PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MEETING MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, :00 P.M. CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS CONFERENCE ROOM MINUTES

Transcription

1 PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MEETING MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, :00 P.M. CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS CONFERENCE ROOM MINUTES I. ROLL CALL/CALL TO ORDER Chairman Cathy Waldeck called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Aldermen Stanford Tack, Timothy Newman, and Michelle Moreno were present. Staff in attendance included Michael Thomas, Director of Public Works; Bob Ells, Superintendent of Engineering; Bob Kiely, City Manager; Jim Held, Chief of Police; Karl Waldorf, Deputy Chief of Police; Mike Strong, Assistant to the City Manager; Dave DeMarco, Fleet Supervisor; and Becky Pocasangre, Administrative Assistant. Also in attendance was Carl DiTomasso, DiTomasso Excavating, LTD. II. APPROVAL OF THE OCTOBER 5, 2015 PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES Chairman Waldeck moved to approve the October 5, 2015 Public Works Committee meeting minutes. Alderman Moreno seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. III. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF A PROPOSAL TO USE CITY LAND AT THE COMPOST CENTER IN EXCHANGE FOR SERVICES PROVIDED TO THE CITY Director Thomas stated that in the winter of 2008 the Public Works and Parks & Forestry Departments had a total of 109 employees, currently there are 77 employees. He stated that both seasonal and full-time positions have been reduced over recent years. He noted that the law only allows seasonal employees to work nine months out of the year, as opposed to in the past when they worked eleven months out of the year. As a result, he stated that the City has to be creative with the Snow Program to make up for the shortage of employees. Currently the City utilizes a Snowbird Program which consists of both CDL and Non CDL drivers that use the City s equipment, a Night Crew that provides coverage seven days a week during the winter months and works from midnight to 8 am doing CBD Hauling on straight time, and City building sidewalk shoveling is contracted out. The City no longer has access to the old Municipal Services Facility on Laurel to dump the snow from the CBD and the City parking lots, so the Compost Center will now be used for snow storage. Carl DiTomasso reached out to Michael Thomas about using land at the Compost Center for grinding stone and staging his equipment in exchange for assisting with the Snow Program. Mr. DiTomasso has all the equipment needed for snow hauling, so his team could stack the hauled snow at the Compost Center, to help maximize storage space. Currently the City uses its own employees and equipment as well as contracts out hauling with various private trucking firms. Also as part of the proposed agreement, the City will be able to use the final product DiTomasso

2 Page 2 of 5 makes (CA-6 stone) for various maintenance jobs throughout the City. The City currently purchases CA-6 Stone from Vulcan for approximately $12,000 a year. Therefore the City would be saving money from the snow operations as well as from the stone that Mr. DiTomasso will be providing. The proposed agreement is for a five year time period. If the arrangement works well, the City can extend the agreement for an additional five years. Chair Waldeck asked for clarification of what the crushed asphalt is used for and if the asphalt grinding would cause an issue with residents in regards to noise. Director Thomas replied that the City uses ground up asphalt for road edge on roads with no curbs as well as areas that require fill and will be used for storage. He added that P. Clifford Miller currently grinds yard waste at the Compost Center and the stone / asphalt that DiTomasso will use will not make any more noise than P. Clifford Miller s machine. Mr. DiTomasso added that this is a side part of his business and he liked the possibility of operating out of the Compost Center because it s gated. Alderman Moreno asked if the asphalt crushing is seasonal. Mr. DiTomasso replied that during the winter it s too cold for the equipment to operate so the grinding operation will most likely occur during the spring, summer, and fall unless the City has a significantly mild winter. Michael Thomas added that the area Mr. DiTomasso would be using at the Compost Center is east of the storage shed in the far back of the property. Chairman Waldeck asked if there is any liability in having Mr. DiTomasso use a City owned site. City Manager Kiely said that the City will work with the City Attorney to address such concerns in the proposed agreement. Mr. DiTomasso replied that he believes this would fall under his liability as a sub-contractor. Chairman Waldeck added that she believes this is a creative use of City property that is not being used and benefits both parties. The Committee approved bringing the Proposal to Use City Land at the Compost Center in Exchange for Services provided to the City, to City Council on December 7, 2015 for final approval. IV. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF THE PROPOSED F.Y CAPITAL EQUIPMENT Michael Thomas, Director of Public Works gave an overview of the current fleet of vehicles. He stated that the City has 250 pieces of rolling stock and 150 pieces of other equipment (e.g. snow plows, spreader, mower decks, dump bodies, etc.) All of the equipment is maintained by four mechanics, one parts specialist, and a Supervisor. Director Thomas noted that included in the packet was both a ten year replacement schedule as well as capital equipment replacement sheets that specifically review each of the proposed piece of equipment requested to be replaced in F.Y. 17. He noted that the used Police Department vehicles are given to Community Development, Engineering, or other departments in need of vehicles, as annual Police vehicles are replaced. As far as Police vehicles for F.Y. 17, Director Thomas stated that the new Chevrolet Police Package Tahoe costs more than what the City has budgeted and as of December 10, 2015, the police package

3 Page 3 of 5 is no longer available on the Chevrolet Impalas. Chairman Waldeck asked if staff plans to stick with the Ford 4WD Interceptor (Explorer) in the future. Dave DeMarco, Fleet Supervisor stated that it would be easiest for Fleet Maintenance if all vehicles could be the same make and model, however with this specific situation, he doesn t see the City currently having any other option than to go with the Ford Interceptors Explorers. Director Thomas stated that consistency is key for mechanics, when possible, and he recommends that the City purchase the extended warranty on the Police Explorers if possible, seeing that they are a relatively new product. Jim Held, Chief of Police stated that he is not opposed to Chevrolets, however there is nothing available to compete with Ford, at this time. Chief Held added that the officers like the Explorers from both a comfort and handling standpoint. Chairman Waldeck asked if staff s goal is to try and convert all of the marked police vehicles to SUV s. Chief Held replied that as long as gas continues to be inexpensive and the vehicles can last as long as the Impalas, than he believes it is the best bet for the Department. He added that officers prefer not to have rear wheel drive vehicles because of driving in the winter. He noted that the Ford Taurus works well for investigators but not for patrol officers. Fleet Supervisor DeMarco added that police packages are not available for Chevrolet SUV s such as the Equinox. Chief Held added that staff is trying to eliminate larger vehicles such as the Tahoe s. Director Thomas stated that a majority of the11 marked police vehicles are mid-size and large SUV s. There is also an Audi used as an unmarked vehicle, which was seized from a burglary. Alderman Moreno asked what the Police Fleet s typical replacement schedules are. Director Thomas replied that it s typically two plus years for a marked vehicle and six or seven years for an unmarked vehicle. In addition to the Police vehicles to be replaced in F.Y. 17, Director Thomas noted that staff requested the purchase of eight old style Cushman Refuse Scooters, for next year. There is now a new style of refuse scooter that, as configured will not work for the City refuse collection operations. Director Thomas noted that the old style refuse scooters will no longer be made as of January 1, However, he noted that the factory is currently assembling thirty of the old style refuse scooters for long time customers to purchase. Therefore Director Thomas is requesting to purchase eight of the old style refuse scooters while there are still some available. Alderman Newman asked for information regarding the golf course mowers that are up for replacement. Director Thomas replied that Chuck Myers, Superintendent of Parks & Forestry and Rick Waldraff from Kemper worked out which pieces of equipment need to be replaced at Deerpath Golf Course. Director Thomas stated that those pieces will be specified, bid, and brought to City Council for their approval similar to equipment in all of the other funds. Alderman Moreno moved to approve the vehicles and equipment contained in the Proposed F.Y Capital Equipment. Chairman Waldeck seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.

4 Page 4 of 5 V. REVIEW OF THE EAST SIDE TRAIN STATION S INTERIOR PROJECT CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT PROPOSAL Mike Strong stated that IDOT approved the bid for the exterior improvement to the east side train station with Mag Construction. He stated that he is working with the project engineer to set up a pre-construction meeting before the end of the year to keep the project moving forward. He stated that the schedule is on track and work should begin on or about March 15, With regards to the proposed interior work, Legat Architects is currently working on 30% design drawings. The plan is to increase the capacity of the public restrooms and make the facility ADA compliant. Mr. Strong stated that he will have more information to update the Committee with after the Metra/UP meeting. He further noted that as of now, there has been a lot of support of the preliminary design. The Preservation Foundation has been pleased with the design so far. He stated that if all goes well with the station s exterior work, more funds would be available for interior work. Alderman Moreno asked why scaffolding is not set to start until March. Director Thomas replied that work can t begin when the weather is cold. Staff will use the winter to plan the project and receive all of the approvals from the historic architect overseeing the project, so when the weather breaks, work can begin. Director Thomas stated that staff will have a better timeline on the exterior work and a more precise budget on the proposed interior work once the tuckpointing and painting begins. VI. OTHER ITEMS Superintendent Ells stated that staff s resurfacing proposal provided to the Finance Committee at their budget meeting in November, included a portion of Sheridan Road. However, the City has been notified that the U.S. Army is moving forward with their project to remove all of the debris from the landfill located near and throughout the McCormick Ravine. As a result an estimated 2,000 trucks will be hauling debris up to Zion and will return with clean clay as fill. This will result in approximately 4,000 truckloads of material using that portion of Sheridan Road that was proposed to be resurfaced. As a result, staff is proposing to resurface the impacted stretch of Sheridan Road in F.Y. 18 versus F.Y. 17. Hauling of the material will occur from June through September of He noted that per City ordinance, the U.S. Army will be required to pay the approximate $83,000 road impact fee VII. OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT None VIII. NEXT MEETING SPECIAL PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MEETING WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, :00 P.M. AT MUNICIPAL SERVICES

5 Page 5 of 5 IX. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Waldeck moved to adjourn the meeting of the Public Works Committee at 6:07 p.m. Alderman Moreno seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Becky Pocasangre Administrative Assistant