Agenda - Council - 04/12/1994 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Case #10:; North Metro Mayor's Association Membership City AdminiStrator Schroeder stated that in October the City of Ramsey put the North Metro Mayor's A~[sociation (NMMA) on notice that it may withdraw from Association membershil~ Since that time, the 1994 budget has been passed with $g,701 allocated to continue th~ membership. He explained the formula the NMMA uses for charging membership]to different cities and the County. He felt that associahon with the NMMA has potential fo~ long-term benefits to the COmmunity; however, there is definite room for improvement in the organization. Mr. Schroeder added it is much easier to effect change from inside iht NMMA than outside. He suggested it would be appropriate for the City to consider se ,n~cl~ing a message to NMMA by not autharizing full membership dues. Mayor Gilb~,rtson recommended submitting the same amount as what Andovcr is charged for member[hip. Councilmerbber Zimmcrman felt this organization is a benefit to the City and suggested working to ry to change the formula for membership dues. Councilmc~lber Hardin agreed that the City of Ramscy should not pay the full membership amount but instead pay $5,000. Motion by Mayor Gilbertson and seconded by Councilmember Hardin to authorize membershil ~ to the North Metro Mayor's Association but to pay a total amount of $5,000 for membeI ~hip dues. Motion can ie.d. Voting Yes: Mayor Gflbertson, Coun¢ilmembers Hardin, Beyer, Peterson and 7.imm~ man. Voting No: None. Case #11: Review Change Order Policy for Public Improvement Projects City Engin ;er Jankowski stated that change orders are' formal amendments to a contract which may be caused by a number of factors. A change order will entire a contractor to an adjustment in the project cost, an extension of the contract period, or both. A change order is considercd a formal amendment to the contract and it, therefore, should b~ authorized by both partie~ in advance of the work. In practice, however, achieving prior authorization o~/ .... many publ c improvement projects is problematic. Often times a decision on a change needs to be made within a period of hours or days while the City Council meets on two, and occasi¢,nally three-week intervals. Since a consmacfion crew will typically cost several hundred d¢,llars per hour, the cost of delaying a decision or ceasing an operation and causing th~ .contractor to remobilize at a later d_~t_e, can easily exceed the cost of the change being cons iered. Mr. Jankowskl suggested some alternatives such as llm~fing the dollar range for ti change order, call an emergency meeting of the Council, or allow the engineer in consulta :ion with the City Administrator and the Mayor to authorize emergency change orders. Motion by ~.ouncilmember Hardin and seconded by Councqlmember Peterson to allow the engineer ~ consultation with the City Administrator and the Mayor or his designee to authorize ~mergency change orders in a not-to-exceed amount of $5,000 and that the change ordk., r would be ratified at the very next Council mee..ting. Motion ca: tied. Voting Yes: Mayor Gilbertson, Councqlmembers Hardin, Peterson, Beyer and 7.1mm ~'man. Voting No: None. City Council/January 18, 1994 Page 1! of 15