City Council Meeting Date: July 5, 2016
To: Mayor and City Council
City Administrator
From: David Bennett, Public Works Director/City Engineer
Jasper Kruggel, Streets and Parks Manager
Title
Consider Approval of the Service Agreement with Cannon River Offroad Cycling and Trails (CROCT) to Perform Various Trail Building and Maintenance Activities in Sechler Park
Body
Action Requested:
Staff recommends that the Northfield City Council approve the attached Resolution approving the service agreement with Cannon River Offroad Cycling and Trails (CROCT) to perform various trail building and maintenance activities in Sechler Park.
Summary Report:
The Cannon River Offroad Cycling & Trails (CROCT) group has performed various enhancements to Sechler Park pertaining to an off-road trail that is accessible to bicyclists, runners and walkers. Through this process, the City has been very happy with the partnership with CROCT and has developed a service agreement to outline the roles and responsibilities of each party.
The proposed service agreement outlines both the City and CROCT responsibilities in Sechler Park. This service agreement is only for Sechler Park, and if any other work is proposed to be performed in additional City parks, the depiction to this agreement can be amended to incorporate other areas at a later date.
Key elements of the service agreement are as follows:
1. First term of the service agreement is through 12/31/2016, and will be automatically renewed annually unless otherwise determined.
2. Either party can nullify the service agreement with 30 days’ notice.
3. CROCT volunteers must sign a waiver and release of liability form to perform any work on City property. (Exhibit B)
4. Any trail modifications, alterations, or additions need to be formally proposed by CROCT and approved by the City Engineer.
5. CROCT will supervise their own volunteers.
6. CROCT may use power tools and other excavation equipment on site as approved by the City Engineer. The addition of this clause will require the group to secure the site, preventing use by park patrons while the work is occurring. CROCT is required to be trained using the proposed equipment. As part of the addition of this clause, CROCT is required to obtain Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance with requirements of $1,000,000 property damage and bodily injury per occurrence, $3,000,000 annual aggregate, and $1,000,000 annual aggregate Products - Completed Operations and meet other insurance requirements as noted in Section 5 Insurance. The City League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust volunteer insurance coverage would not be applicable since the City would not be overseeing the work.
Following the May 19 work session, City staff received a request from representatives of CROCT to reduce their insurance limits to $1,000,000/occurrence and $3,000,000/aggregate. The representatives stated that the $2,000,000 and $4,000,000 limits that they had previously agreed to were too costly. The City has consulted with our insurance agent, city attorney and Risk Management Attorney at the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust. Even though the amount does not cover the tort liability limits, the LMCIT feels that from the City’s perspective we are fairly well protected in this instance. With the City being listed as an additional insured, CROCT insurance would be primary and a claim against the city may be tendered to the CROCT’s insurance company. Also, regardless of CROCT coverage, the City will always be covered by its LMCIT coverage (subject to any exclusions and limits). The City’s deductible per occurrence is $25,000.
The service agreement will allow CROCT and the City work together formally on the Sechler Park off-road trail project, and afford a common template for future endeavors in other areas of the City between the two entities.
Financial Impacts:
This MOU will allocate minimal City resources to the operations and maintenance of the off-road trail in Sechler Park. In addition to the staff time, there will be signage costs associated with coming into compliance and recommendations from the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust. These signage costs will be incorporated into the General Parks budget in 2016 and 2017.