Weekly Status Report - 4/8/2010

MEMORANDUM

TO:               City Council

FROM:         David J. Deutsch, City Manager

SUBJECT:  Status Report

DATE: April 8, 2010

Status Report

1.  City Hall Project Change Order -- Police High Density File System 

Attached is a Change Order for a High Density File System for the Police Department.  These files are similar to what you may have seen in medical offices.  This item was included as a bid alternate in the original bid for the City Hall Project.  The price proposed by Manekin in their bid proposal was $195,000 for this add alternate.  Because the other four bidders had priced this system at between $101,000 and $110,000, it was decided at the time not to accept this bid alternate and to revisit this with Manekin at a later time.  Manekin has re-priced this item and is now proposing a cost of $131,242 for this installation.   

The high density filing systems that the Police Department requested for records, and on a smaller scale personnel, are necessary on a number of levels.  Every Police Department that was visited by our Police Department in planning our building space, whether it was a new building or an old building, had the same number one complaint, storage.  The biggest issue in storage was always records and reports.  Be it Greenbelt or Fairfax, the sight was always the same, boxes stacked upon boxes of reports, citations, arrest records, property reports and miscellaneous files that the police are required to retain.  Even when the police try to move to a more paperless reporting system, there will always be case files, written statements, charging documents, court documents, juvenile citations, internal affairs investigations, arrest records, and numerous other reports that will still be in paper form and must be retained and filed.

As for personnel considerations, each officer hired has five different files that must be maintained separately as dictated by the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commission. These files include the officer's background, disciplinary, medical, training, and personnel files.  Aside from the current officers, we also are required to retain former officers’ files.  Lastly, applicant files and backgrounds are kept for a period of five years.  The Police Department currently has 12 boxes of files that do not fit into the file cabinets.

The high density filing systems are necessary to maximize space, ensure mandated records retention and records security compliance, and ensure the orderly retrieval of documents that may not be needed until years after the initial event.

This Change Order will be reviewed and approved by both the architect and project manager.  This is to inform Council that once this review and approval take place, staff intends to sign off on this Change Order.  We have shown the cost for this item in the FY 2011 Budget.  This cost is $63,758 less than what was originally bid by Manekin.                   

2.  Rain Barrel Workshop

On Saturday, April 3rd, the Planning Department held its second Rain Barrel workshop, cosponsored by the Bowie Lions Club.  Approximately 25 people, including Lions Club members and other City staff, attended. The Planning Department intends to put this workshop on each spring to continue implementing Action Plan 4 of the Environmental Infrastructure Action Strategy Plan.

3.  Jenkins Ridge Road Closure

Attached is a notice that is being proposed for mailing to all residents in Collington Manor, Collington Station and Woodmore at Oak Creek.  It provides background regarding a 1987 County Planning Board requirement that Jenkins Ridge Road be extended 500 feet to connect to James Ridge Road until Jennings Mill Road is constructed to Church Road.  Due to a developer bankruptcy and subsequent auction at Woodmore at Oak Creek, the completion of Jennings Mill Road was delayed.  However, we expect the final surface paving of Jennings Mill Road to be completed to Church Road within the next couple of weeks.

After that, per the Planning Board requirement, we must open up Jennings Mill Road so that it is open from Route 214 to Church Road and we must vacate the extension of Jenkins Ridge Road.  We are already holding a developer contribution to cover our cost for the closing of Jenkins Ridge Road.  The only issue still unresolved is whether to leave a ten-foot strip of asphalt along the section of Jennings Mill Road to be abandoned.  This could be used as a trail to connect to an existing trail in Collington Station.  Our Planning Department would like to preserve this strip of pavement for the trail, but we want to get feedback from the HOAs of Collington Station and Collington Manor before we decide.  Once the decision is made on the trail, we should be able to close off Jenkins Ridge Road in less than 60 days.

Note that the closing of Jenkins Ridge Road, as well as the opening of Jennings Mill Road to Church Road, affects police, fire and utility service, and our Public Works Department will make the necessary notifications before either project is begun.

4.  Speed Cameras

Beginning Monday, April 19th, speed cameras will be activated in the school zone on Northview Drive near Northview Elementary School.  For the first 30 days, those who exceed the speed limit by 12 or more miles will receive warning notices.  After that 30-day period, civil citations carrying a fine of $40 will be issued to violators exceeding the speed limit by 12 or more mph.  The 30-day period and the 12 mph threshold were set by State law. The use of speed cameras is part of the Police Department's Safe Speed Program and is intended to improve safety and modify drivers' behavior while driving in Bowie and to gain compliance with existing speed limits.

We will be heavily publicizing the Safe Speed Program and activation of the cameras on Northview Drive through all of our normal channels, including the website, the government channel, City message boards and Alert Bowie.  We had an article in the January/February issue of the Bowie Spotlight about speed cameras coming soon and today we issued the attached press release to announce the program was starting. We will also be sharing this information with our Neighborhood Watch groups, the Greater Bowie Chamber of Commerce, PTA/PTO groups, City Committee members; and we will be posting notices on the three bus shelters closest to Northview Elementary School.  Early next week we will email information about the program to Council in a format that can be forwarded to your constituent mailing lists.

Also included as an attachment today is a very detailed Frequently Asked Questions document which explains how the program will be administered and answers just about every conceivable question on the subject.  The same information will be available on our website.