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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Special Meeting_02/07/2006MINUTES • EMERGENCY SPECIAL VILLAGE COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2006 I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL -The Tequesta Village Council held an Emergency Special Meeting at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) of the Public Safety Facility, 357 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta, Florida, on Tuesday, February 7, 2006. The meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. A roll call was taken Village Clerk, Gwen Carlisle. Council Members present were: Mayor Jim Humpage, Vice Mayor Pat Watkins, and Council Member Tom Paterno. Also in attendance were: Village Manager Michael R. Couzzo, Jr., and Department Heads. Village Manager Couzzo noted for the record that Council Member Geraldine A. Genco was available by conference call. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Vice Mayor Watkins moved to approve the agenda, as submitted; seconded by Council Member Paterno; motion passed 3-0. III. Discussion and possible action regarding the Tequesta Drive Bridge Mayor Humpage noted the Village is scheduled to open the Tequesta Drive • Bridge tomorrow morning. He indicated Staff has obtained some information from our independent engineers. He felt this meeting was more for Council to get to a comfort level so that everyone will understand what is about to occur, and how it will occur, and where the Village is going. Council Member Paterno mentioned he had some concerns with the temporary opening of the Bridge. He felt that Section 3/7 is vulnerable and could actually vibrate, and could fall out. Mr. Brian Rheault, P.E. Bridge Design Associates, Inc. noted he did not feel the bridge could fall completely out. He explained that during the construction a large 1-'/4" rod is slipped and threaded through like a needle, and then they tighten the rod. He noted there is a large 1-'/a" pin, and if it is in good shape still, if corrosion has not rotted it away, there should be that pin at least through the center span. He pointed out the option sheet, noting for opening tomorrow he really did not think it was an issue, but for any extended period time he recommended the Village should have some temporary supports under the bridge. He felt holes could be drilled and rods added, angle iron, something to that effect so that the Village does not experience catastrophic failure. He noted then the Village could be sure that the Bridge is not going to drop out on a boat, or on someone underneath it, or from vibrations. He mentioned he did not think it was critical that it happened today, but he did think it was critical that it happens if this goes on for a couple of weeks. Council Member Paterno asked if it was possible the rod could come down, hitting • something else, and creating a bigger problem. Mr. Rheault responded yes, that is a possibility. He commented what would likely happen is that if the rod no longer Minutes -Village Council Emergency Special Meeting February 7, 2006 Page 2 • existed, it would more than likely split at center span. He noted that is where it is basically stranded and held together there, and so the two ends would break, and they would rotate down toward the pilings and side. Council Member Paterno felt that could lead to another problem potentially. Vice Mayor Watkins questioned if the Village were to open the westbound lane would the Village not see a cause and effect of the vibrations. Mr. Rheault explained the rod is there for enforcement but it is not holding the units together, so the transfer of vibration from one unit to the other is minimal at this point. Council Member Paterno commented if the rod is not there, who knows what would happen. He pointed out all those strands underneath are broke, so a percentage risk wise here is if it is not already broken, it is probably very deficient, so it could cause a problem or cause a chain reaction of some sort. Mayor Humpage asked what the Village was looking at now was the risk or possible problem for marine traffic, not vehicular traffic. Mr. Rheault agreed the biggest exposure at this time, if vibration or movement occurs, is for anyone underneath it. He commented at all costs if the Village could keep boaters out of the center span. He noted if the deck unit was to fall it would not affect much on the top side, maybe that would be more damage to the slab, but it would not take down the whole drive area. Mayor Humpage commented in his professional opinion the Village needs to keep this closed to marine traffic until that situation has been resolved. He felt that was • the main concern Council should look at now. Mr. Rheault noted that is in Option 1, temporary support 3/7 to keep it from falling on boaters, and have the barriers on the top side to make sure that motorist do not misdirect themselves onto the other side, and post the tonnage limit for vehicular traffic. He noted another suggestion that has been going around, but it is relatively expensive, is to have a curtain or drape, construction debris drape underneath the bridge so if something does fall, it does not just fall immediately, it is slowed down. He mentioned he has looked at carbon fiber but it seems to push the price up. He felt that was a reasonable option, but any heavy-duty netting that slows it down gives the boater or someone the opportunity to avoid, or get out of the way. He noted the bottom line was to keep them out of there. Mayor Humpage felt if Council restricts the marine traffic they would not have any liability. Village Manager Couzzo indicated there is still a limited liability. He noted if the Village goes one step farther and puts some type of netting, that would provide reasonable care for the boating traffic, he felt that would further decrease the liability, because the Village is taking additional precautions. Mayor Humpage asked if rods were put in place if it would further decrease sections dropping off, and hold everything in place. He commented he could not imagine carbon fiber net holding large sections of concrete that fall down. Mr. Rheault indicated it would have to be done very well. He noted the adjacent slabs were not in that great a shape, and it would end up with the carbon fiber spanning • about 12 feet, which might not be reasonable. He noted with 6 or 8 feet they Minutes -Village Council Emergency Special Meeting February 7, 2006 Page 3 . would have an opportunity to hold up just about anything, but with the span the Village has it would be very difficult. Vice Mayor Watkins asked if the splint could be put in place until the Village could get it resolved. Mr. Rheault responded in the affirmative to a splint or aform--something that holds up from the top side. Council Member Paterno asked if Option 1 was for splinting, or if the barricades and the people were included. Mr. Rheault noted it was basically the splinting and the net. Council Member Paterno noted that did not include the net. Mr. Rheault agreed. Village Manager Couzzo suggested the netting could be done by the Village to save money. Council Member Paterno noted even with Option 1, we could move to the other options in order to take corrective action. Mr. Rheault noted the village would not want to leave the hole open, and could install a large steel plate or something so no one falls through. Mayor Humpage asked what the debris screen was in the option. Mr. Rheault noted in Option 1 it was some type of netting for debris screening, such as carbon fiber, strong netting, or wire mesh. Mayor Humpage felt the screening was to protect the boaters, he asked what they meant by installing a large steel plate so someone would not fall through. Mr. Rheault clarified if they removed slab 3/7 by going in there and soft cut it, and remove it. He mentioned that is an option, but he cautioned Council to put a significant plate of steel over the hole. Mayor • Humpage asked if they soft cut the portion out would that then allow for marine traffic. Council Member Paterno asked if they removed the slab would that be $40,000 or $50,000. Mr. Rheault felt rt would be on the lower end of $40,000. He mentioned it was unfortunate but times are good for contractors, and he does not see one coming in for $5,000 to do the job. There is too much work out there at this time. Council Member Paterno noted the option was to take out section 3 (middle section), and put in new concrete and have a temporary bridge that would last 5-7 years. Mr. Rheault noted the new span would probably last 40 years, the problem is the next spans in either direction have already progressed, not to the condition of span 3, but based on his professional opinion, they were 5 to 7 years away from being exactly where the Village is today with span 3. Council Member Paterno indicated since he was under the bridge some of the other channels do not look as bad as the main channel. He asked if another thing the Village could do was to make it longer, such as option 2 to make it better. He noted if the Village has time it also allows the possibility for the Village to be getting money from someone else to help us. He commented in his opinion the Village needed to get the bridge open, either by Option 2, at some point, because he felt the quick fix ($50,000 - $70,000) was just wasting money, when for $250,000 they could actually have the bridge open that would take the school buses, rescue, and somewhat a normal life. Mr. Rheault commented if it was any comfort at all, the County has the exact . same problem at Loxahatchee River Road. Minutes -Village Council Emergency Special Meeting February 7, 2006 Page 4 He noted 1 or 2 spans needed emergency repair and they went in there and removed the slabs and replaced them to get the bridge back into full operation. He stated that bought the County the two years that were needed to do the design and permitting, and to get into the construction. He felt the new Tequesta Drive Bridge should be able to be implemented in 12-18 months. Council Member Paterno asked if the Village went with Option 2, would they have to go anywhere else for permitting other than the Village of Tequesta permits. Mr. Rheault stated Option 2 would require a notification to the Coast Guard because the boat traffic is being restricted under the 3`d span. He felt that would be the only requirement the Village would have regarding notification, because the Village now owns the bridge and roadway. He noted there would be no County, Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) or Army Corp permitting required. Mayor Humpage questioned whether the Village would need Department of Transportation (DOT) permits. Mr. Rheault responded no. Vice Mayor Watkins asked if this project would need to go out to bid. Village Manager Couzzo noted he had spoken with Village Attorney Hawkins this morning, and he was researching the requirements. He stated the Village could piggy-back the County engineering contract, and noted under emergency conditions the Council could waive the competitive bidding process. Council Member Paterno noted the cost would probably be $250,000 by the time it is removed. Mr. Rheault noted his cost estimate is $227,000 all inclusive. He noted • the Village would be paying about $175.00 per square foot for the new parts, and spending about $100.00 a square foot for demolition. Village Manager Couzzo pointed out the a-mail from Council Member Genco, and noted she wanted to make sure that everyone understood that the DOT determined that the bridge could be utilized in different facets, and different ratings up to 11 tons, and that Mr. Rheault has determined 5 tons, and that DOT did it more on load calculations, Mr. Rheault did it more on independent calculations. He noted the Village had akeady moved it to 5 tons prior to the DOT load analysis, because they wanted to increase the level of caution for the residents. Mr. Rheault noted from a strict calculation standpoint the DOT may be correct that 11 tons could be on the bridge. He stated the reason he would not make that recommendation to Council was because that lets open the door for commercial vehicle trucks of all sorts. He cautioned as soon as the Village opens up the door to commercial vehicles, the Tequesta Police force is basically going to be placed with putting up scales at the end of the bridge to determine if the vehicle is over the weight limit or not. He commented by putting it at 5 tons, then a Ford F350 is about the biggest vehicle that could be expected to cross the bridge. He stated then there would be no argument amongst the motoring public. Vice Mayor Watkins asked Mr. Rheault in his professional opinion if opening the westbound lane to 5 tons and under is a reasonable thing to do for safety on the bridge. Mr. Rheault indicated the only thing that he would caution is if this were Minutes -Village Council Emergency Special Meeting February 7, 2006 Page 5 to go on for more than a few weeks, was to assure that span 3 would not come down by taking more extra precaution. Vice Mayor Watkins indicated her personal preference would be Option 2, on fixing, even if it was to buy the Village more time to coordinate time to design a new bridge. She noted she would like to see a study done on the bridge to see if the Village needed to raise it, or do anything different. She commented she did not want to hurry up and just do the top and fmd out that the Village should have done pilings down the road. She pointed out the Village does not have any comparison on costs, and did not know if $227,000 was reasonable for this work. Council Member Paterno stated these were Mr. Rheault's estimates based on his professional opinion. He commented it could cost a little more, or a little less. Mr. Rheault commented he has 400 bridges in Palm Beach County with three under construction at this time. He noted he has taken unit prices from various areas, and added some additional costs, because it is of an emergency nature there will be people working overtime, and you have to convince some supplier that the Village needs this in the next two to three weeks, so that means he has to tell someone that is already in line to stop, that he has an emergency here and because of public safety he would have to delay them two weeks. He noted that was costing someone a premium. He commented if you take the $227,000 and divide it by the square footage that Tequesta will be replacing, that number would be $275.00 a square foot. Vice Mayor Watkins asked if this work could be done in 2-3 weeks. Mr. Rheault noted it was fortunate that Mr. Cropp has the best interests of Tequesta, because • he lives on the north end. He commented there aze only 3 or 4 suppliers in the entire state with the components the Village would need, so he called azound, checked azound, and noted Mr. Cropp thinks he has worked a deal with a gentlemen in Fort Myers for his products. He stated he believes Mr. Cropp can get the products in the next week or two, Mr. Rheault introduced Mr. Randy Cropp, a representative from a local construction company. Council Member Paterno noted Mr. Cropp was currently doing the construction on another bridge (AlA) in the azea, so his men were already local, and they could do the Tequesta Bridge at the same time. Mayor Humpage commented if you looked at the time frame, one of the things was there had to be a distinction between marine and vehicular traffic. if you looked at item 1, it said the quickest way to open was to limited traffic, and asked if that meant vehiculaz traffic. The response was that boat traffic would be limited because they had to stay out of the center span and vehicles would be limited to one side of the road. Mayor Humpage asked if marine traffic were not an issue if he would still recommend the supports and the netting. Mr. Rheault responded yes, because if something of that size fell, it was going to do other damage. Vice Mayor Watkins commented we needed to do both 1 and 2. Mayor Humpage asked the time frame to complete item 1, to put in the steel supports and the netting. Mr. Rheault responded the steel supports would require a day or two to acquire the materials and one night of installation with a late afternoon closure. Mayor Humpage commented he did not want to wait two • weeks to do that and then a week later have to do the whole bridge over. Minutes -Village Council Emergency Special Meeting February 7, 2006 Page 6 • Mr. Rheault advised if the Council was committed right now to set the wheels in motion to replace the 3`d span, then the only thing he would do would be to have the police be very aggressive in cordoning off that 3`d span to boater traffic. If the Council was not in a position to authorize an expenditure of a quarter million dollars in the next 2-3 weeks, then they should jump on option 1 to allow someone to get in there and get it safe, and get a little extra time to get in a position to where they could decide to progress to option 2 or progress to option 3 and get a new design underway. Mr. Cropp commented no matter what the Council did, they had to close the center span off to marine traffic, no matter which option was chosen. Mayor Humpage noted with option 1, $40,000 to $50,000, the center span was going to have to be closed to marine traffic, and asked how to do that. Village Manager Couzzo responded it could be done with a barricade in between the pilings on both sides. What would be more sophisticated would be a silt barrier which would not allow marine traffic to traverse the center span and it could be lighted effectively, and have a buoy like the Coast Guazd would want then there would be no possibility of people going through. Council Member Paterno commented that he had talked to Randy Cropp and the Village Manager and others, and if the Council jumped on option 2, they could have the concrete after Mr. Rheault's design within two weeks. During that two weeks when Mr. Cropp knew those pieces were on their way he could teaz out the . old pieces and as soon as the new ones arrived, drop them in, within seven days- so in three weeks the bridge could be re-opened for 33 tons. If the Village Council did not want to open it that high they could open it to other weights of vehicles. The Mayor commented it could be opened to both directions. Council Member Paterno commented that at the same time, the Village did not have to spend $40,000 to $50,000. The Village Manager commented if it could be done quickly enough that cost could be avoided, but if it went past that there would be a risk. Mayor Humpage commented something would still have to be done about marine traffic. Assistant Village Manager Gazlo recommended wrapping the buoys around and around in police line do-not-cross tape. Mayor Humpage commented there must be some kind of Coast Guard compliancy that had to be met. The Village Manager suggested a line of buoys almost like a fence, going azound, tied on each side, and it would be criminal mischief if the tape on the buoys were cut. Vice Mayor Watkins asked if pedestrian traffic was going to be allowed when the west-bound lane on the bridge was opened. The Vice Mayor indicated she had had no idea the number of mothers pushing strollers who crossed that bridge to get to the nursery school at the church. The Village Manager commented he thought the southern part of the bridge which was the east-bound lane would be closed to everyone. Both Vice Mayor Watkins and Council Member Paterno indicated they had seen mothers park their cars and cross the traffic lane to get to the sidewalk and take their children over the bridge in strollers, and then go back • to their cazs. The Vice Mayor requested that the westbound side be kept open to Minutes -Village Council Emergency Special Meeting February 7, 2006 Page 7 • pedestrians. Police Chief Allison advised there were no interconnecting sidewalks. Mr. Rheault advised he would have no problem with keeping the sidewalks open if they were properly barricaded off; the driving surfaces were 16 inches lower than the sidewalks; the decking of the sidewalks was safe and could be utilized, you just could not let aneast-bound pedestrian using the sidewalk to go down into the roadway and walk in that area, so fencing or barricades would have to be used to keep people on the sidewalk. Village Manager Couzzo expressed concern that there would be people on the sidewalk at night who would play with the barricades, so he recommended if east-bound vehicular traffic was blocked to block everything east bound. There had been mischief this past weekend resulting in loss of more than half the lights, and barricades had been thrown into the river. The Mayor asked about concern expressed by Council Member Paterno and Vice Mayor Watkins of people walking across the traffic lane to get to the sidewalk. Village Manager Couzzo advised there would be flagmen and police there and they could cross when traffic was stopped. Council Member Paterno recalled that sidewalk had a step and a lot of the mothers pushing a stroller had to walk around to the front of the stroller and lift it up onto the sidewalk, and recommended putting orange construction material so that they would have to stay on the sidewalk and keep them off the spans; and if it became a problem, then close it all together. Village Manager Couzzo indicated he would not want to do it, but if the Council . wanted to keep the sidewalk open then staff would figure out a way to make it as safe as possible. Mayor Humpage confirmed with Mr. Cropp that the sidewalks were not being replaced. Mr. Cropp indicated the sidewalks were 90% to 100% fine. Mayor Humpage suggested safety orange netting on the south side, traffic side of the sidewalk, pedestrians would never have to worry about crossing into the vehicular traffic. Mr. Cropp advised his wife's friends with the babies were the ones going to the First Presbyterian pre-school, so he knew exactly the people who were crossing the bridge, but they could be put on the south side, which would be a lot safer than having them cross over. Mr. Cropp suggested placing two jersey barriers on the east-bound side, putting up a wood rail and stapling the orange netting to it, and posting a sign that the bridge was closed to fishing. Issues with having the north side sidewalk open were discussed, and consensus of council was use the east-bound south side for pedestrians and that bicycles and the fishing would be prohibited. It would be an inconvenience for 3 weeks. The north side sidewalk would be closed to keep pedestrians from the traffic. Board Member Paterno also recommended temporarily removing the trash cans, posting for no fishing, and wrapping the middle using buoys to direct marine traffic. It was confirmed that when the buoys were wrapped the marine traffic could use the east and west spans, but not the center span, and it was a no wake zone and there was a no wake sign there now. Vice Mayor Watkins asked if they were back to option 2. Boardmember Paterno commented if it could be done in 3-4 weeks we would be better off. Minutes -Village Council Emergency Special Meeting February 7, 2006 Page 8 • Mayor Humpage confirmed consensus of council was option 2, no marine traffic under the center span, and in 2-3 weeks those spans would be put back in. Village Manager Couzzo advised he had briefed Council Member Genco by phone; they had talked about no fishing and she was good with that. Vice Mayor Watkins asked if the idea was to close the pedestrian traffic on the north side and allowing it on the south side. Discussion ensued. The Village Manager commented it was a little more difficult to do it on the south side but it would be the Police Department's responsibility to make sure it was secure. The Vice Mayor asked about closing the bridge to pedestrian traffic completely; however, the others did not think that could be done. Village Manager Couzzo indicated opening one side could be tried and if it didn't work it could be changed. Mayor Humpage commented it was his understanding the south side only would be open for pedestrians and the north side would be closed to all pedestrians; no fishermen on the bridge; trash cans would be removed; on the east and west sides of the center span, marine traffic would be allowed and the center span would be blocked. Village Manager Couzzo recommended posting no wake/idle speed signs. Council Member Paterno reported that morning at low tide the water height had been 3-4 feet on the bamer, so it would be 6/7 feet on the side spans. During ensuing discussion it was mentioned that the police boat had been in there the other day. Mr. Cropp advised he did not think there would be an issue of water height with the size boats that would be there. Mayor Humpage stated there • would be a big sign, no wake/idle speed. Mayor Humpage commented now that was figured out and the bridge would be open the next morning, and the Village Council had originally discussed traffic in both directions with flagmen and police, but now there was some consideration of one-way traffic. The Mayor indicated he did not know if that could be done at this point, since the media had already covered all of this. Village Manager Couzzo suggested opening in two directions the next day, which might be contrary to the opinion of the Police Department, and give the Police Department Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to assess how it was going, and if they determined it was not manageable, not safe, or whatever, then on Saturday have Public Works put up a board saying that beginning at 6 a.m. Monday traffic would be restricted in one direction (whichever direction the Police Department picked). The Village Manager stated he thought this was an operational decision that needed to be made in the field. Council Member Paterno commented the Village Council had to give them that authority. Council Member Paterno expressed concern with the light at Riverside Drive, commenting he could see three lanes wanting to turn onto that bridge being a problem, and his idea was to only be able to access the bridge from Tequesta Drive. That way, if there was a line of cars it would be straight back; otherwise it would be a nightmare for the flagmen. Mayor Humpage asked if that meant no left or right turns off Riverside, to which Council Member Paterno responded, at Minutes -Village Council Emergency Special Meeting February 7, 2006 Page 9 • least no left turns off Riverside. Police Chief Allison commented he and Mr. Garlo had had that conversation this morning and felt it would be a nightmare if traffic from Riverside Drive was not restricted from crossing the bridge. Chief Allison suggested opening the bridge one way 24 hours a day, stating that would be the least impact to the Police Department, either direction, but he would prefer westbound so people could get their ice cream home before it melted. The light at Riverside would control the traffic and flagmen would just be needed to watch for trucks. Vice Mayor Watkins commented the most feasible and safest mechanism that could be applied was what should be done, and two-way traffic would be a nightmare and would save no money or time, and she thought it would be better to decide on one way now because she felt it would be harder to let them go two ways and then change it to one way. Village Manager Couzzo commented these were operational problems that could be decided and advised that Mr. Rheault needed an answer now and he was here for structural questions. Mayor Humpage stated there were 3 people here who wanted option 2, but they still needed to check with Council Member Genco. Council Member Paterno commented by making a decision today, Mr. Rheault could get started on it today, and if they needed to call Council Member Genco to get her vote, that was the way to do it to move on. Council Member Paterno commented that they would be running into situations and asked if Council wanted to give the Village Manager authority to hire whoever he wanted or if they wanted Mr. Cropp's company to do it--that should be decided now so there would • be no question of why was someone else picked, etc. Mayor Humpage agreed that administration should be given authority to move forward in an expeditious way, because if they were going to collect bids it would take ten months. Village Manager Couzzo suggested the first thing the Council needed to do, if they agreed, was to authorize him to execute an agreement with Mr. Cropp and utilize the county contract and with Mr. Rheault to do the design work. That was step one. Then Mr. Rheault could get started because he needed five to seven days to do the design work. Village Manager Couzzo suggested a break to get the telephone set up to call Council Member Genco. Assistant Village Manager Garlo asked about the Coast Guard permitting process. Mr. Rheault explained they just needed notification there was restricted marine traffic. Police Chief Allison reported the Coast Guard had been contacted. Mr. Cropp advised they needed to be notified there was an emergency situation, and that the sections of the bridge that were being replaced would be in the exact same configuration as present Mr. Rheault advised that the design for the slab configuration could be done in 1-2 days so that Mr. Cropp could start getting the materials to begin work. Mayor Humpage commented then in 2-3 weeks the bridge could be back in operation. Mr. Cropp provided a timetable, he would probably get the design in 1-2 days, and advised he had talked to three prestress yards companies-the third one was out, the second one was so swamped they could not handle it, and the other was S & S Prestress, who Mr. Rheault had • worked with before, and Mr. Paterno knew the situation that they were not DOT Minutes -Village Council Emergency Special Meeting February 7, 2006 Page 10 • certified, but were certified to do a whole lot of other prestress in the state. Palm Beach County did not allow them to do prestress because they were not DOT certified. Mr. Cropp advised he wanted to use them because they were the only company who could get the material here on time and be reasonable, and if police and flagmen had to be out there the Village was spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars, probably $1,000 a day easily, going by. Mayor Humpage questioned how they could be used if they were not certified. Mr. Cropp explained they were prestress certified but not DOT certified. Mr. Rheault advised the reason the county did not use them was the county followed DOT specifications almost to the letter of the law. What could be done as a private or Village operation would be to okay him to do quality control, and they were certified to do that. He would send one of his guys to do the testing and monitoring and they would be certified for that project. If this were a county job or a straight DOT job, S&S was not on the approved list, but they were on almost every private job he had going. In order to circumvent that, all that had to be done was to authorize him to do the quality control that they were not willing to spend the money for-the DOT certification cost $34,000 per year just for that certification and if they did not produce enough to offset that cost, they didn't do it. Vice Mayor Watkins asked if that would be for the whole center, to which the Village Manager responded, yes. Mr. Cropp advised if Mr. Rheault got him the design by Thursday, 14 days from Thursday the material would be at the site and then 10 days to replace the bridge. • He wanted to wait until the material was received and not have to worry about a truck breaking down in Fort Myers, etc. The 10-day shutdown of the bridge might only have to be 7 days, but sufficient time was needed for the concrete to cure, and it depended on conditions. He would not work 24 hours per day, but would probably go from dawn to end of daylight and maybe a little longer to get the work done. With the potential of working day and night, Council Member Paterno commented the Village Council would have to approve that, to work after hours. Mayor Humpage commented just go step by step-there were some other items, and asked with everything just discussed were these still the estimated costs under item 2. Village Manager Couzzo commented they did not have a proposal yet. Mr. Rheault responded these were just estimates, he could give an estimate for quality control and the design work and end up pretty close to the cost. Mr. Cropp commented he was close to that number, but not at that number and the number he had a proposal for was $248,000 excluding the asphalt this was $227,000. Mr. Cropp commented they could talk about a few things but it might not come down to $227,000 but if there was something that could be negotiated it might help get the number down. Bottom line was he was not going to give up something and take his people off another job and sacrifice another job to come here. Discussion ensued. The Village Manager commented this was a big number. Mayor Humpage noted slope repair still had to be done at $130,000 and • asked if allocated funds could be used to do that repair. The Village Manager Minutes -Village Council Emergency Special Meeting February 7, 2006 Page 11 • responded that could be done but he was not sure that would be to the Village's advantage. Village Manager Couzzo commented the Village had the resources to do this job. He had told the Vice Mayor that morning that there had been an award of $300,000 from a code enforcement situation and that could pay for the whole bridge, and other reserves were strong. Mayor Humpage commented he believed the Council had enough information to let these fellows go ahead. Mr. Cropp advised of several recent jobs his company had done for DOT, some on an emergency basis, and the costs 90% of the time came in close to the estimate, so he did not feel bad about this, and Mr. Paterno knew what the costs were. Mr. Cropp advised that he was the boater who had been under the bridge when the concrete fell. He had had lunch with Mr. Paterno the next day and told him they had a serious situation. Mr. Cropp commented he had a good relationship with Mr. Rheault because they jumped on things and got them done right away, and they did emergency repair work like this all the time, it was not his first time. Mayor Humpage announced a recess to set up the phone call to Council Member Genco. The meeting recessed at 10: S9 a. m. and reconvened at 11:1 S a. m. Village Manager Couzzo commented unless the Council wanted to do something different, the previous decision had been to open the bridge to 2-way traffic on Wednesday morning and leave it until 7 o'clock and then close it off and open it • the next day. However, he suggested the Council might want to consider allowing 2 to 3 days for the Police Department to monitor, and if it became unmanageable to give administration the authority with the Police Department to change that to one direction with the appropriate signage and notification to residents, and see how that went. Let the Police Department monitor through Friday and if there was a need for a change, put a message board up and let people know that Monday it would be changed to one way. Chief Allison expressed his opinion it was hard to undo what you had already done. Discussion ensued. Village Manager Couzzo indicated if administration was given authority to make a decision after the police had monitored, then another Council meeting would not have to be held. Mayor Humpage commented, let the police decide about if there was an issue with Riverside Drive, and let the Chief make that call. Mayor Humpage commented to put into perspective what had been said, what they were going to do was to open the bridge to traffic Wednesday and make a determination from that, and speak to Council Member Genco. Village Manager Couzzo commented he thought that was the first thing to talk about with her. Mayor Humpage commented, right, that the bridge would be open from Wednesday to Saturday. The Village Manager commented, also that administration was going to be authorized to make a change if needed, and get that approved, and then go from there. Mayor Humpage commented then the position was that the south side sidewalk would be opened, the north side • sidewalk would be barricaded, there would be no fishing on the bridge, there Minutes -Village Council Emergency Special Meeting February 7, 2006 Page 12 • would be a barrier or some kind of restraint from marine traffic in the center span; allowing the marine traffic either north or south on the east and west spans adjacent to the center span. Mayor Humpage commented the next thing that needed to be done was to authorize the Village Manager and staff to begin the process of getting to where we want to be on the bridge-allow them to connect with the engineer, spend the funds that needed to be done for the engineering, probably what would have to be done was to borrow from reserves $350,000 as best he could figure, and take that from reserves and place into a special account. Mayor Humpage commented from his conversations with Mr. Rheault, for the Village's purposes they needed to see if they could get a couple more fast bids, which Mr. Rheault had said could be done in the next few days. The design was not going to be ready for a couple of days, anyway. If it were announced they were going to spend $250,000 or $275,000 with Mr. Cropp without any other bids it would be perceived that the Council was moving too quick, so he was in favor of having the Village Manager connect with Mr. Rheault for two more bids, get a ballpark number from them so everyone was on the same wave length, and then proceed through the Village Manager to get these parts ordered and get them here and installed. Mayor Humpage stated he thought the Council needed to make the effort to have their constituents understand they would try to be cautious and follow procedure • as best as possible. That was his suggestion unless the other Council members felt they just needed to move forward without doing that. Vice Mayor Watkins stated she agreed and felt the Council should not open themselves to just signing without at least making an attempt to compare prices, and she thought that was the least they should do. Mayor Humpage commented he felt the Council had an obligation to do that for their constituents. He stated he appreciated Mr. Cropp's information, which was very helpful, and commented most businesses could give a price within a day or two, and it would give the Village Manager another document to look at to make sure they were comparing apples to apples. Council member Paterno commented what they were saying was to get two more prices other than Mr. Cropp's and as long as they were in the ballpark and everybody was pretty much the same, then since Mr. Cropp had already gotten the ball rolling and had everything sort of set up then they would go with Mr. Cropp. Mayor Humpage and Vice Mayor Watkins stated they were both good with that. Mayor Humpage commented that part of this process could be that the time frame had to be right, and if another guy was at $240,000 and Mr. Cropp was at $248,000, as far as he was concerned, Mr. Cropp was already in the loop and had done his homework and would get the job. The Vice Mayor agreed, commenting the time frame would drive the price up, so everybody needed to be the same. Council Member Paterno asked if Mr. Rheault thought he could get two more prices by tomorrow. Mayor Humpage stated he needed to make the effort. Council Member Paterno asked if he couldn't get the prices by Thursday would . they just move on. Mayor Humpage expressed his opinion that if he couldn't get Minutes -Village Council Emergency Special Meeting February 7, 2006 Page 13 • prices by Thursday or Friday, the work should not wait, and confirmed with the other Council Members that was the general consensus. Council Member Genco was conference called in at 11:24 am. Mayor Humpage summarized Council previous comments: The Village was going to open up the bridge tomorrow morning (Wednesday, February 8, 2006) per the original plan for east and west bound traffic on the north side, with barricades, flagman and police in position. Council Member Genco asked if the Village was also looking at a mechanized structure for the bridge. Mayor Humpage noted Assistant Village Manager Garlo has already ordered that. Council Member Genco asked if that would be something the Village would migrate to once it is in place. Mayor Humpage suggested giving some timeframes to understand what Council was considering. - Once the Bridge is opened, the Village is going to close the north side of the westbound lane, which is going to be the traffic side, which will be closed to pedestrians; Put the pedestrians on the side south, because the sidewalk is independent of the bridge, and it would give the mothers with strollers a continuous walkway from one side to the other without crossing • traffic. - Create through buoys and temporary barriers to block the center span of the bridge; Notice has already been sent to the Coast Guazd, so that the Village could open the side spans to the east and west of the center span for marine traffic. Mayor Humpage noted they were going to use a combination of a net and floatation collaz with buoys that comply with the Coast Guazd regulations. He noted the water would be deep enough to allow the boaters to go in and out under other spans. Bridge costs aze estimated; and to get Mr. Rheault to move forwazd with the design in 1 to 2 days the Village would have to spend about $20,000. Council Member Genco noted Council had already approved that at the last Special Meeting. Bridge structure costs have come in at $227,000 to $250,000. - Overtime costs on a monthly basis about $50,000. • - Barricade rental, etc for about 6 weeks approximately $15,000. Minutes -Village Council Emergency Special Meeting February 7, 2006 Page 14 • Council Member Genco commented if the Village goes to the mechanical system could some of these costs be eliminated. Mayor Humpage responded in the affirmative, but noted at this point in time the Village has not done the numbers to see if the mechanical system can prevent the bigger trucks from using the bridge. He noted these numbers are budgetary numbers, and not sealed in stone. Council Member Genco noted she thought the Village did not want the big trucks to use the bridge. Mayor Humpage commented the Village does not want big trucks, but questioned what was to prevent them from using the bridge going through the mechanical signal. He noted in order to control it, the Village would need to man the bridge 24 hours a day. Council Member Genco felt it could be posted. Mayor Humpage questioned what was to stop the guy from going through anyway. Council Member Genco suggested narrowing the barricades and if someone goes through fine them. Council Member Genco questioned the $50,000 for overtime. Mayor Humpage noted the police would still need to be present. Council Member Genco noted if the police had to be there what was the Village going to save, and if they were present why could they not stop the big trucks. Mayor Humpage pointed out an overall budgetary number the Village was looking at was approximately $350,000, and if it fluctuated $50,000.00 and the Village saved money, he was in favor of it. He commented what Council would like to do is to get moving on this, because the engineering is the key to getting started, so what was suggested was to authorize the Village Manager to expend some of these funds. He felt the correct way to do this was to appropriate from Reserve, and create a new "Bridge fund" in amount of $350,000, which would allow the Village to start writing the checks for the engineering, the slabs or whatever we are going to need. Council Member Genco commented that was basically approved at the last meeting, and the only thing we did not do was to designate which fund it would come out. Mayor Humpage noted what Council wants to do is go ahead and create this fund and allocate from the reserves and put it into this fund so the Village could start. Council Member Genco agreed and asked Council to consider these are the kind of things the Village has Reserve funds for, and suggested considering having a greater reserve level. Mayor Humpage agreed, and noted her point was well taken. Council Member Genco commented if there are other situations, such as hurricanes, emergencies, or a bomb, the Village could be at risk. Consensus of Council agreed to her point. Mayor Humpage mentioned that was the plan, and wanted to make sure Council Member Genco was on the same page. Council Member Genco agreed and felt that was what Council had akeady approved, but did not approve what amount was going to allocated. Mayor Humpage commented the funds were going to be allocated from Reserves. Council Member Genco agreed the Village would be able to keep track of it in a special fund. Minutes -Village Council Emergency Special Meeting February 7, 2006 Page 15 • Mayor Humpage mentioned Mr. Rheault and Mr. Cropp had given the Village preliminary numbers on the actual costs of the repair. He explained that Mr. Rheault was the engineer, and Mr. Cropp represented the company that Mr. Rheault worked with quite often. He noted their figures were about $25,000- $30,000 apart. He pointed out Mr. Rheault mentioned there were other companies out there that could give the Village some basic estimates in a couple of days. He mentioned the common thinking of Council at this point was to ask the Village Manager to go out and contact these people for a quick estimate, and then Council would be dying their job regazding perception, and not just spending $225,000 without looking around for other pricing. Council Member Genco felt that was reasonable and noted in an emergency situation the Village has a different obligation. Mayor Humpage noted at least the Village will have made the effort, and what the Village would do is to hold them to the same time constraints, so the Village could move forwazd. He suggested their bid would need to be submitted to the Village by this Friday, because the Village would be in the position to order the parts by Friday. Mayor Humpage commented Council would be giving the Village Manager the discretion to review the bids, and make sure the proposals are apples to apples. Council Member Genco commented then Council was giving the Village Manager the discretion. Consensus of Council agreed to give the Village Manager • the discretion to make the call. Council Member Paterno noted once Council makes the decision; and whatever contractor; that within two weeks of right now Mr. Cropp said he could have slabs here in Tequesta and start construction, and within 10 days of that he would be finished. He stated hopefully within 3-3 %2 weeks from today the bridge could be back up to normal. Mayor Humpage stated lets consider 6 weeks, Council Member Genco suggested 4 weeks. Mayor Humpage stated lets go with 6 weeks, and if the Village is done in 4 weeks, Council would be ahead of the game. Mayor Humpage pointed out another thing was in speaking with Chief, and Public Safety, the Village would be opening the bridge to traffic in both directions, and making the necessary exceptions. Council Member Genco asked for clarification on Mayor comments regarding opening the bridge to traffic in both directions. Mayor Humpage clarified east and west on the north stand. Council Member Paterno stated one-way alternating traffic. Council Member Genco agreed. Mayor Humpage stated everyone was hoping that would work out fine, but in the event the Village has a problem with a back up of traffic on Tequesta Drive, or for unforeseen reasons, Police Chief Allison will evaluate the both direction travel by Friday, and if it is not working out, the Village may have to consider having traffic only in one direction, but Council will let the Chief make that determination by the end of the week. Council Member Genco commented she kind of thought also during the morning there would probably be longer times for those exiting the Village, and during the Minutes -Village Council Emergency Special Meeting February 7, 2006 Page 16 • evening time it could be longer times for those coming into the Village. She stated that is why she feels the mechanical system would work really well. Mayor Humpage stated Council was asking Chief Allison to look at that, and make his decision on Friday. Council Member Genco asked if Council was approving the Chief or the Village Manager to make a decision on the mechanical system. Village Manager Couzzo noted Mr. Garlo had already ordered the mechanized system, but the Chief was going to make the decision as far as whether to go one direction, and what resources he needed to make sure the traffic was adequately handled. Council Member Paterno commented in his opinion he questioned whether the mechanized system could be more costly than the flagman. Council Member Genco commented the Village could go with whatever was most cost efficient. Village Manager Couzzo commented it would be beneficial for the Village to have the mechanical system in the Village's inventory to use for hurricanes and other situations. He noted the Village would use it the best they can on the bridge, and have it as a resource for the future. Mayor Humpage asked if Council needed to make a motion. Village Clerk Carlisle indicated a motion would need to be made, and all the other items were based on a Consensus of Council. Consensus of Council agreed to have the Village Manager move forward with the Tequesta Drive Bridge repairs, using his discretion to spend funds to expedite the project. MOTION: Council Member Paterno moved to approve moving $350, 000.00 from and appropriate it for Bridge Fund Reserve. Mayor Humpage commented from an • Undesignated to a Bridge Reserve. Council Member Paterno agreed. Village Manager Couzzo noted Finance would create an account; seconded by Vice Mayor Watkins; motion passed 4-0. Council Member Genco closed the conference call at 11: 37 am. Council Member Paterno asked about extending the state of emergency. Mayor Humpage commented it would expire on Friday. Village Manager Couzzo stated he thought it should be extended. Council Member Paterno commented if it were extended there was a possibility of help from the county and/or state. Assistant Village Manager Garlo commented not from FEMA because there was not a federal designation on the road. MOTION: Vice Mayor Watkins moved to adjourn the meeting. Motion was seconded by Council Member Paterno and unanimously approved 4-0. Therefore the meeting was adjourned at 11:38 a.m. Respectfully submitted, . ~i ~ _ wen Carlisle Village Clerk