Information Items:
- Light Rail Vehicles Weight Incentive Payment
- CATS 5-Year Bus Procurement Contract
- Storm Debris Clean-up expected to end this weekend
- Request for Qualifications - Transportation Bond Program
- Utilities Receives NC Department of Labor Safety Awards

 

Attachments:
- HAND Committee Summary 7-9-07

 

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CATS contract with Siemens Transportation Systems for the light rail vehicles on the LYNX Blue Line includes an incentive bonus for each Light Rail Vehicle that has a final weight of less than 101,000 lbs.  This incentive bonus was offered because lighter vehicles will reduce the consumption of electricity, reduce brake wear and produce other operating cost savings over the life of the vehicles.

 

The actual manufactured and delivered weight for all light rail vehicles in the fleet averaged approximately 98,000 lbs. Under the terms of the original contract, an incentive payment of $128,000.00 ($8000 per car x16) is now due to Siemens. This incentive will be paid from money already budgeted and encumbered from the existing contract which was approved by Council in March 2004.  Based upon the average weight of the LYNX Blue Line vehicles, CATS estimates a savings of more than $421,000 over the 25 year life expectancy of the fleet or more than three times the cost of the incentive payment.

 

 

This is an update to an earlier Council Manager Memo. CATS' original intent was to have a recommendation ready for Council's consideration at its July 23 meeting. Due to the time required to complete a thorough evaluation of the proposals, including the best and final offers, this will not be possible. Instead, a recommendation for award will be brought forward at the next Council meeting on August 27.

 

It has been necessary to extend the evaluation process in order to properly compare the proposals. Normally, such evaluations make use of U.S. Public Transit comparative performance data that is produced based upon vendors' previous performance records from cities across the United States. However, as new vendors enter the industry or the United States market, other means of assessing such vendors' products must be utilized until performance records are established.  This evaluation process has included a vendor that is new to the United States market and has thus required more time than usual to provide Council with an accurate assessment of the proposals.

 

 

Solid Waste Services' staff continues to clean debris resulting from the storm on Saturday, July 7, that left the yards of Charlotte residents, mainly in Charlotte's Plaza-Midwood, Grier Heights, Chantilly, Elizabeth, Myers Park and Villa Heights neighborhoods, cluttered with tree limbs and other yard waste debris. 

 

Staff has made significant progress this week.  As of today, all major thoroughfares and neighborhood streets are clear from yard waste obstructions. Staff expects oversized debris resulting from the storm will be cleared from the curb by the end of this week.

 

The Collections Division continues to collect yard waste on residents' regularly scheduled collection days.  Though crews have experienced an increase in yard waste at the curb in all areas of the City, they are on schedule.  Staff expects yard waste volumes to continue to run above normal for the next few weeks as residents get materials prepared and to the curb.  Solid Waste will adjust operations accordingly, but staff does not expect to get behind.

 

 

Staff has begun the process to select engineering firms for new projects approved in the 2006 Bond Referendum as well as preliminary planning for projects proposed for 2008 and 2010 bond funding.

 

After the approval of the 2006 bond referendum in November, staff from the Charlotte Department of Transportation and Engineering and Property Management began planning and analysis for the new transportation projects. Advancing those projects to construction will require contracting with engineering consultants to perform additional design services. A request-for-qualifications (RFQ) was recently advertised to identify the consulting firms best qualified to perform this work. On July 24, staff will select several consultants and begin negotiating contracts that will come before Council for approval later this year.

 

All but one project included in the RFP are derived from the FY2008-2012 Capital Improvement Program approved by City Council on June 11, 2007. The City Boulevard Extension project was added as a result of questions voiced during the IKEA rezoning. Staff will seek a Council decision on whether to award a contract for engineering services on that project separately from the other projects.

 

In addition to projects funded from the 2006 bond referendum, preliminary planning to determine costs and scope will occur for projects that are proposed for the 2008 and 2010 Bond Referenda. In 2000, City Council approved a process allowing planning and design of a project prior to the voter referendum on construction funding. 

 

Projects identified for engineering services include the following:

Selection of these engineering services consultants will follow City Council's approved Consultant Selection Process.

 

 

The North Carolina Department of Labor recently recognized 16 workgroups within Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities for achievements in safety and health.  Three of those workgroups received awards for the seventh consecutive year.
The safety achievement awards are presented to industry and public sector employees annually based on a formula that includes hours worked, lost workday cases and cases with days away from work.