By John McCallum
Managing Editor
CHENEY — Sidewalks and software were the order of resolution business for the City Council at its June 8 meeting.
Council unanimously agreed to an increase of $12,050 to a small contract with 5 Star Concrete for additional sidewalk repairs at various locations around the city. The previous $7,500 contract for sidewalk repairs had been signed off on by Mayor Chris Grover without council approval since it fell under the $10,000 threshold for small contracts.
Most of the 650 square feet of original sidewalk repairs were on Nolan Brown, with some on F Street and 6th Street. Public Works Director Todd Ableman said when 5 Star arrived to do the work, they were able to free up some personnel to perform repairs on an additional 665 square feet of sidewalk and 54 lineal feet of curb and gutters at a variety of locations, including at Centennial Park.
The quoted amount for the additional work exceeded the small contract maximum, and therefore required council approval, bringing the total amount of the contract with 5 Star to $20,050, plus tax. Ableman said city personnel did the actual removal of the existing damaged sidewalks, with 5 Star performing the pouring of concrete.
He added that it was difficult to find someone to do the $7,500 of original work, and that it was an effort to get the small amount of sidewalks repaired the city has been able to get so far. In the past, contractors have been available to handle the city’s sidewalk preservation program work, but this year, because of projects postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, most are swamped.
“We got a few rejected emails that said ‘we’re just too busy to handle anything this year,” Ableman said. “I just don’t believe we’re going to find anybody to schedule any more additional sidewalks.”
Councilman Paul Schmidt noted the amount budgeted for the work was $45,500. Ableman said he left that amount in the request in order to get matching funds from the state’s Transportation Improvement Board set aside for preservation work.
Also at the meeting, the council unanimously approved a $3,900 appropriation for audio and video redaction software needed to conform with recent changes in public records laws. In the session concluded in April, the Legislature passed a requirement that all law enforcement interrogations and encounters be video recorded beginning July 31.
The contract includes a $2,400 annual agreement with Veritone for purchase of its redaction software. The software connects to the city’s current public records management software, GOVQA, via a connector, requiring a $1,500 annual fee to be added to the existing contract.
City Administrator Mark Schuller said the software is needed to ensure privacy when releasing audio and video public records. Money to pay for the software and upgrade were set aside in the current public records portion of the Administration Department’s 2021 budget.
“We put in some miscellaneous funding knowing we would have some costs associated with our increase and attention to records management in our policy,” Schuller added.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
Reader Comments(0)