05-23-2011 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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• MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, May 23, 2011' 7:00 o'clock p.m. (6. OLD CRYSTAL BAYROAD RECONSTR UCTION PROJECT BID CONSIDERATION, Continued) Orono should try to identify the best solutions for what should be done long -term. Many of the problems now being experienced with the roads in the City are because they were built 40 to 50 years ago and since that time the City has done very little to maintain these roads. The City is now forced with paying the piper for that lack of maintenance. This project is part of a process to change that. Old Crystal Bay Road will be here for a very long time and needs to be upgraded. Franchot indicated he is prepared to make a motion to move forward with the project but that he will defer until his colleagues have a chance to enter their comments. Rahn stated in his view bringing the new council members up to speed on the project did not result in the project being delayed and only obtaining one bid. The documents talk about awarding the contract in May. Rahn stated in his view it is more of a timing issue and that opening bids in May for a summer project is not ideal, which can be discussed at a later time. Rahn stated he has read the minutes of the meetings numerous times from October of last year to become familiar with the project and the issues associated with it. Rahn stated he has attempted mentally to draw a plan of this road for how he would like to see it constructed and that he keeps reverting back to the fact that the road should be kept simple, functional, and low maintenance. Rahn indicated that when he looks at the final plan, in his opinion it does not meet those criteria. • Rahn stated in the past month he has spoken with over 100 individuals regarding this project and that people overwhelming are opposed to this project for one reason or another. Rahn commented he likes to think that the City Council is the voice of the people, which is how he will be voting. Printup noted he has been opposed to the project from the beginning. As the planning process went on, the City Council learned that the median with the 7C option for enhancements is a $75,000 enhancement on top of the three roundabouts. Printup stated he has referred to the median treatment as a beautification project in the past and noted that the plants will be blooming and growing during the summer months when very few students will be present. Printup pointed out there are six cities covered by the Orono School District and that the taxpayers of the City of Orono should not be responsible for paying all of the costs for this project. Printup indicated he has not. been comfortable with this project from the beginning and that in his view the taxpayers' dollars could e spread out doing other projects. There are a number of other roads in the City that get driven a lot more and should be improved. The majority of the traffic on this road is twice a day. Printup indicated he has spoken with a number of people around town about this project. One of the calls he received today was from a woman who was incensed that it could be talked about as free money and that it doesn't cost the taxpayer anything. Printup stated given the way the funds are set up and all of the money that would be spent on one road, it could be a long time before the other roads get attention. Bremer stated she has always supported the project but she would have liked to have received more than one bid. The City did follow the competitive bid process but unfortunately did not receive a number of • bids. Bremer commented that may be a sign that the economy is picking up if the contractors are busy and also the timing of the bids. Bremer noted that Council Member Franchot's comment about the bids being delayed was not meant to be an alignment or blaming of Council Members Rahn or Printup but that Page 5 of 24