East Hampton
Streetscape Steering Committee
Minutes of Special Meeting
Wednesday, January 21, 2009, 7:00 pm
East Hampton Town Hall Annex
Agenda Item #1: Call to Order
Streetscape Steering Committee Chairperson Elizabeth Harris called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm. Other committee members present were Kevin Burnham and Sue Weintraub.
Agenda Item #2: Approval of minutes of November 19, 2008 Regular Meeting
Motion to approve minutes from the December 17, 2008, Regular Meeting was made by Kevin Burnham and seconded by Sue Weintraub. Minutes were approved by unanimous vote.
Agenda Item #3: Communications and Announcements
Kevin Burnham reported that guidelines formulated by the Design Review Board have been submitted to Planning and Zoning as well as Town Manager Jeff O’Keefe. DRB will present those guidelines at next month’s P&Z meeting. Completion of the Main Street bridge project has been delayed by several months; it appears that the decision to use precast bridge structures has contributed to the delay. DRB has also discussed potentially merging the Board with the Streetscape Steering Committee.
The committee discussed the need for a Town granite curbing policy; future State projects in designated areas would require the State to use granite curbing. The committee considered the lifetime cost of granite curbing, which could be expected to last 100 years with some periodic need for resetting, as opposed to concrete, with a lifetime of about 20 years. The Rhode Island DOT found that the cost comparison can depend upon the prevailing interest rate, and that the increased expense of granite curbing is more financially feasible when interest rates are low. Kevin Burnham will forward more information.
The Functional Assessment of Boards and Commissions is scheduled for discussion at a Town Council meeting on January 27, 2008. Sue Weintraub reported that there is some public concern regarding expenditures; $7500 was approved for completion of the study, but the cost to fly the consultant to Connecticut for the January 27 meeting is additional. The consultant’s report could be delivered less expensively through a teleconference.
Agenda Item #4: Scheduled meeting dates for 2009
The committee discussed continuing to hold regular meetings on the third Wednesday of the month, changing the start time to 7:30pm; meetings will be held in the Town Hall Annex unless otherwise noted. Motion to approve meeting dates was made by Elizabeth Harris and seconded by Kevin Burnham; motion was approved by unanimous vote.
Agenda Item #5: Streetscape
Because of concerns over potential budget over-runs expressed by Town Manager Jeff O’Keefe, TPA’s invoices were compared to the contract, scope, and scope modification. Noted were four invoices from 2006 (#10328, 10256, 10057, and 10234), which had job numbers (06-013, 06-002) different from that of the streetscape project (07-012); additionally, some of the charges were obviously not related to the streetscape project area. These charges total $3661.34; TPA is thought to have overbilled by approximately $3000, but if these charges were erroneously billed to the STEAP grant, then TPA is still within their contracted budget. The committee also noted that 6 hours of TPA’s time budgeted for rehabilitation of the historic bell sign did not appear to have been fulfilled. The Town has employed both CLA and
TPA for construction management; the committee would like to know if any of that work has been duplicated. TPA has proposed $3000 worth of “Final Services”; however, the punch list was already included in the scope of services. Additionally, the committee has noted several questions: What was the STEAP grant award date? How much was paid for granite curbing in the DOT project area, and was that amount allowed to be charged to the grant? Is there proof of man-hours and direct costs for reimbursables as billed by TPA? Has the Town paid for TPA’s manager’s hourly rates even after the manager left the company? What was Morais Construction’s final bid and latest progress payment?
While Jeff O’Keefe has found that STEAP grant funds were incorrectly allocated within DECD’s plan and budget, the committee believes that the total monies spent to date still indicate a significant cost under-run, possibly exceeding $50,000. Jeff has noted that DECD will decide whether to adjust the plan and budget and allow the full design fee to be paid from the STEAP grant.
Agenda Item #6: Signage plan
Deferred until next meeting.
Agenda Item #7: Middle Haddam Road
Deferred until next meeting.
Agenda Item #8: Next Steps
The committee’s findings regarding TPA’s invoices and the budget will be communicated to Jeff O’Keefe.
Agenda Item #9: Public Comments
None.
Agenda Item #10: Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 9:25pm. Next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 18, 2009, 7:30pm, in the Town Hall Annex.
Respectfully submitted by Elizabeth Harris.
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