Weekly Status Report - 3/5/09

MEMORANDUM

TO: City Council

FROM: David J. Deutsch, City Manager

SUBJECT: Status Report/Council Poll

DATE: March 5, 2009

Status Report

1. Bowie Boys and Girls Club

Staff met last week with Samuel Graham, the President of the Bowie Boys and Girls Club, to discuss the Club’s renewed interest in building an indoor facility at Jericho Park. In 2002 Council granted a 40-year no cost lease to the BBGC. The plan that was being discussed was that BBGC would construct an indoor recreation facility and operate it on City-owned land. The project obviously did not come to fruition for various reasons. In the meeting last week, Mr. Graham described an ambitious plan to build a large facility at Jericho that would accommodate soccer/lacrosse and wrestling mat storage, and potentially other activities as well. The exact size of the facility is unknown at this time. I asked Mr. Graham to provide a letter outlining the intent of the Club. We will keep Council informed as this matter unfolds.

2. Fire Damaged Properties Update as of March 2

Address	Date of Fire	Status
14300 Driftwood Lane	2/26/08	Raze permit, 2957-2009, awaiting estimates & utility releases.
13005 Minetta Lane	5/15/08	All exterior work has been completed. Drywall is being installed. Not occupied.
2223 Penfield Lane	6/6/08	All work has been completed. Residents returned.
12425 Sadler Lane	6/10/08	All work has been completed. Residents returned.
15315 Jenkins Ridge	6/24/08	Circuit Court Case No. CAE08-32512. Summons served on property owner on 12/18/08. Her attorney filed an answer to the complaint on 1/14/09. Pre-trial hearing set for 8/18/09, but City Attorney will file a Motion for Summary Judgment “to obtain a decision without a trial or discovery.”
15606 Peyton Court	8/8/08	All exterior work completed. New garage door installed. Not occupied.
2521 Kenhill Drive	9/18/08	All exterior work completed. Residents may have returned.

3. County Budget

The bill authorizing the transfer of Park and Planning surplus funds to the Prince George’s County General Fund will be heard at 9:00 a.m. Friday (3/6) by the County House Delegation.

4. Storm Recap

The storm which occurred earlier this week deposited approximately eight inches of snow in Bowie. The Public Works Department is responsible for approximately 182 miles of City streets. It has been three years since we have had to call in contract plows to assist in storm operations. We used 15 pieces of City equipment. Thirty contract plows supplemented City crews. The storm response cost approximately $66,250 in extra costs. This total is comprised of the following:

Contract Plows                            $30,000
Salt                                                20,000
Overtime                                       15,000
Fuel                                                   1,250

$66,250

In addition, “daytime” regularly scheduled labor charges amounted to approximately $4,500. Therefore, the total cost for this storm was approximately $70,750. All of these funds had been budgeted, so there is no adverse impact on the FY09 Budget.

5. City Hall Update

The City has been notified by M-NCPPC that the Specific Design Plan (SDP) hearing for the new City Hall Project is scheduled for April 2, 2009 in front of the County Planning Board. Signs were posted on the property on Tuesday, March 3rd as required by M-NCPPC.

A Request for Proposal (RFP) for Third Party Inspection Services for the new City Hall project was advertised on February 24, 2009. Proposals are due by March 17, 2009. We expect this to be on the Council agenda on April 6, 2009.

A Request for Qualification (RFQ) for the General Contractor for the new City Hall construction will be advertised on March 6, 2009. Qualifications are due by March 27, 2009. City staff, working with the City’s Project Manager Arcadis, will review these submittals and select the firms that will be pre-qualified to move to the next stage of this selection process which will be to submit a formal RFP with cost information. Following the review of the RFPs submitted, staff will present a recommendation for City Council approval in late May or early June.

6. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is the formal name for the stimulus program recently signed into law by President Obama. The State is holding briefings this week to provide the first wave of details on the various programs that will benefit from ARRA. I attended a session in Baltimore last evening in which representatives from the Governor’s Office and several State agencies provided information regarding the initial impact of ARRA. The City has already submitted ten pre-applications for project funding through the Maryland Department of the Environment. (More details on the MDE grant applications are contained in a separate part of the Status Report.)

The MDOT representative described the phasing of the project funding related to transportation projects. The first phase includes $360 million for State highway and transit projects, followed by a second phase of $273 million of State and local projects. The key element with the transportation funding relates to project readiness and by that MDOT means that projects need to be Federal aid eligible with all pre-construction steps completed. These requirements confirm what we had been hearing and it seems unlikely that ARRA funds will be applied to the MD 450 or MD 197 projects.

In the law enforcement arena, ARRA includes $1 billion for reinstituting the COPS program which began during the Clinton administration and was no longer receiving funding. The rules are different this time and the COPS program will fund the full cost of police officer salary and benefits for a three-year period. The earlier program funding was limited to 75% of salary. Staff has already attended informational sessions on the COPS program and we expect to be seeking funding to assist in the staffing of the Bowie Police Department.

City staff is following the implementation of ARRA from the Grants Office perspective, as well as within the operating departments. We will continue to keep Council informed as more information becomes available.

7. MDE Grant Pre-Applications

The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) invited us to submit pre-applications for capital project funding for various financial assistance programs administered by MDE. They indicated they were doing this in anticipation of federal stimulus funds being made available to them in the near future. They were specifically looking for capital projects that were ready to proceed.

Below is the list of pre-applications that were submitted to MDE last week. Note that all projects are currently in the proposed Capital Improvements Program with the exception of the three projects to remove underground diesel fuel storage tanks and replace them with aboveground tanks. These projects have been reviewed recently by the Risk Manager as candidates for funding based on the age of the tanks and the potential for future problems in obtaining environmental liability insurance related to their age. Note that some pre-application cost estimates were increased from the previously budgeted amounts due to anticipated increased costs related to federal bidding requirements.

▪ ENR Upgrade - Local Share $1,556,841
(We currently have approval from MDE for a State Revolving Loan for our local share, but we are hoping that sufficient additional federal stimulus funds could result in grant funding instead.)

▪ Flocculation and Sedimentation Basin Covers at the Water Plant $395,000

▪ Sewage Pumping Station #2 - Removal and Installation of Aboveground Fuel Tank $21,000

▪ Sewage Pumping Station #2 - Removal ONLY of Aboveground Fuel Tank $8,500

▪ Sewage Pumping Station #4 - Removal and Installation of Aboveground Fuel Tank $21,000

▪ Sewage Pumping Station #4 - Removal ONLY of Aboveground Fuel Tank $8,500

▪ Water Booster Pump on Media Lane - Removal and Installation of Aboveground Fuel Tank $24,000

▪ Water Booster Pump on Media Lane - Removal ONLY of Aboveground Fuel Tank $14,000

(The pre-applications for the underground diesel fuel storage tank on Media Lane as well as the underground fuel tanks for sewage pumping stations 2 and 4 were split per MDE suggestion. They indicated that they normally only approve the funding for underground fuel tank removal. However, they indicated if they receive sufficient federal stimulus funding, they could approve aboveground replacement tanks, also.)

▪ Wastewater Treatment Office Addition and Renovation $417,000

▪ Wastewater Plant 400 kilowatt Generator $90,000

▪ Water Plant 1000 kilowatt Generator $800,000 (50/50 split Applicant/MDE)

(This project includes the installation of a new 1000 kilowatt generator to run all pumps and motors and a large water well, which are all located at the Water Plant. The project is proposed to have the existing 400 kilowatt generator at the Water Plant moved to the Wastewater Plant to provide backup power. However, MDE requested that the project pre-application be split since their funding is usually split between water and wastewater. Also, the 50% applicant funding represents funds committed by St. John Properties for installation of the 1000 kilowatt generator.

▪ Youngwood Turn Drainage Improvements $108,000

▪ Vehicle Wash Facility $43,650
(This is part of the proposed Solid Waste Administration Facility project proposed in the City Capital Improvements Program. Additional funds were added in the pre-application for adjacent paving.)

8. Church Road Park

The memo we mentioned last week regarding various park improvements will be distributed to Council Monday night. The review of multiple construction options is complex, and we want to make sure that the report is thorough and does not omit an important cost element.