March 20, 2014 City Council Agenda

Find complete agenda here.
Call (559) 621-8000 to speak to your council member on any one of these issues.

Watch the City Council meeting live here every Thursday, usually starting at 8:30am.

Consent Calendar:

1A) The Subdivider, ABN Investments, LLC, a California Limited Liability Company, (Raj Singh, President), has filed for approval for a 65-lot single-family residential subdivision, located on the east side of North Polk Avenue between West Gettysburg Avenue and West Shaw Avenue on 13.06 acres (map).

1B) FFDA Properties, LLC is requesting the clearing of the northeast 4 feet of Broadway Street between San Joaquin and Calaveras Streets, the southeast 4 feet of San Joaquin Street northeast of Broadway Street and the northwest 4 feet of Calaveras Street northeast of Broadway Street (map). The purpose of the proposed clearing is to take 4 feet away from the currently 14 foot wide sidewalk so that it can be incorporated into the development of the adjacent property which includes 50 residential units, a 786 square foot commercial space, and the rehabilitated Levinson Home to be used as a manager's unit and club house.

1C) Concerning the City/County American Avenue Landfill contract, which is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2014. The City and County have agreed to retain an outside third party consultant who is familiar with the City/County Landfill agreement to help in facilitating discussions around a new agreement. It was agreed that HF&H is best suited for this work, The City's portion of the the overall cost of this agreement is $192,000, of which the City's allocation being $73,100. Funding is being provided by the City's Residential Solid Waste Reserve Funds. Funding is initially being provided by Fresno County and will be reimbursed through the City's Residential Solid Waste Reserve Funds.

1D) City staff recommends the awarding of a contract in the amount of $259,141 to JND Thomas Co., Inc., of Riverdale, California, for Digesters 5 and 11 Cleaning at the Fresno/Clovis Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility.

1E) City staff recommends that the City Council award a contract in the amount of $243,315 to D.H. Williams Construction, Incorporated, to provide and install a Water Traveling Screen, which removes a variety of floating and/or suspended organic and non-organic material from the surface water conveyance system leading to the City of Fresno's Leaky Acres Groundwater Recharge Facility.

1F) Staff recommends the awarding of a construction contract in the amount of $316,379.20 to American Integrated Services, Inc., of Wilmington, California for the demolition of Building T-262 at Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT). It has been vacant since 2012 and is not suitable for renewed use due to, (i) its dilapidated condition, (ii) non-compliance with ADA requirements, (iii) the presence of lead based paint and asbestos containing materials throughout the building, and, (iv) the 1940's era construction and configuration rendering it un-marketable for current compatible uses.

1G) The City will make changes to the Fresno Municipal Code surrounding shopping carts with the following changes, in accordance with state law:

Cart Owner Requirements

• All owners of carts, including but not limited to commercial Cart Owners, shall provide accurate and legible cart identification signs on every cart.
• Business owners have three business days to retrieve carts that leave their premises.
• Business owners must operate and maintain an on-site cart containment program (disabling devices, on-site security, posts and chains around the premises, security deposit for use of carts, rental/sale of carts, or other measures as approved by the Director).
• A business may be exempted if it provides proof of a contract with a cart retrieval service.

Immediate Impound by City of Identified Carts

• The City may impound a cart without three days' notice if the City notifies the owner within twenty-four (24) hours and provides where and how to reclaim the cart. This would take place after a subject is found and cited for possession of a cart and the cart is removed by the Fresno Police Department.
• The City must hold impounded carts at a reasonably convenient location for at least six (6) business hours a day.
• The City cannot charge fees/fines if the cart is reclaimed by the owner within three business days.

Possession of Carts by Recycling Centers

• Any recycling center that comes into possession of a cart cannot sell or use the cart for any purpose.
• If the cart has identification signs, the recycling center must notify the Cart Owner of the cart's location and hold the cart for three business days. If the cart is not reclaimed by the Cart Owner within three business days, the recycling center must notify the Fresno Police Department and arrange for the City to retrieve the cart.
• If the cart does not have identification signs, the recycling center must notify the Fresno Police Department and arrange for the City to retrieve the cart.

Enforcement and Remedies

• An owner failing to retrieve abandoned shopping carts within three business days shall pay the City's administrative cost for retrieving the cart(s) and providing notice.
• Failure to retrieve abandoned shopping carts more than three times in a six (6) month period shall be subject to a fifty dollar ($50) fine per occurrence (per state law).
• Impounded carts can be sold or destroyed after thirty (30) days or failure to pay associated costs and fines.
• Director can require physical containment system after retrieval of more than ten (10) carts in thirty (30) days, or more than ten (10) citations in twelve (12) months.

General Administration:

2A) City staff recommends the awarding of a construction contract to Dave Christian Construction Company Inc. of Fresno, California in the amount of $588,096.32 for the Chestnut Avenue Overlay Project from Jensen Avenue to Union Pacific Railroad (map).

2B) City staff recommends the approval of Lease Amendment No.9 to the lease between the City and SkyWest Airlines, Inc. (SkyWest) at Fresno Yosemite International Airport related to leasehold boundary modifications with no change in compensation. This will provide necessary access to neighboring ramp space for future lease opportunities.

2C) Staff recommends City Council approve a consultant agreement in the amount of $360,534 with Provost and Pritchard Engineering Group, Inc., a Fresno-based California corporation, for design and engineering services for FAX transit shelters and related amenities in the Courthouse Park area.

2D) To provide better bus service to the City of Fresno and to reduce bus driver overtime, as well as driver fatigue, the Department of Transportation proposes to add fifteen (15) bus driver positions. It is estimated the additional bus drivers will reduce the use of annual overtime by approximately 22,500 hours. The net increase in annual salary and benefits cost of approximately $235,500 can be absorbed in the current budget allocation.

2E) City Council had rejected the original plan for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in the City of Fresno and have sought to include service improvements that reflected that of BRT on Shaw Avenue.  They reviewed cost of the original BRT project and have found that they could cut out $13.5 million of capital improvements to fund the changes to the Shaw Avenue route.  The Shaw changes would include:

• 10 minute intervals at peak hours
• 40 foot buses would be used instead of 60 foot (providing $7.5 million in savings)
• Bus stops between West Avenue and Maple will be a half mile
• Bus stop shelter will be at grade and not leveled to the bus as was the original plan for BRT (saving $7.5 million)
• check item documents for more details

This agenda item awards a contract in the amount of $1,481,230 to Parsons Brinkerhoff, Inc. (PB) for a  revised FAX Q Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project management services agreement.

Scheduled Council Hearings and Matters:

3:00PM) City staff recommends that the City Council approve the amendment to the current Municipal Code by repealing Article 21 of Chapter 12, and adding Article 21 of Chapter 12, prohibiting the cultivation of marijuana (indoor and outdoor) in all zone districts within the city of Fresno.