhibit Works, Wabasto and Impact Printing. (c) Toni Mette
expressed her appreciation to Mayor Engebretson for her reappointment to the
Board.
Adjournment: On a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the 168th
Regular Meeting held by the Plymouth Road Development Authority on May 19, 2005,
was adjourned at 4:25 p.m.
The next meeting of the Plymouth Road Development Authority will be held on
Thursday, June 16, 2005.
(t)Ae
Marge W son, Secretary
7