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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-11-10MINUTES REGULAR MEETING BOARD OF ALDERMEN RIVERSIDE, MISSOURI Tuesday, November 10, 2009 7:00 p.m. The Board of Aldermen for the City of Riverside, Missouri, met in regular session in the Training Room at Public Safety at 2990 NW Vivion Road, Riverside, Missouri, on Tuesday, November 10, 2009. Mayor Rose called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Those in attendance were Mayor Kathy Rose, Aldermen Brad Cope, Mike Fuller, Ron Super, Dave Hurt, Bemie Bruns, and Aaron Thatcher. Also present were David Blackburn, City Administrator, Jane Henry, Executive Administration Assistant, Mike Duffy, Community Development Director, Meredith Hauck, Community Relations Director, Greg Mills, Public Safety Chief, and Donna Resz, Finance Officer. Citizens Radio Committee Chief Greg Mills introduced the presentation and the committee members, all Presentation residents of Riverside: Beverly Allen, Robert Bayless, Mary Churchill, Jim Dwyer, Ron Getty, and Chris Whitaker. Other committee members who participated but were not present at the meeting were: John Carr, Pat Casey, and Cy Houston. Mills thanked them for their dedicated contribution to their community. Ron Getty, chairman of the committee and an ATF & Explosives agent, led off the presentation by relating their mission. He said the committee met twice a week for 4 weeks beginning the week of October 12. In addition to gaining technical knowledge, they visited several sites, including Riversidds current radio tower location, the tower at Worlds of Fun, and Kansas Cites communications center. Mary Churchill, a resident of the newest Riverside subdivision, Montebello, talked about the current radio system and why we need a new one. The current system was installed 18 years ago and there have been subsequent upgrades and fixes. It is an analog narrowband VHF system with a single VHF repeater for both police and fire calls. The number one problem is that VHF radio systems are becoming obsolete and repair parts are increasingly hard to find. The channel availability is very Limited to nonexistent and signal coverage is prone to black-outs, static, and interference. The most troubling aspect of this problem to the committee was that officers cannot communicate inside the high school, Argosy Casino or Red X. Additionally, a single VHF repeater is not capable of supporting police and fire communications separately and police and fire do not have radio communication with other City of Riverside departments, such as Public Works and Codes Enforcement. Interoperabilitytyith other agencies is also very limited. 11/10/2009 Page t FCC has issued a mandate that all frequencies must be narrowbanded. One of two frequencies is already in compliance and the second frequency must be narrowbanded by 2013. The second round of narrowbanding, projected to occur between 2015 and 2018, will render our current radio system useless for mission critical communications. Churchill ended her presentation with the conclusions of the committee: 1. A band-aid "fix" of the current system will neither resolve connectivity nor interoperability problems. 2. Riverside residents and day population are at risk. 3. Current system will be "useless" within 3-5 yeazs. 4. City of Riverside could be vulnerable to increased liability. Bob Bayless, Riverside resident since 1991 and former public safety employee, gave the committee's recommendation fora "fix." He began by presenting the goals: 1. Resolve Police and Fire communications issues. 2. Eliminate telephone line problems. 3. Improve system coverage and reliability. 4. Meet narrowbanding requirement. 5. Improve interoperability. Bayless presented 5 options, their costs, benefits, and challenges, before revealing the committee's recommendation. Option#1.... $150,000 Option#2.... $1,500,000 Option #3.... $3,500,000 Option #4.... $6,500,000 Option #5.... $4,100,000 System upgrade option #5 would enable regional compatibility. The $4.1 million price tag would include joining the KC P25 Digital System (regional), upgrading dispatch consoles and purchasing new portables and mobiles. Benefits would include being part of the regional system, sharing KCCMO master site/switch so that the city would not have to buy it, sharing recurring costs, and no site maintenance responsibility. The challenge would be building a new tower. Bayless concluded by saying that it is a lot of money but not when it comes to people's lives. The committee is recommending Option #5. Resident and committee member Beverly Allen, a former police dispatcher with Gladstone and a veteran of the armed services, talked to the board about building a new radio tower The committee visited other tower sites and they aze recommending putting the tower on the Hannah property, located at the corner of I-635 and Highway 9. It is an industrial area and there are no obstructions that would interfere with radio reception. Allen added that a new system would not work without building a new tower. 1 I/I O/2009 Page 2 Committee member Jim Dwyer, 4-yeaz resident of Riverside, presented the project financing goals: 1) Identify most cost effective solution. 2) Identify means to pay for a new system. With the FCC regulations that are imminent, the city will have to switch to a digital system at some time. He added that it is a matter of spend it now or spend more later. Option #5 met all the requirements: 1. Resolve police and fire issues. 2. Eliminate telephone line problems. 3. Improve system coverage. 4. Meet narrowbanding requirement. 5. Improve interoperability. Finally, comparing all the options with a 15-year cost projection, Option #5 is the only option to meet all the goals and requirements and it would cost the least over a 5-yeaz period. Funding could be accomplished from the current CIP budget by reducing the fire truck replacement costs and transferring funds from infrastructure maintenance and contingency and professional fees for Horizons. The committee invited those present to ask quesfions. Alderman Thatcher asked how the funding plan that was presented would affect the budget. Resz said the funds would be transferred out of different budget years and she reminded the board that they would be updating the CIP budget before the end of the yeaz. Thatcher thanked the committee for their participation in the process. Mayor Rose echoed that sentiment and said the presentation was even more than expected. She added that this has been a hot topic at some of the meetings she has attended recently. She said Gladstone and North Kansas City are ready to get into this project; neither of those cities will need a tower. Due to their location, they can probably use Kansas City's tower. However, any entity using that tower will most likely have to pay user fees. Alderman Hurt asked if there is federal funding for grants. Both Mills and Rose replied no. Hurt added that he thinks since it is a federal mandate, the federal government should help fund it. Mills reminded the board that every entity in the US has this same problem. Mills was asked if MARC had money they could give in grants for the project. The Tusa representative, Jack Hart, said that MARL had been given grants totalling $4.5 million to help build out the regional system and there is no new money. Thatcher commented that it would be an emergency situation in 10 yeazs and Hart said that FCC would just say poor planning. Alderman Fuller asked if Platte County is on the same kind of system as Riverside. Mills said that the county is on the same system and that the city has been waiting on the county to do something for 3 yeazs but it is not happening. Fuller asked if the county would link into the Kansas City regional system and Mills said he did not know. Alderman Hurt asked if Option #5 would guarantee communication inside buildings. Mills replied yes. Hart said that Motorola would design for 11/10/2009 Page 3 specified locations. Locating the tower on the Hannah property would give good coverage for the school and Argosy. In response to a question by Alderman Cope, Mills said the old tower would no longer be used. Cope then asked if public safety would be restricted when talking to Platte County or Pazkville. Mills responded that the new system would be able to switch back and forth to VI IF. Mills added that the city could still use just one dispatcher and no additional manpower would be needed. Rose asked if the board needed more information to make a decision. Super said he would like to have some time to study it. Alderman Fuller wants an official response from Platte County. He said that the citizens send their tax money to the county and the county has the responsibility to take care of this problem. The city has other needs for its money and he wants to invest in other things. Mills said that working with Platte County would not save money for Riverside. Hurt said you can't put a price on human life. Jim Dwyer spoke up and said that after he became involved on the committee and learned about the city's current equipment, he was appalled. He added that when the board talks about investing in the city, he wants the boazd to invest in its people. The people are the city. He applauded the officers for operating with the equipment they have. Mills said $4.1 million is the tum key price. Resz said she would look at Platte County's budget next week. Fuller wants to have a meeting for the citizens to get their input. Rose reminded him that the committee was set up to represent the citizens and they can come to board meetings any time. Bayless added to Rose's comments saying that it is good to get information to the citizens in some issues but it takes a lot of study for an issue like the radio system. "I elected my alderman to make the decision." Rose said that it is a big decision and she would like to have consensus. It was agreed that there would be an open house at 6:00 before the boazd's regular session on November 17. Mills said that at that time he needs a motion for approval to move ahead with contract negotiations with Motorola. Hurt will not be at the meeting but said he is in favor of moving ahead. Break - 5 minutes The board took a 5 minute break and reconvened to discuss the remainder of the agenda. Service Master Update Community Development Director Mike Duffy has spoken with John Krasson, owner of Service Master. Duffy has looked at several pieces of property with Krasson where he might relocate his business. The Rinker property was his preferred location. There would be some site work to be done and the structure would have to be upgraded. Duffy asked for approval to move forward. Fuller said this would be awin/win situation as the City had kept the Rinker property to sell it. If Krasson upgrades it, it would be an improvement at that location. However, Fuller asked what the strategy is going forwazd. Duffy responded that until 2006, the City had no plan and now there is the master plan. t vtonoov rage a Fuller commented that he would choose to improve downtown rather than invest in a public safety radio system. Resz told the boazd that there is $2 million in the capital improvement budget for community development. She indicated that if this is a high priority, more money can be added to that line item. Alderman Super said we need to look at the appraisals before discussing the issue further Duffy said he would contact the City's appraiser, Larry Witt. Briarcliff Development A national company wants to move its headquarters to the azea and has looked Agreement Update at a site inside Riverside city limits that has been developed by Briazcliff Development. The company has 750 employees and will build a 35,000 square foot two-story building. Briarcliff will build a 15,000 sf. building for a total of 50,000 square feet. Briazcliff Development wants to amend the redevelopment agreement to allow for additional reimbursables for infrastructure. The City needs someone to review the redevelopment agreement and would like to use a firm other than Armstrong Teasdale. Duffy recommended using Williams and Campo. The firm's only clients are municipal governments. Resz explained the criteria for selecting a firm that was used when city staff interviewed prospects. Resz also told the board about the meeting City staff and Nathaniel Hagedorn had with the county assessor. The meeting focused on the county's appraisal of property in the redevelopment area. It was a positive meeting and an additional meeting with the county appraisers is planned for early 2010 to discuss their appraisals before putting them on the tax assessment books. Resz emphasized that it is important to move quickly. Alderman Super made a motion to approve using the law firm of Williams & Campo for this project only. Alderman Bruns seconded and the vote was: Yes: Aldermen Bruns, Super, Fuller, Cope, Thatcher, and Hurt. Motion carried. Adjournment Alderman Super moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:52 p.m. and Alderman 9:52 p.m. Bruns seconded. The vote was: Yes: Aldermen Fuller, Thatcher, Bruns, Cope, Hurt, and Super. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 9:52 p.m. an Henry cutive Administrati Assistant 11/10/2009 Page 5