4.2. SR 03-17-2003R3ver
MEMORANDUM
Item 4.2.
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
Mayor and City Council
PMa~r ~'ha~i '2~ i0t3 Ad m i n~
SUBJECT: Consider Proposal for Inputting City Record Drawings into GIS
Map
The city GIS map is complete. The next step is to input all of our existing utility (sewer,
water, storm sewer) information from 20 plus years of record drawings into the system. City
staff has discussed this issue for the past few months and have reached a consensus that the
best approach is to have Howard R. Green Company use interns to create these data files.
(For all new plats the data will be required to be provided to the city by the developer in a
GIS acceptable format.)
A critical issue with this work project is funding. In this regard the Utilities General Manager
Bryan Adams has agreed to participate (see attached memo from Michele McPherson,
Director of Planning) and the city share will not exceed $9,000. This expense will come out
of the city engineering general fund budget ($75,000 in 2003).
This GIS expenditure can be funded within the engineering budget because the city is no
longer absorbing the expense associated with the review of altered residential building plans
(See attached memo from Steve Rohlf, Building and Zoning Administrator). In the past, the
city paid Howard R. Green for review services when changes were requested and this
expense came out of the city engineering budget. The city is now passing this cost on to the
builder, who is directly benefiting from the plan changes.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council approve the GIS record drawing input proposal as
submitted by Howard R. Green Company in an amount not to exceed $15,000.
S~ Coundl/ Pat/ GISMap
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
For Your Info.
MEMORANDUM
Mayor and City Council
Stephen Rohlf, Building and Zoning Administrator
February 6, 2003
Engineering Fees for the Review of Surveys that are not in
Compliance with Approved Development Plan
To ensure home construct/on is consistent with the overall scheme for handling drainage in
a plat, the city requires development plans. What type of house fits on each lot and how
grading for that lot is to be done are some of the typical items on development plans. There
are situations where deviations from the approved development plan (e.g. altered drainage,
lower or higher lowest floor elevation, different house style, etc.) can be allowed without
compromising the overall plat drainage.
When significant deviations are proposed, they are reviewed by the City Engineer's office.
The city incurs costs for the Engineer's review that are not accounted for in the building
permit fee. The city receives between 50 and 75 requests per year for significant deviations
from approved development plans.
Starting February 1, 2003, an additional $150 engineering fee is being added to the cost Of
those building permits where the builder wishes to significandy deviate from the approved
development plan for a plat. Minor revisions are processed by the Building Department
without additional charges.
MEMOltANDUM
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Bryan Adams, Gen~.anager Elk River Municipal Utilities
Michele McPhersot~,~1:)irector of Planning
February 28, 2003
Cost Sharing of Record Drawing Input for GIS Mapping
Attachments
December 30, 2002 Letter from Terry Maurer - Howard R. Green Company
As we discussed on Tuesday, February 25m you agreed to participate in the cost of inputting
into the GIS system, the City's record drawings. As Mr. Maurer's letter indicates, there are
approximately 2,000 sheets of record drawings and the total cost of utilizing Howard R.
Green interns for completing this project will be approximately $15,000.
Mr. Maurer's letter further indicates that a minimum of 35 percent of the information is for
the water system. You agreed to participate in the cost of inputting this information in the
amount of $6,000 (40% of the total project). The City will pay for the rest of the project
costs. This memo serves to confirm our conversation and to note that any additional work
outside of collecting the record drawing information that relates to the water system will be
an additional cost to you.
cc: Pat Klaers, City Administrator
Terry Maurer, City Engineer
S:M~LANNINGUMichele McPhersonMglEMOS\B Adams GIS.doc
Howard R, Green Company
December 30, 2002
File: 230000M-0325
Ms. Michele McPherson
Director of Planning
City of Elk River
13065 Orono Parkway
Elk River, MN 55330
RE:
GIS MAPPING INFORMATION
RECORD DRAWING INPUT
Dear Ms. McPherson:
This correspondence is intended to serve as a formal proposal laying out the various options we discussed
at our December 13, 2002, meeting for the input of available record drawing information onto the City's
GIS Map. As you are aware, we have approximately 2,000 sheets of record drawing information dating
back to the late 1970s. Information contained on these record drawing plan sheets consists of street,
sanitary sewer, watermain, and storm drainage information. At our most recent GIS meeting on Friday,
December 13, 2002, we discussed three options for getting this information from the record drawings into
the City's GIS mapping system. The three alternatives are as follows:
1. Howard R. Green Company Interns
As we indicated at our meeting, on Friday, December 13, 2002, we have done a small experiment to
determine how long it would take an intern to pull the information off of the record drawings and
create a database. By making some estimations from this small test relative to the number of sheets
of record drawings and the amount of time it would take to compile the information contained on
them, we have estimated that it would require approximately 375 hours of time to go through all of
the record drawings from the last 25+ years. We believe this work could be competently
accomplished by interns who have worked for us a few years. These interns are Civil Engineering
students at the University of Minnesota. We would propose to discount their billing rates to $40/hour,
which provides for the overhead required for these employees, plus a modest profit. In fact, we
would be prepared to commit to the City of Elk River that, based on a $40/hour billing rate and an
estimate of 375 hours to perform this work, we would agree to accomplish the work for a lump sum
cost of $15,000, regardless of how long it takes. In order to accomplish this work utilizing interns
from the University of Minnesota, a reasonable timeframe would have to be allowed to have the work
accomplished. During the school year, the interns work as many hours as their school schedule will
allow. During Winter Break, Spring Break, and summer, they are full-time employees.
2. City of Elk River Intern Working at HRG Offices
We would be prepared to provide a workspace and computer equipment for the City of Elk River to
place an intern working for the City into HRG's offices to facilitate the efficient collection of record
drawing data. If the City chooses to use this route, there would be no charge to the City of Elk River
from Howard R. Green Company for the use of office space and equipment.
Ltr-122702-McPherson
1326 Energy Park Drive · St. Paul, MN 55108 · 651/644-4389 fax 651/644-9446 toll free 888/368-4389
Ms. Michele McPherson
December 30, 2002
Page Two
If the City desires, we could do a combination of a City employee working in HRG's offices and a
HRG intern to accomplish the project. Under this scenario, we would charge $40/hour for the HRG
intern.
3. City to Accomplish the Work at City Offices
If the City desires to do this work with City employees at City Hall offices, we would be prepared to
deliver to the City all record drawings for their use in accomplishing this task. Once the task is
accomplished, we would be prepared to bring the record drawings back to the Howard R. Green
Company offices for their continued storage.
As you are aware, a major portion of this record drawing information is for the Elk River MUnicipal Utilities
water system. I would estimate that at least 35 percent of the information is for the water system. This
estimate assumes the record drawing information can be divided into thirds; sanitary sewer, water, and
street and storm drainage combined.
After you have had a chance to review these alternatives, I would be happy to sit down and discuss them
further with you.
Sincerely,
Howard R. Green Company
Terry J.,Maurer, P.E.
c: Pat Klaers, City Administrator - City of Elk River
Ltr-122702-McPherson
Howard R, Green Company