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Home My WebLink About2014-12-09 Infrastructure Committee Minutes Infrastructure Committee Minutes DECEMBER 9, 2014 ATTENDEES Councilors: Gibran Graham Sean Faircloth Joshua Plourde Pauline Civiello Staff: Dana Wardwell Cathy Conlow John Theriault Brad Moore Others: Agenda 1.Sewer Abatement Request – 170 Randolph Drive – Account #8449001 (Copy of Memo Provided by Superintendent of WWTP, Brad Moore as well as back up information Attached) Brad provided an overview of the abatement process for new members of the committee. This request was due to unmetered usage for watering new replacement grass and needed to bring to committee for consideration. Historical usage with this location has been 12 units, this occurrence was 24 units. Brad would recommend granting, if committee concurred. 2.Sidewalk Plowing For many years Public Works has plowed about 60 miles of sidewalks utilizing three municipal tractors (with two spare MT’s) and two small front end loaders in the downtown area. The sidewalks plowed provide a network of sidewalks that connected downtown, businesses and schools. Residential sidewalks were generally not plowed although Public Works did maintain alternate sidewalks not on the priority list, upon request by residents. This system worked well and Public Works was generally able to clear the sidewalks within three days after a storm. Recently, in the past year or so, there had been more requests to plow more residential sidewalks. Propose to increase 40% increase in sidewalk plowing and expect to have an increase in cost. Costs associated with the current plowing is $111,000 for personnel regular time, overtime, and equipment usage. Currently, the list of plowed sidewalks contain about 85 miles of sidewalks including the same 60 miles of priority 1 sidewalks with the addition of 25 miles of priority 2 sidewalks, one side of residential streets based on the odd even system. FY15 is an odd year so 1 we would plow the odd side of residential streets. Members request a list of priority 1 & 2 streets and reassess those priorities. The following is a list of concerns and or comments: A. Plowing sidewalks is very difficult and hard on equipment. The new proposal includes a 42% increase in the amount of sidewalks plowed. We can expect a corresponding 42% increase in repairs, wear and tear on equipment. B. Municipal tractors are very expensive, about $140,000 each fully equipped. We currently replace one every other year to keep the fleet dependable to do the very difficult work. With 42% more work we may need to replace them more often. C. In the past with 2 spare municipal tractors there have been times when both were necessary. Moving to a system utilizing only 1 spare will mean there will be times we will fall behind on plowing sidewalks. The proposed spare small front end loader does not perform well on city sidewalks. D. If we receive back to back moderate to heavy snowfalls, it is very likely we will be unable to maintain the priority 2 sidewalks. E. With another pending difficult budget do we want to increase a service? F. If we are going to plow a sidewalk we should do so from the beginning of the year. Opening a sidewalk mid-season can damage equipment due to debris that may be under the snow. Staff felt the present system has worked well but if Council wished to expand sidewalk plowing, Public Works could implement the proposed plan for FY15 and evaluate its success before next winter. 3.Essex Street Paved Shoulder – Tabled to December 23, 2014 Meeting Due to Storm On May 13, 2014 Dana Wardwell recommended to the Infrastructure Committee that the City not widen three streets as planned as part of our FY15 paving program. The three streets were outer Ohio Street, Davis Road between Union Street and Ohio Street and outer Essex Street. The estimated savings by not widening these three streets was $350,000. The Infrastructure Committee approved the recommendation. Ohio Street and Davis Road had been paved and Essex Street had been shimmed with the surface layer to be applied in the spring. A group of residents had requested the City reconsider this decision and widen outer Essex Street. Since Essex Street had only been shimmed, it was possible to accommodate this request. Before the surface layer was applied, staff recommended milling and paving a seven foot wide strip on edge of pavement and shoulder of the inbound lane. This would create a 2-3 foot wide paved shoulder for pedestrians and bicycles on the inbound lane. The additional cost for this is estimated to be $72,432. The residents making this request were invited to this meeting. 4.Update: Broadway Corridor Study – Tabled to December 23, 2014 Meeting, Due to Storm Broadway Corridor Study Public Informational Meeting 2 A public informational meeting to discuss the Broadway Corridor Study was held at Husson University on December 11, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. in the Conference Room of the Richard E. Dyke Center for Family Business. The Corridor Study would be funded through the Bangor Area Comprehensive Transportation System (BACTS) and would evaluate the Broadway Corridor from the I-95 Ramps to Grandview Avenue. The intent of the study was to investigate methods to reduce congestion and improve safety along this busy corridor for vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclist. Business owners, residents of Bangor, and users of Broadway were strongly encouraged to attend this meeting to provide valuable input and comments concerning the issues typically encountered along this major corridor within Bangor. 5.Future Upgrades of Private Sanitary and Stormwater Connections to City Owned Systems Residences and businesses in the City are connected to the City’s sewer system by private sewer laterals. A private lateral is the pipe running from the building’s plumbing system to the City’s sanitary sewer main. According to the City Code, private sewer laterals are the responsibility of the resident or business from the building to, and including, the connection to the sanitary sewer main. The City is in the process of negotiating a consent decree with the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) dealing with sewer and stormwater issues. As part of this consent decree, EPA and DEP are requiring the City to reduce the amount of stormwater inflow and infiltration that is entering the City’s system from these private services. In order to accomplish this, these private laterals would need to be inspected and, in some cases, repaired or upgraded. In many cases in which a sanitary upgrade connection would be required, a foundation drain connection to the storm water system may be required as well. One approach to meeting this federal and state mandate would be for the City to require residents and businesses to inspect their private laterals and make any repairs or improvements necessary by a certain date. This, however, could be a very significant expense for which property owners have not budgeted. A second option would be to have the City pay for inspections and improvements. This would require significant funding in the form of a sewer fee or tax increase, which would affect all sewer users or taxpayers, respectively. It would also, in effect, mean that property owners who have kept their systems in good condition would have to pay for repairs to the faulty laterals of others. A third option would be to require private laterals to be inspected and, if necessary, repaired or improved to meet standards when there was a change in ownership of the property the lateral serves. Communities elsewhere in the nation have adopted this approach, and at least one Maine community, Rockland, was considering it. This approach may prove less objectionable to property owners than forcing them to complete this work on an arbitrary time table. If a sewer or stormwater project is occurring along a street where updated connections were required, the property owner may have an opportunity to have this work completed at the same time, at their expense but likely at a reduced cost. 3 The Engineering and Sewer Departments wished to receive input from the Infrastructure Committee on a direction to pursue with regards to future required upgrades to private service lines that connect to the City’s system. There was Council concern with imposing additional fees and imposing fees across the board. Councilor Civiello felt the funds should come from the stormwater fee and not impose a hardship on residents. Cathy stated this was a conceptual discussion and Staff would do research and come back, and this information this was a slow introduction and agreed with Members who felt option three was the least intrusive. Meeting: 41:18 mins. 4