HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 7/31/1990MINUTES OF THE WORKSHOP SESSION OF THECITYCOUNCILOFTHECITYOFGLENDALE, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA HELD TUESDAY, JULY 31, 1990 AT 3:12 P.M. Mayor Renner called the Workshop Session of the GlendaleCityCounciltoorderintheWorkshopRoom, B-3, in theGlendaleCouncilChambers. Council members present were: Bellah, Huffman, Hugh, McAllister, Scruggs and Tolby. Members Absent: None. Also present were Martin Vanacour, City Manager; GordonL. Pedrow, Assistant City Manager; Peter Van Haren, City
Attorney and Linda Ginn, Deputy City Clerk.
WORKSHOP SESSION
1. RFP 90-25/PURCHASE OF FOUR AUTOMATED REFUSE TRUCKS
Staff stated that the Public Works Field Operations
Department received three proposals to furnish and support
four automated refuse trucks. The department's Sanitation
Division is beginning its third year of fully automated
residential contained trash service. What was once a labor
intensive operation, residential sanitation collection is now
an equipment intensive service heavily impacted by the
quality, reliability, parts availability, manufacturer's
warranty, and local dealer support of the automated equipment
purchased by the city.
The four automated sideloaders being proposed for
purchase represent the first replacement of existing units.
The Field Operations' staff has specified an automated
sideloader that incorporates many significant technological
advancements in the industry. Therefore, a request for
proposal was utilized by staff to develop the recommendation
for this purchase. The intent of the RFP was to increase the
effective performance of each unit from the current five
years to six years while improving the overall cost of
operations.
Staff explained that the proposals were evaluated by a
panel. Representatives were from Field Operations
Administration, Sanitation, and Equipment Management. A
predetermined method for awarding points in seven categories
was utilized. Each proposal was individually scored by each
member of the panel, and the scores were averaged.
The initial price offered in the Southwest Peterbilt
proposal is 7% and 12% higher, respectively, than the other
two proposals. However, the panel unanimously concluded that
the equipment and services offered in the Southwest Peterbilt
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proposal will save the city considerably more money over theequipment's six year life cycle than the other two proposals. Councilmember Tolby commented that after considerablereviewwithcitystaff, he felt that going with the secondlowbidderwasinthecity's best interest. This item will be on tonight's Council agenda for formalconsideration. 2. UPDATE ON PLANNING OF GLENDALE AVENUE BRAINSTORMINGWEEKEND _(CHARETTE)
Staff summarized this item by stating that the Glendale
Avenue Brainstorming Weekend will be a joint public/private
partnership. The planning committee is made up of the city
staff and Jack Nylund, Chamber of Commerce President and Tim
Coury, President and Jim Eggleston, member of the Downtown
Development Corporation. Once expenses are determined, the
Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Development Corporation
have volunteered to participate with funding and/or in-kind
services.
Plans call for the Brainstorming Weekend to be held the
weekend of November 2, 3, and 4, 1990, with a final report
presentation on January 17, 1991. A total of 150 citizens
will participate including representatives of each of the
city's districts along with the Mayor and Council
The objective of the Brainstorming Weekend is to plan
Glendale Avenue from 51st and 63rd Avenues by (1) dividing it
into "Walking Planning Areas;" (2) planning the major
function of each walking area; (3) and determining the most
appropriate types of businesses that fit with each walking
area's function.
The overall "functional" plan would be used to try to
encourage development of major attractions such as the Beet
Sugar Factory, while also trying to attract specific types of
businesses targeted by the citizens.
Mr. Tim Coury explained the process they were using to
select citizens for the process. He said that about 150
citizens are anticipated with 30 chosen by the committee due
to special interest in the area. The remaining 120 will be
selected equally from the six districts. He said he felt
that by including citizens and using their input it would be
invaluable to the success of the plan as they are the people
who will eventually live and work with the product of the
their efforts.
Mr. Jack Nylund, Chamber of Commerce, detailed the
marketing theme they are proposing to promote Glendale Avenue
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development. They are recommending that "Glendale's MagneticMile" be used as a theme to draw interest from differentpromotersanddeveloperstothearea. The general consensus of the Council is acceptance andsupportoftheproject. 3. REDEVELOPMENT OF THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK BLOCKStaffsummarizedthisitembystatingthatat the July10, 1990 Council Workshop, three concepts were presented toCouncilonhowtheblockcouldberedevelopedwithstreetscapeandlandscapingimprovements. At the workshop,
Council requested that staff further investigate the impact
of extending the sidewalk along 58th Drive into the street as
proposed in the concepts. Specifically, the Council wanted
to know if 58th Drive was wide enough to accommodate traffic
and parking on both sides, and whether the intersection at
58th Drive and Grand Avenue would be affected. The Traffic
Engineering Department has reviewed the streetscape concept
and it appears the concept will work.
The general consensus of the Council is to proceed with
concept "A" as designated.
Staff further updated Council by stating that demolition
to of the necessary buildings was proceeding and they would
probably bring the award of contract before the Council
sometime in September.
4. REVIEW OF DIAL -A -RIDE SERVICE POLICIES
Staff and Transportation Commissioner Michael McCabe
summarized this item by stating that during the city budget
process, concern was raised regarding the cost of providing
the Dial -A -Ride service and discussion of possible changes to
the service. These concerns were brought to the
Transportation Commission requesting their review of the
operation and recommendations for changes.
Over the past few months, the Transportation Commission
has been conducting a detailed review of the Dial -A -Ride
operation in an effort to identify ways of reducing or
capping the cost of the program and to redefine what the
service objectives should be. The Commission has completed
this review and have submitted the attached recommendations.
Two additional areas that the Commission discussed was
the use of computers for routing and dispatching, management
information system reports, vehicle traffic and digital
dispatching. The final area that the Commission looked at
was private sector involvement. There has been some
discussion about whether private sector should be involved in
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Dial -A -Ride operations. Mr. Budlong said they had talked toMr. Bill Myers, President of SuperShuttle, about coming inanddoingareviewofDARoperationsandgivingthecityanevaluationtoseeiftherecouldbeanyimprovementsormodificationsmade. They would be looking at such things aspersonnelcosts, maintenance costs, personnel utilization, routing and scheduling, vehicle use and automation and anyotherareasthatCouncilmightdeemnecessary. Councilmember Huffman stated his concern that the systemcontinuetoprovideservicetoelderlyandhandicappedpersonsandremainsensitivetotheirneeds.
Councilmember Tolby suggested to staff and Commissioner
McCabe that it might prove interesting to examine, at a
future meeting, what the other cities in the area provide per
person. He said that the city currently provides good
service but at a high cost and the Council needs to look at
this and see how or if they can be more cost effective.
Councilmember Scruggs asked staff when the proposed
study done by SuperShuttle would be completed and if any of
the proposed recommendations were implemented, now, would it
confuse the study. Staff replied that they anticipated the
study being done in about 90 days and did not think there
would be a conflict with completion of the study and the time
frame to implement some of the recommendations. Mr. Budlong
said they would be working with the existing program for the
survey. Councilmember Scruggs questioned whether it might be
more valuable to the Council to have the results of that
study along with the Commissions' recommendations before
making policy recommendations.
Councilmember Scruggs asked staff if they anticipated
that by restricting the trips from the senior citizen
centers, that it would result in the elimination of another
vehicle from the current fleet. Staff replied that they did
not anticipate it to have any impact on this. Ms. Scruggs
stated that she felt that the central issue is the Council's
philosophy on what Dial -A -Ride should be to the city.
Discussion ensued on tokens, wait times and the
philosophy of the Council on Dial -A -Ride service.
Mayor Renner stated that due to time constraints,
Council would cease discussion on this item and move to the
next item on the agenda. Council will continue discussion on
this item after the special Council meeting.
W
5. CONTRACT AWARD: IMPROVEMENTS TO 5605 NORTH 55TH AVENUEFORLEASETOTHEWESTSIDEFOODBANKStaffstatedthisisarequesttoawardaconstructioncontracttoTMCConstructionandDevelopmenttoconstructimprovementstothefirestationat5605North55thAvenue. The improvements include the addition of two cold storagelockers, the addition of an evaporative cooler and upgradestotheelectricalservice. When completed the property willbeleasedtotheWestsideFoodBank. Three bids were received and opened at 2:00 P.M., July17. TMC Construction and Development, a qualified and
licensed contractor, submitted the lowest bid. Staff is
recommending the award of base bid in the amount of $66,777,
and alternate number three in the amount of $2,000 for a
total contract price of $68,777. Funds in the amount of
80,000 were budgeted in the 1989/90 Community Development
Block Grant program.
During the preparation of the plans, members of the Food
Bank Board requested that an additional area be added for a
waiting room. They stated that there are times when there
are as many as forty clients waiting for food boxes. At
their request, alternates one and two were included in the
specifications to get a price for the addition. The cost of
alternates one and two would increase the contract amount by
21,901, because the city has already spent $9,600 on
architectural fees. If Council wishes to include these two
alternates, the additional money would need to be taken from
the Housing Rehabilitation Program.
Staff responded to inquiry from the Council that
alternate one is the construction of the shell for the
waiting room and alternate two is the finish work to the
shell for the waiting room and alternate three, which was
originally part of the recommendation, is the installation of
an evaporative cooler over the truck bay area that will be
the warehouse. Staff clarified that they are recommending
the cooler and asking the Council to decide on the additional
alternatives one and two.
Personnel from the Food Bank stated that the reason they
are asking for the additional money is because there has been
growth in the level of service at the Food Bank and they need
the additional room to service the increased demands.
Council asked Food Bank personnel if they had other
resources in which they could draw support for this project
and if they did not get alternative one and two would they
still be able to deliver the services as they had originally
intended. Personnel responded that they could deliver the
services but the product flow would be impacted. Council
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asked if it would be possible to come back at a later dateandaddonthisadditionalfacility. Staff responded that itwouldbemoreexpensivetodoatalaterdate. Mayor Renner recessed the Workshop session at 5:05 p.m. Mayor Renner reconvened the Workshop session at 6:15p.m. with all members and officials present. 4. REVIEW OF DIAL -A -RIDE SERVICE POLICIES (REVISITED) Mayor Renner asked staff when they anticipated thesurvey/study done by SuperShuttle would be completed. Staff
stated that they were estimating that the study would take
approximately two months.
Mayor Renner asked staff what the procedure would be if
they decided to go with a change in fares. Staff responded
that they would have to publish the item 30 days prior
stating they were going to change fares and hold a public
hearing.
After further discussion, the general consensus of the
Council is to accept the Transportation Commission
recommendations with the understanding that they will defer
both fare process and actual purchase of vans until
information from the survey done by SuperShuttle is
available. A meeting will then be scheduled in early fall
with a deadline of no later than the calendar year) for the
Council to discuss the underlying policy of Dial -A -Ride
service in the City of Glendale.
PAIN WH N ZIL IN Nh
There being no further items to come before the Council,
the meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m.
6-)LVIV
Deputy City Clerk
MR
TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDINGDIAL -A -RIDE ISSUESThefollowingissueswerediscussedbytheTransportation CommissionforpossiblechangestothecurrentDial -A -Ride service. The issuesareeachsummarized, followed by the current policy, the Commission'srecommendations, and the Commission's rationale. 1. Purpose of Service - Discussion has been raised on the over-all purpose of theDial -A -Ride service. The system was started in 1975 for thegeneralpublic, with special emphasis for the elderly andhandicappedpatrons. Only one bus route served the City ofGlendaleatthattime, in addition to the Dial -A -Ride service. Nochangesinthispolicyhaveoccurredsincetheinitiationoftheservice.
Current: The Dial -A -Ride service will provide door-to-door
transit service to anyone travelling within the service area.
Special emphasis will be given to the elderly and handicapped
passengers.
Commission Recommendation: The Dial -A -Ride service will provide
door-to-door transit service to anyone travelling within the
service area. Special emphasis will be to the children, elderly,
and handicapped passengers.
Rationale: The Transportation Commission felt the majority of
persons who use the Dial -A -Ride service have no other choices and
of those who do, they were making a wiser environmental choice.
Therefore, until more extensive fixed -route service is available,
the Dial -A -Ride should be available for everyone.
2. Service Area -
The current service area is within the City limits. The service
originally began in downtown Glendale and was expanded several
times throughout the years. In 1987, the service area was
expanded to Beardsley on the north, 115th Avenue on the west.
Commission Recommendation: Maintain the current service area,
which is Beardsley on the north, 115th Avenue on the west, and the
City boundaries on the south, east and elsewhere.
Rationale: While the service area would not be reduced by this
recommendation, it would be held to the current area. This action
would keep the current resources allocated within the current
service area. As areas were annexed into the City, a decision
would have to be made to expand the service area and either incur
additional operating costs or accept negative impacts upon
service.
3. Maximum wait time -
One of the major considerations in providing service is the amount
of time a passenger must wait to obtain service. Currently, the
VW Dial -A -Ride averages a 35 minute wait. However, this average is
becoming increasing difficult to maintain. As the service areaexpands, the fleet remains the same, and the passenger demandincreases, then the number of passengers waiting longer periodsforthebusestoarrivealsoincreases. Current: No more than 20% of the passengers will wait longer than35minutes. (Statistics are calculated monthly). Commission Recommendation: No more than 25% of the passengerswillwaitlongerthan45minutes. Rationale: The Commission related that as demand for servicecontinuestoincrease, then either resources must be added to keepthecurrentwaittimeorthewaittimemustincrease. TheCommissionfeltthatitwasnotunreasonableforpeopleto wait 45minutesforsomeonetocomeandprovidethemwithdoor-to-doortransportation.
4. Restrictions on service
In addition to Item #1 (who should the system serve?) other ways
of restricting use of the system also exist. The value in
restricting service under certain criteria is to eliminate some of
the demand in an effort to maintain response time and costs. Two
considerations for these restrictions are: 1) eliminate the
duplication of service with the fixed -routes, and/or 2) eliminate
duplicate trips to the same origin/destination during a given
day. Item #1 would disallow Dial -A -Ride service to patrons who
can make their trip on the existing fixed -route service. A number
of criteria for this denial could be developed. Item #2 would
create appointment calls for major trip generators (i.e., Senior
Complex to Shopping Mall).that would limit trips to or from those
locations to one in the AM and one in the PM. Persons must travel
at those times or be denied service.
Current: No restrictions exist at this time.
Commission Recommendation: The Commission is recommending that
restrictions on service be limited to those instances where
multiple trips are made to major trip generators; such trips will
be provided with appointment calls. Case-by-case instances will be
determined by the Dial -A -Ride staff. Further, the Dial -A -Ride
staff is advised to encourage those riders who can use fixed -route
bus service to do so, in whatever ways possible and necessary.
Rationale: The Commission felt that refusing Dial -A -Ride service
to patrons who could use fixed -route was too abrupt at this time.
They recommended that staff provide a concentrated effort to
promote the use of fixed -route to those patrons who are able to
use fixed -route, with a warning that it may be necessary to
restrict Dial -A -Ride use in the future. The Commission wished to
revisit this issue six months after the marketing effort was in
place. However, the Commission was concerned with the multiple
repeat trips the Dial -A -Ride made to and from the same locations.
Therefore, the Commission recommended that staff be allowed to
identify these areas of identical trip activity and schedule
appointment calls to and from those areas with the ability to deny
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service at other times. This should promote group travel andreducecostsbothperpassengerandpermileofservice. 5. Fare structure - Currently, the City endeavors to recover 10% of the cost oflowoperationthroughthefarebox. This year the farebox recoverywillfallbelowthe10% standard and a review of the farestructureisappropriate. In addition, staff has been requestedtoconsideroptionsthatwouldrequirethe "Regular" ridercategorytopayalargerportion, or perhaps all, of the cost forprovidingtheirtrip. Fare structures have been presented withthoseoptions. current: 10% of gross cost is recovered through the farebox. Thecurrentfarestructureisincludedinthechartoffarestructuresattached.
commission Recommendation: To establish the following fare
structure beginning in year 1991:
The Junior age catagory was extended from 6 through 9 years
to 6 through 13 years.
Tokens will still be available, but at full price of $1.00 each.
Current token rate is .60)
Rationale: The Commission felt that a greater than a $2.00 fare
for a regular rider might remove from the system those regulars
who had no other choices. They felt that such a policy would most
heavily impact upon those regulars who needed the service,
thereby, providing the heaviest impact upon those who could least
afford it. Secondly, the Commission felt they wanted to encourage
public transit use by all residents to address the Valley's air
quality issues; and, therefore, fares should be reasonable for all
riders. The Commission also felt that children oftentimes require
the use of the Dial -A -Ride and felt that elementary age children
should all be contained in one fare category. Additionally, since
seniors, handicap and children already receive a 50% discount, the
discount for tokens seemed excessive. However, tokens should
still be available for those persons who need or want an easily
identifiable transit fare other than cash.
6. Size of Dial -A -Ride vehicles -
Dial -A -Ride currently uses vehicles that are categorized as
mini -buses, meaning that they are generally smaller than the 30
foot buses used in fixed -route service, but larger than a maxi -van
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Proposed Current
Regulars (14-64) 2.00 1.40
Seniors (65-84) 1.00 70
Handicapped 1.00 70
Seniors (85+) Free Free
Children (-5) Free Free
Juniors (6-13) 1.00 70*
Groups (4+) 50 40/.80
The Junior age catagory was extended from 6 through 9 years
to 6 through 13 years.
Tokens will still be available, but at full price of $1.00 each.
Current token rate is .60)
Rationale: The Commission felt that a greater than a $2.00 fare
for a regular rider might remove from the system those regulars
who had no other choices. They felt that such a policy would most
heavily impact upon those regulars who needed the service,
thereby, providing the heaviest impact upon those who could least
afford it. Secondly, the Commission felt they wanted to encourage
public transit use by all residents to address the Valley's air
quality issues; and, therefore, fares should be reasonable for all
riders. The Commission also felt that children oftentimes require
the use of the Dial -A -Ride and felt that elementary age children
should all be contained in one fare category. Additionally, since
seniors, handicap and children already receive a 50% discount, the
discount for tokens seemed excessive. However, tokens should
still be available for those persons who need or want an easily
identifiable transit fare other than cash.
6. Size of Dial -A -Ride vehicles -
Dial -A -Ride currently uses vehicles that are categorized as
mini -buses, meaning that they are generally smaller than the 30
foot buses used in fixed -route service, but larger than a maxi -van
31
vehicle. It has been discussed that the use of vans should beconsideredtoprovidetheDial -A -Ride service. Commission Recommendation: Receive bids on the maxi -vans and thenre-evaluate which vehicles should be purchased. AW Rationale: The Commission wished to obtain bids for the maxi -vanvehiclestobetterdeterminewhatoptionsandpriceswouldbeavailable. They wished to re-evaluate the cost effectiveness ofdownsizingequipmentafterthebidswerereceived. 7. Advertising - % Currently, advertising is sold on the inside of each bus. Todate, this has only brought in minimal revenue, partially becausetherehasbeennostrongpushtoobtainadvertisers. Anadditionalsourceofrevenuecouldbesellingadvertising on theoutsideofeachbus. These ads would be contained in frames which
are mounted to the sides and back of each bus. This advertising
would bring in more revenue.
Current: Advertising is sold on the inside of the buses. Frames
are in place for outside advertising.
Commission Recommendation: Advertising on the Dial -A -Ride system
be limited to the inside of the bus.
Rationale: The Commission felt that advertising on the outside of
the vehicles was unattractive and would negatively impact the
image of the service, and therefore, discourage ridership. They
felt, at this time, the disadvantages would outweigh the amount of
revenue received.
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