HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20190424Special Meeting Aspen City Council April 24, 2019
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RESOLUTION #53, SERIES OF 2019 – Authorization for City Manager to spend contingency dollars for
Project 51112; utility work for 420 Rio Grande ........................................................................................... 2
Special Meeting Aspen City Council April 24, 2019
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At 4:00 PM Mayor Skadron called the special meeting to order with Councilmembers Hauenstein,
Mullins and Frisch present.
RESOLUTION #53, SERIES OF 2019 – Authorization for City Manager to spend contingency dollars
for Project 51112; utility work for 420 Rio Grande
Jeff Pendarvis, asset, said the project as you know is utility work in Rio Grande. It is proceeding. As
excavation proceeded for deep utilities, engineers noticed some issues with the soil in the field. Their
recommendation is to over excavate for the roadway. Mayor Skadron asked is this unusual. Mr.
Pendarvis said the issue has accumulated over time. It was the old rail yard with various different uses.
This is unforeseen and unexpected because the road was in pretty good shape. The engineers feel it is
prudent to replace. Sara Ott, city manager, said the option is to do it now or later. We felt now was
worthwhile since the hole was already opened.
Councilwoman Mullins asked will the excavation be deeper than it would have been. Rob Schober, asset,
replied two feet deeper for the road itself. Councilman Hauenstein said this is not Mill Street, just the
parking area. Mr. Schober replied Mill to Founders Place.
Councilman Hauenstein said this disturbs me it is a $379,000 no bid contract. You are saying it should be
done immediately. 20,000 for a smooth drum, two line items for 12,000 and a pilot car. What do we
need a pilot car for. This doesn’t sit well with me when I look at the detail. What does the owners rep
say. Mr. Pendarvis said there will be continued vetting. Shaw provided us with the change order today.
We are meeting today because the time sensitivity. Councilman Hauenstein asked what kind of
assurances do I have when we are paying for a pilot car. Ms. Ott replied the equipment moving in and out
is wider than usual. The pilot car is to move the equipment in and out. These are not unusual charges.
This is a maximum expense. We have the opportunity to continue to value engineer this. If we want the
road open for food & wine we need to address this this week. Councilman Hauenstein said I have a
problem with the 379,000 no bid contract. Councilman Frisch asked what do you propose we do right
now. Councilman Hauenstein replied I’m doing my own vetting right now. Ms. Ott said the alternative
would be to fill the hole right now and in the 2020 budget we rebid. The site is controlled under one
contractor. This would be the normal course of business to use this contractor. The difference is the
contractor is on site now. Councilman Hauenstein asked how long has the area been used without
degradation to the road base. Mr. Pendarvis replied I know if we don’t proceed it is day to day delay and
we are up against food & wine. Mr. Schober replied typically the cost is for hauling. We will pay per
haul ticket. It may be less. Councilman Hauenstein said if we chose not to do this we save 379,000 and
put the road base back to what it was. In my 40 years plus there has not been a degradation to it. Mr.
Pendarvis said the engineer said since we will be using the road for our construction with heavy loads that
is when you might start to see a problem.
Councilwoman Mullins asked why is traffic control not included. Mr. Pendarvis replied it is already in
place. Councilwoman Mullins said when you did soil tests you didn’t find out about this. Mr. Pendarvis
said the samples were limited to the site not the right of way and did not expose this issue.
Councilwoman Mullins asked is it coming out of the contingency. Is there the possibility to share with
another fund. Ms. Ott replied if approved we will bring an appropriation to come out of the asset fund in
the second reading of the supplemental.
Councilman Hauenstein said I have to express my displeasure not having the owners rep here. I find that
to be unacceptable. Ms. Ott said I met with him yesterday on it. Mr. Pendarvis replied he is unable to
attend the meeting today but we have been in contact with him constantly. Councilman Hauenstein said
this is a separate contract that does not get tagged as added costs. Ms. Ott said when you opened the hole
for utility lines we disturbed the road base sufficient enough with the utility repair. I suspect we will start
seeing pavement failure more quickly with a patch. It is not a great situation and I did not feel I had the
authority to address it myself which is why we came here. Councilman Hauenstein asked why did this
not surface when the utility work was done for the county offices. Mr. Pendarvis said they did not do
work in our right of way. There is no direct correlation between their building and this site. Ms. Ott said
the age of the utility lines is in excess of 40 years. Mr. Pendarvis said we found old conduit and rail ties.
There was a mix of other materials. It is not standard today. Councilwoman Mullins asked you never ran
Special Meeting Aspen City Council April 24, 2019
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in to this with the Mill Street construction. Mr. Pendarvis said I did not hear from them that they found a
similar condition. We did confer with the streets department. I understand your concern about the cost
but want to assure you we will vet it fully. Councilman Hauenstein asked does Stutzman Gerbaz see this
as maximums. Mr. Pendarvis stated we spoke with them and I am confident we can work out with them
and Shaw costs not to exceed. I did ask the project manager if there were other risks. They assured me
there was nothing they saw in the next three weeks.
Councilwoman Mullins said I support going ahead because it will be more money if we do it again later.
The lessoned learned should have been from when they did Mill Street and found unexpected conditions.
Mayor Skadron said it is not the case that departments did not communicate it is an unusual condition.
Can council have confidence since this came to us as a non competitive bid in the accuracy of the number.
Ms. Ott replied we will continue to vet it. We felt it was reasonable to ask for this maximum amount.
These hourly rates are not out of the norm from other contracts I have signed for the city. The question is
the quantity number and we will continue to vet it.
Councilman Hauenstein moved to adopt Resolution #53, Series of 2019; seconded by Councilman Frisch.
All in favor, motion carried.
Councilwoman Mullins moved to adjourn at 4:25 pm; seconded by Councilman Hauenstein. All in favor,
motion carried.
Linda Manning
City Clerk