Park plan costs are approved

Plans for the final phase of Hudson Family Park have been set in motion.

Preliminary plans for phase IV of the park project were presented to the Portland Board of Works Thursday morning.

During the meeting, board members voted to pay The Schneider Corporation $85,500 to design, do engineering work and oversee the bidding process for the estimated $1.5 million phase.

Plans in this phase of the park include a trailhead plaza, a playground area, a shelter, a gazebo, paved and stone trails throughout the park, terracing of the amphitheater area, signs, landscaping and a wooden pergola to serve as the entrance to the amphitheater.

Hosier said this phase of the park project could be funded though bonding - which would not increase tax rates - or through the use of Portland Economic Development Income Tax funds. Hosier said the contract with Schneider could be paid through the aforementioned funding sources.

"I'd just like to add that I'm against bonding or borrowing," said board member Bob McCreery.

Nola Albrecht, landscape architect for Schneider, said she would like bidding for the park project to begin this summer.

Hosier said he will present the preliminary plans for this phase of the park project to the park board at a future meeting.

In other business Thursday, board members approved a two-year contract with Best Way Disposal for curbside recycling collection in the city.

The company's current contract will end March 31, and the new one will begin April 1. Best Way took over curbside collection in the city in November after company officials decided to flip-flop routes with Rumpke as a cost-saving measure.

Best Way's rates will not increase during the first year of the contract, but will increase by 5 percent in the second year. Best Way currently is operating on Rumpke's rates, which are $8,736 per month on 2,400 units. The cost per household is $3.64, which totals $104,832 per year. The city charges customers $3 per month.

The second year's rates will be $3.82 per unit, city clerk-treasurer Randy Geesaman said Thursday afternoon. He said there is a clause in the former contract with Rumpke that said the contract with Best Way could be extended by two years.

City attorney Bill Hinkle said Thursday that state law allows cities to decide whether or not to solicit bids or quotes for services.

Geesaman said the city likely will hold bid-letting for recycling collection when the contract with Best Way ends March of 2012.

Also Thursday, board members tabled a request to adjust the sewage portion of a water/sewer bill.

David Martin, representing Steve Sommerfield, who owns a mobile home at 23 Sesame St., told the board that there was a water leak under the home. The water pooled under the mobile home and did not go to the wastewater plant.

Martin said Sommerfield felt it was unfair to pay such a high sewer bill if the water never made it to the plant. Sewage bills are based on how much water is used.

The city's ordinance states that the sewage portion of a water/sewer bill can be adjusted down to a three-month average prior to the leak if the leak occurs between the meter and the house. Sommerfield's leak would not fall under the city ordinance.

Geesaman plans to study the ordinance and determine if there are any exceptions.[[In-content Ad]]