Explanation
1. BACKGROUND
This ordinance authorizes the establishment of an Auditor’s Certificate to allow payments to be made to railroad companies, or companies subcontracted by railroad companies, for work they have performed on Department of Public Service projects, and authorizes the Director of Public Service to use the Auditor’s Certificate to pay those charges.
The Department of Public Service administers and manages capital improvement projects within the public right-of-way, including resurfacing, roadway reconstruction, bridge rehabilitation and replacement, bikeway paths, sidewalks, and other transportation related projects. On occasion, the successful completion of those efforts requires work to be performed on or near railroad property or facilities. Railroad companies will not allow others to perform work on their property or facilities. They perform the required work and charge the Department of Public Service for this work. When it is known work will be required on railroad property or facilities in advance of the project starting, Public Service contracts with the railroad and encumbers funds to pay for the work. These contracted amounts are estimates provided by the railroads. Public Service is responsible for paying any expenses that exceed the estimates provided by the railroad companies. In addition, there are occasions when work needs to be performed on or near railroad facilities on an emergency basis or that was not anticipated to be needed when a project was planned and designed. Projects then get delayed while contracts get put in place or modified and the funding is legislated.
To prevent these delays, the Department of Public Service would like to put in place an Auditor’s Certificate encumbering funds in the amount of $150,000.00 to allow payments to be made to railroad companies for these miscellaneous expenses. For several years City Council has been approving the establishment of Auditor’s Certificates for similar dollar...
Click here for full text