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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-13-13 Parking Commission MinutesBozeman Parking Commission Meeting October 9, 2013 7:30 a.m. City Hall Commission Room Parking Commissioners in Attendance: Ben Lloyd Chris Naumann Kelly Wiseman Ben Bennett Ryan Olson City Staff in Attendance: Scott Lee, Parking Manager Laurae Clark, Treasurer Ashlie Portnell, Parking Clerk Guests in Attendance: Action Items: None. I. Call to order, 7:30 a.m. Ben L called the meeting to order at 7:30 a.m. II. Approval of October 2013 minutes Ben L asked for a motion to approve the October 2013 minutes. Chris motioned to approve the October 2013 minutes. Ben B seconded. The motion was carried unanimously. III. Public Comment – State name and address. Please limit comments to 3 minutes. None. IV. Disclosures Ben B shared with the BPC that he is working with Cory Lawrence on renaming the Armory hotel. V. Manager’s Report (info) – Including finance report Scott presented the finance report to the BPC. The budget shows that the BPC is ahead in revenue and below in expenses. The remaining balance for the software upgrade at the garage was paid and Gallatin Elevator Services was paid in the amount of $2,000.00 Scott stated that permit numbers for the garage have not increased just yet, but closer to the holidays that number will increase. Scott will talk to Anna about using the Cash-In-Lieu account to pay for some of the expenses. A comparison from last October and September show we are up in entries at the garage. During the software upgrade there was full day where entries were not accounted for because the system was not working properly. There are still a few minor issues that Scott is working on. There were no top five entries to report. City Hall will no longer sell basement permits for the parking garage. VI. Presentation of Future of Downtown Parking Rankings – (Discussion) Scott presented the three concepts created for future parking downtown. Both Chris and Scott came up with these concepts. Objective #1- Increase parking use and efficiency of existing parking inventory-on street, public lots, private lots and structured parking. Objective#2- Expand overall inventory of on-street, surface lot and structured parking Objective #3- Develop a more robust parking revenue system to finance parking capital projects in addition to maintenance needs. The To Do list at the bottom of the handout is a combination of the top 10 concepts. At this time the BPC will take the to do list, identify estimates and what it would cost to complete them, figure out what the time factor will be to complete them, and what is the political component. Pam suggested dividing up the tasks and revamp the list to present in the December meeting and discuss what things on the list need to be completed and what can wait to get finished. Chris asked if there are any items on the list that aren’t there that should be. Ben B stated that the parking study should be the first thing on the list. Chris and Scott will work on this and present it again hopefully at next month’s meeting. VII. Capital Improvements Program (ACTION) Scott shows to the BPC the handout that was presented to them at the last meeting. This is the budget plan what Anna Rosenberry helped Scott create. Some items were removed, some were added, but it might still need some adjustments. The plan shows that the BPC will contribute every six months $5,000.00 towards the capital plan. Chris stated that he has proposed to the TIFT board some significant investments. Most are scheduled already for the surface lots. Chris said that the TIFT board supports those items. Scott is asking for approval from the BPC to submit the 2015-2019 capital plan to the City Commission. Chris stated that even though the plan has a 5 year projectery, that it will still be revised every year, as needs will change from year to year. Ryan motioned to approve the Parking Capital Improvement Plan 2015-2019. Kelly seconded the motion. The motion was carried unanimously. VIII. Parking Garage Structural Assessment – (Info) Scott presented the letters he received from Mark Aden of DCI Engineers and Tony Martel from Martel Construction Inc. The letters talked about the concerns of Bob Chase, who has raised concerns about the garage and if it is structurally sound. There should be better documentation of the true conditions of the parking structure. Ben B mentioned that he is noticing cracks in the floor of his office space. Maybe they want to include that in the mapping. Cyndy stated that she was under the impression that Mark Aden was going to do the mapping. Scott stated that he wants Scott and Dick Prugh to do the leg work for him. Cyndy stated that it is worth the money and time to make sure Mark does the mapping. Scott stated that we need to get an estimate of what that will cost for him to do. Cyndy will have a conversation with Chuck Winn about making sure Mark does the mapping. The BPC will get an update on this at a future meeting. IX. Stipend for Parking Manager (ACTION) Chris talked to the BPC about what was discussed at the Executive committee meeting. Scotts position as the Parking Manager means being on call 24/7. Scott has documented the volume of calls he gets on a daily basis, and the time of day he receives the calls. A lot of times the calls come in well after 5:00 p.m., and sometimes it requires Scott to leave home to attend to the issues at the garage. Scott put together a proposal that would benefit his position. He recommends that the BPC take action on the proposal. His calculations are figured as round trips from home to the parking garage and back again. He calculated that getting paid $5.00 a weekday and $10.00 dollars on weekends and holidays would help out greatly. That comes to $350.00 a month stipend. The Executive committee explained that Scott will need to continue to track his calls so that they can keep track his time. If the volume of calls does decrease then the stipend will be discontinued. Kelly stated that he is concerned for the long term issue; he is in favor of helping Scott out and paying him that extra money, but wants to know if the BPC will also be constructing a solution to the problem. Ryan asked if the budget could support this, Chris said no, and that it will need to be presented to the City Commission for approval to do this. The BPC would need to approve it first, before they can take it to the City Commission. Ben B suggested visiting this issue maybe every few months to see if it is necessary to pay Scott the extra money. If the volume of calls have decreased significantly then it will no longer be needed. Ben B also stated that a solution to the problem needs to be addressed soon. Chris asked if there it was possible that from Midnight to 3 a.m. the gates stay open or something along those lines. He wondered if other cities do something like that. Maybe we should look into that. After the discussion it was agreed that a stipend will go into effect for the next 6 months and it will be revisited again after that. Ben L asked for a motion to approve a stipend for the Parking Manager position. Pam motioned to give Scott $350.00 per month as a stipend starting December 1, 2013 with the idea to visit it every three months to review/ report to Scott and come up with a long term solution. Kelly seconded the motion. the motion was carried unanimously. X. New business Pam asked if there was a decision made about the parking issue on Cleveland St. Rich Noonan came to last month’s meeting talking about the parking issue on his street. He lives inside the MSU residential district and has problems with students parking in front of his home. Scott stated that he doesn’t recommend we just give him permits to park there without that block actually becoming part of the district. Scott will respond to him with a letter. Cyndy asked about the maintenance in the garage. Scott stated that Jeff Rupp requested to bid out his own contract. It was suggested that we create a contract for some college kids to come clean the bathrooms. The streamline bathrooms are nice, but not the ones located inside that parking garage. The parking staff has helped out with the cleaning, and it has improved. Scott stated that he has not received bids on pressure washing the garage. The City just adopted new purchase policy. the BPC is recommended to approve this as the way we purchase things. This will be on next month’s agenda for approval. The new hotel plans have been submitted for the Armory hotel. The Executive committee is going to meet next week and talk about that. Ben L stated that the Executive committee is on the hunt for the new chair. XI. Adjournment Ben L adjourned the meeting at 9:00 a.m. Respectfully Submitted Ashlie Portnell, Parking Clerk