Town Council Work Session Meeting Summary - Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Thank you to all who joined us for the Town Council Work Session on Wednesday, May 24, 2023 at 8:30 AM in Municipal Hall. The following is a summary of the meeting for those who could not attend. You may download a copy of the meeting packet for further details.  Please note that this is a summary and not formal minutes.  Minutes from this meeting will be included in the following month's meeting packet for the Regular Town Council Meeting.  

I.   Call to Order: Mayor Pritchett called the meeting to order.

II.  Agenda Adoption: One agenda item was added to the agenda which has been added below, item 13.

III. Review Procurement Policy and Card Policy:

• Town Manager Hank Perkins explained that during the April 26th work session meeting, Town staff presented a preliminary draft of a procurement policy to replace the policy adopted in 2018.
• It is the opinion of staff that the proposed replacement policy is practical, comprehensive to both purchase and contracting, and up-to-date with all available resource guidance.
• Following the work session meeting, Town staff worked with a former auditor to make necessary improvements to the preliminary draft.
• Town staff also presented a draft credit card policy at the April 26th work session. 
• The draft presented was deemed sufficient and no changes were made.
• Manager Perkins asked Council to review and proceed with placing the two policies on the June 13th regular Council meeting agenda.
• There was a brief discussion and there was consensus to move these to the June 13th regular Council meeting agenda.

IV. Review Schnabel Work Order No. 7A, Professional Dam Engineering Services for the Reservoir Drain Construction at Lake Lure Dam:

• Project Manager Mike Dydula and Brian Houston 
• reported that Schnabel Engineering submitted a proposal for Work Order No. 7A for professional dam engineering services associated with the construction of the planned reservoir drain at Lake Lure Dam. Such services include providing construction phase services for the installation of the reservoir drain at Lake Lure Dam.
• Services for this project will be performed under the supervision of a Professional Engineer(s) licensed in the State of North Carolina. Work Order No. 7A was originally proposed in April with a lump sum of $467,785.96.
• Since the estimated timeline of the drain valve construction project has expanded, Schnabel has revised the proposed Work Order No. 7A, and the lump sum is now listed at $797,493.22.
• There was a general discussion regarding the project.
• This will be presented for a vote at the next Special Town Council Meeting.

V. Ruby-Collins Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) Update:

• Project Manager Dydula advised that Ruby-Collins is in the process of reviewing and updating their GMP based on the knowledge that the Town will not be able to utilize the reservoir drain valves during the upcoming lake drawdown period.
• While Ruby-Collins holistically reviews and updates the full GMP, Town staff contacted Ruby-Collins with a list of key questions which Ruby-Collins promptly answered.
• The questions and answers are included below.

         1.  Drawdown Schedule – 3 month or 5 month drawdown schedule.  Answer: The 5 month draw down provides a better chance to  install some pipe in Sunset Cove but LaBella is still working through those details.

          2.  How will LaBella handle storm events and work from a drawdown of ‐12’ to ‐20’ since the reservoir drain valves only release @ 1300cfs? Gary and I discussed this earlier this week and he can explain our stance. I agree with his allowance approach.

        3.  Boats/Boat Houses – Will we know ahead of time what boats will need to be removed before thh boring can resume in the next drawdown? Answer: It has been decided that the boats may remain in place for as long as a release waiver is provided for the contractor by the property Owner.

        4. Schedule for revised GMP – Do you want to submit only for 23/24 season or split up and have one GMP for 23/24 and another for 24/25 season?  Answer: The contractor will give a 23/24 and beyond with a caveat that pricing beyond 23/24 should be considered budgetary only and will need to be revisited each year.

        5. Is HDD off the table? The contractor will follow the Town Council's decision on this matter.

• There was a discussion regarding property owners needing to remove their boats from boat houses during the boring work that is being done.
• We should have the updated GMP within a week. 

VI. Discuss Lake Drawdown Schedule:

• Town Council discussed the work that needs to be done to complete the boring work in Sunset Cove and to expand the work to include sewer pipes.
• A five-month drawdown period is requested and this is being considered with a start date of 11/1/23 and a refilling date of 3/31/24.  
• It is anticipated that the drawdown schedule be adopted in the month of June.

VII. Discuss Sunset Cove Meeting:

• The Town will hold a meeting with Sunset Cove residents in regard to the sewer project.
• Council and staff discussed meeting details and communicate plans with Sunset Cove residents accordingly.
• There was a discussion regarding plans for Sunset Cove and whether or not there is a need to remove boats from Boat Houses.
• The pros and cons were discussed. 

VIII. Review Schnabel Partial Work Order No. 9A, Field Investigation Services for Replacement of Lake Lure Dam: 

• Project Manager Dydula presented an overview of this proposal.
• Communications Director Laura Krejci advised that FEMA has awarded the Town a grant for 65% of this project ($426K).
• The Work Order should not be signed until the FEMA Grant Contract is received.
• This Work Order is for field investigations to inform the design of a replacement for Lake Lure Dam and covers the portion of the field investigation services covered by FEMA Rehabilitation of High Hazard Potential Dams (HHPD) program Grant funding, which includes Task 1 – Investigation Planning, and topographic and bathymetric survey, foundation geologic mapping, geophysical investigations, and geotechnical investigations (partial) under Task 2 – Field Investigations.
• The remainder of the proposed field investigation services under Task 2 – Field Investigations, Task 3 – Laboratory Testing, and Task 4 – Geotechnical Data Report and Design Considerations Memorandum are required to complete this phase of work and will be included under a separate work order proposal (Partial Work Order No. 9B).
• The lump sum for Work Order 9A is $655,263.

IX. Review Schnabel Partial Work Order No. 9B, Field Investigation Services for Replacement of Lake Lure Dam: 

• Project Manager Dydula presented an overview of this proposal.
• Work Order No. 9B is for the remaining field investigations to inform the design of a replacement for Lake Lure Dam and includes geotechnical investigations (partial) and surveying (partial) under Task 2 – Field Investigations, Task 3 – Laboratory Testing, and Task 4 – Geotechnical Data Report and Design Considerations Memorandum. 
• The lump sum for Work Order 9A is $456,586.

X. Discuss TDA Lease Amendment: 

• Town Manager Perkins explained that Town Council approved the lease between the Town and the Rutherford County Tourism Development Authority (TDA) during the April 11th regular meeting.
• The TDA required that the lease be approved by their executive board.
• The TDA’s executive board recently reviewed the lease and proposed minor changes.
• Town Attorney William Morgan has reviewed the amendments to the lease and determined that the amendments are acceptable, and will not require advertisement because the amendments are minor and do not change the substantive terms of the lease.
• Town staff recommends that Council review the proposed amendments and approve the amendments under consent agenda at the regular June meeting.

XI. Project Updates: Most of Project Manager Dydula's projects had already been discussed during the course of the meeting.

XII. Town Manager Updates: Town Manager Perkins advised that he was working to get the former ABC Store repainted and will ensure it is maintained while the property value is assessed for future uses. 

XIII. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned.