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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-13-15 BPC MinutesBozeman Parking Commission Meeting May 13, 2015 7:30 a.m. Madison Room Parking Commissioners in Attendance: Ryan Olson Dennis Bechtold Pam Bryan Kelly Wiseman Ben Lloyd Chris Naumann Ben Bennett City Staff in Attendance: Laurae Clark, Treasurer Ashlie Portnell, Parking Clerk Chuck Winn, Assistant City Manager Daniel Tolar- Parking Officer Guests in Attendance: Action Items: I. Call to order, 7:30 a.m. Ryan called the meeting to order at 7:30 a.m. II. Disclosures of Ex Parte Communication None. III. Changes to the Agenda None. IV. Approval of April 2015 minutes Ryan asked for a motion to approve the April 2015 minutes. Ben B motioned to approve the April 2015 minutes. Dennis seconded. The motion was carried unanimously. V. Public Comment on non-agenda items – State name & address, limit comments to 3 min. None. VI. Parking Manager Hiring Update Chuck stated that there were five interviews for the Parking Manager position. Two of the candidates scored very well with everyone. The reference checks have been completed and a pay offer was approved by the pay committee. Chuck will call the candidate this morning (5/13/15) to make the official offer. He stated that he will email the BPC if the position is accepted. Pam asked when this person will start. Chuck stated that he indicated he would be willing to start fairly quickly. VII. Parking garage basement permit holders- Discussion Chuck informed the BPC of the basement permit holders in the parking garage that are not parking in the basement. This was brought up at the last parking department staff meeting. Chuck mentioned that there is no way to monitor vehicles to make sure they park in the basement, but perhaps we could mention it to future and existing permit holders. The issue with basement permit holders not parking in the basement is they are technically taking up two spaces. Laurae asked Daniel to make sure the space number at the parking garage is accurate to ensure maximum capacity is available. Laurae asked if we could sell “temporary” basement permits until the pending lease has been activated. Ben B asked how anyone knows who is parking in the general level instead of basement. Laurae stated that the parking software is able to tell us who is supposed to park in which area. But, without individual scrutiny you cannot easily see which basement leaseholders are parking upstairs. Dennis asked if those spaces leased out in basement will still be available once the Etha project is completed or if those folks will lose their space in the garage all together. Chris clarified that some folks who purchased their basement pass within the last year were notified that it would be temporary for them, but the other folks who have had basement permits from the beginning will get to keep their space. The Lark and the Element have signed leases for 80 to 90 spaces. The Etha hotel agreement states they will only be utilizing basement spaces, which is more effective for valet parking. Kelly asked if we could switch up the contract with the Etha hotel to state that we will still give them the spaces listed in the contract once they have opened their doors, but for the time being we are going to lease those spaces to someone else who could use them from now until their doors are open. If the Etha doesn’t pay for those leases by a certain time frame, than the Element can continue to use those spaces. Chris said the Element would absolutely accept an offer like this. They anticipate being open by July or August of 2015 so this would happen quickly. The BPC could make an agreement with them that would state they could utilize those spaces for the next couple years until the Etha is open. Ryan asked if Cory Lawrence was notified that his contractors could use those leased spaces in the garage while they are working on the hotel. Chuck said no one has spoken with Cory at all since Scott Lee left. Chuck will get in touch with Cory. Chuck asked if we could technically lease basement passes in the garage until the Etha project get under way. Chris said yes. Ben B stated that it would just have to be made clear that it is only for a certain period of time, and when they are done, they are done, they will not be allowed to have a leased space upstairs in the general parking areas. The Finance office will begin selling basement only spaces for the parking garage on a temporary basis and make it clear in a highlighted notification that those spaces are leased temporarily and can be revoked if needed. VIII. Revised Garage Lease Policy Update This is scheduled to be presented to the City Commission in June. Chuck spoke to the City Attorney Greg Sullivan about revising the policy and removing the letter of intent. Once that is complete, the City Commission will just have to support the resolution of the policy. Chris clarified that the letter of intent is not necessary to have in the policy because when it was originated the BPC was new to putting something like this together and as time has gone on, it is realized that each lease will be slightly different from another. A letter of intent is binding and it is important for the BPC to remain flexible to each different project. Chuck, or the new Parking Manager, will bring back a revised policy for review and possible adoption by the Parking Commission. IX. Comprehensive Parking Plan Update Chris wrote the RFP and presented it to the Executive Committee. The City Clerks also helped out. The press release was on May 12, 2015. It can also be viewed on the City of Bozeman website and in the Chronicle. Chris stated that there needs to be a review committee. Chris explained that the process will take about a week to ten days to review, about another week for interviews and then a week for the negotiations. Chris hopes to have a firm selected in June. Chris contacted Scott Lee to see what he had budgeted for this project. He believed there was about 40K for Fiscal 2016 and the TIF has 20K for Fiscal 2016. This will be approved by the City Commission next week. Ryan asked someone volunteers for the review committee. Pam and Ben B volunteered. Chuck will reach out to the Planning department and get a volunteer. Chris will put together some dates for meeting and notify the review committee members. Pam thinks another meeting to discuss what we are looking for and to review the scoring sheets would help to keep it fair. She suggested each member score a candidate privately and then have a meeting to talk about each one and share how they were scored. X. Garage LED Lighting Update Chris said that it was projected to take about ten to twelve days and it was completed in three. It went smoothly and Natalie Meyer carried almost all the weight for this whole project, she really made it all happen. McKinstry will come back and make sure everything was installed properly and that everything is working how it should. They will be around for the next year per the contract and will analyze the bills to see what the savings is for switching to the LED lights. Natalie Meyer will put together a follow up report in about a year. Daniel stated that a couple people completely disregarded the signs that were posted and even ran over cones while the guys were trying to complete the work. But other than that it was a pretty smooth process. Chuck stated that he is going to create a letter of appeal to Northwestern Energy because he believes we should have qualified for a rebate on the lights and were not granted one. XI. Parking Lot Redesign Update Ben L, Dennis, Chris and Chuck met with the folks of Sanderson Stewart. They were looking at options. Chris stressed to them to keep it simple. Their report has new concepts for the lots and they are starting to work on the storm water section of the redesign. They are working with Craig Woolard in Public Works. Chris hopes to have some sample designs to show the BPC at the June meeting. Each lot will be designed to potentially be a pay lot in the future. Ryan asked if at the next meeting we could have someone from Sanderson Stewart come and present to the BPC. Chris will see if someone can come to present the renderings. XII. New business Pam asked when a new Parking Enforcement Officer will be hired. Chuck said that the position will not be filled until after the new Parking Manager is hired. Chris stated that MSU is going to be building a 500 space parking garage. Their garage will have a pay and display system instead of gates at the entrances and exits. This requires officers to patrol the garage for compliance. Ashlie has given her notice and will be leaving the City of Bozeman on July 2nd. Her position will be posted in the near future. XIII. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 a.m. Respectfully Submitted Ashlie Portnell, Parking Clerk