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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-03-21 Infrastructure Committee Minutes1 Infrastructure Committee Minutes March 21, 2023 ATTENDEES Councilors: Gretchen Schaefer, Dan Tremble, Dina Yacoubagha, Clare Davitt, Joseph Leonard, Susan Hawes, Cara Pelletier Staff: Aaron Houtari, John Theriault, Jefferson Davis, Debbie Laurie Public: Dominick Rizzo, Betsy Lundy AGENDA ITEMS 1. Sidewalk Snow Clearing Aaron Huotari provided a presentation and stated the City of Bangor clears snow from approximately 85 miles of sidewalks. Clearing sidewalks on both sides of major arterials, with the exception of the downtown district where private property owners are responsible for clearing their own, and one-side of certain neighborhood streets, spread throughout the City. Public Works has five sidewalk clearing tractors and it takes approximately 1 week to clear assigned sidewalks after a storm of less than 1’ of snow (assuming it is a true snow event with little to no ice or sleet activity). The clearing rate was dependent on the type of precipitation (snow, sleet, mix), and also the obstructions encountered, to include snow piled on sidewalks by others. Damage to machines from hidden objects in the snow and ice is frequent and often puts us behind our clearing plan. Municipal clearing of sidewalks varies greatly across the State. Many municipalities clear no snow from sidewalks, some who did clear sidewalks in the past have stopped due to costs and labor shortages, some only clear snow from sidewalks in their business district and others clear a couple major arteries in close proximity to their business district and require property owners in the business to clear their own sidewalks. We weren’t able to identify any municipality where the Public Works department clears all sidewalks. Portland has one of the more robust, yet varied approaches to sidewalk snow clearing. City employees clear sidewalks within walking distance of schools – a one mile radius. This amounts to approximately 1/3 of all sidewalks in the city – approximately 92 miles of sidewalk, utilizing 7 sidewalk clearing machines and the rental of an additional tractor. The other 2/3 of sidewalks are cleared by property owners who own property behind the sidewalk – approximately 200 miles of sidewalk. In addition, the City coordinates a volunteer group that assists elderly residents in clearing snow. Our residents have an expectation of a particular level of service, unfortunately due to the changing storm precipitation, staffing challenges and equipment breakdowns, we are not always able to meet our goal. Additional we receive requests to expand our sidewalk clearing work to more sidewalks. Being a pedestrian friendly city supports our neighborhoods, livable community work, climate action plans and health and wellbeing of our residents. Which brings us to our discussion, what sidewalk snow clearing should look like in our community and how do we best achieve it in the most efficient, effective and fiscally responsible way. It was asked the Committee preference of the following options:  Do we maintain the status quo?  Do we maintain the status quo, but add additional units to minimize downtime and provide the opportunity to operate more than 5 machines at times (it is unlikely we would be able to add personnel in the current employment environment)?  Do we reduce the number of sidewalks being cleared? 2  Do we implement a hybrid method – some city, some property owners?  Other options? If the sentiment of the Committee was to maintain something akin to our current service, staff will take some steps internally to refine the current routes and practices as well as new program funding requests to support this direction. If the sentiment of the Committee is to move to a hybrid method or scale back our current approach, staff will develop alternatives to bring back to the Committee for consideration. The Committee discussed options and concerns. A suggestion to explore the clearing based on traffic pattern based on volume and public access. Vote: No vote required. 2. MaineDOT Pilot Program with Municipalities for Traffic Signal Maintenance Stipend John Theriault stated the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) has been considering a program for traffic signal maintenance with the larger municipalities within the State for the last couple of years. MaineDOT reached out to city officials of Portland, Lewiston, and Bangor to develop a program where the State of Maine provides a stipend to be utilized by the municipalities to maintain and update traffic signal equipment. This test program is intended to begin in 2023 and last until 2025. The amount of the stipend has not been finalized but the current amount being considered is $500.00 per traffic signal for the first year and then increased to $1,500.00 and $2,000.00 per signal for the second and third year. The City of Bangor currently has 78 traffic signals that we maintain with the majority of the signals being on State highways. Typically, funding received from MaineDOT for traffic signals comes from BACTS through a very competitive process. The Engineering Department and Public Works Department are very interested in this proposed program and believe it would provide a significant source of funding to maintain, repair, and replace vital traffic signal equipment. Additional reporting by the City will be required to MaineDOT as a part of this program. The Engineering Department believes that our new asset management program will assist staff in tracking the data required to be provided to MaineDOT. If MaineDOT finds this program successful, they would extend the program and expand it to other municipalities in the State. Vote: Moved and seconded to move Draft Order to Council. 3. MaineDOT Village Partnership Initiative Grant Program John Theriault stated that in December of 2022, City staff met with Jarod Fam-Guillette, a Regional Planner from the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT), to discuss the Department's Village Partnership Initiative Grant Program. This program provides funding for large scale downtown redevelop projects. The Department has a couple of these projects in Southern Maine and Mr. Fam-Guillett e believed that Bangor would be a great location north of August a to have the Department work on one of these improvement projects. The City had been discussing a major utility upgrade for downtown Main Str eet that will include new sewer main, storm water, and drinking water. The Village Partne rship Init iati ve Program seems to be a great opportunity to get much needed infrastructure improvements completed as well as improving sidewalks, street amenities, parking, landscaping, and lighting under one large project with a significant portion funded with State and Federal doll ars. 3 According to John’s understanding of how this program works is that the City of Bangor would split the cost of the initial planning and scoping study for an improvement project with MaineDOT 50/50 and then MaineDOT would assist the City in chasing federal dollars for the final design and construction of the project. The City would provide a ten percent local share towards the final design and construction of the project. John provided the study area that the City provided to MaineDOT to kick off the Village Partnership Initiative process, as well as, a summary of the program from the MaineDOT webpage. It is believed this grant program provides a great opportunity for the City to get much needed utility infrastructure work completed as well as providing improvements to enhance our street s and sidewalks for all users of our downtown. There will be opportunity for public involvement during the planning process. Dominic Russo recommend Kenduskeag Plaza West be considered as an opportunity particularly the flooding in the area. John will bring back to Committee once there is a scope of work. Vote: No vote required. 4. Pickering Square Conceptual Improvement Plan Jefferson Davis, PLA, the City's Landscape Architect for the City of Bangor, provided a conceptual plan of the final phase of Pickering Square in the area of Pickering Square between the new Transit Center and south of the Willard C. Orr Pedestrian Bridge. The City completed several projects within the last few years within the vicinity of Pickering Square including revisions to Pickering Parking Garage main entrance (2019), landscape and sidewalk improvements north of Willard C Orr Bridge (2019), replacement of Willard C Orr Bridge superstructure (2021), New Transit Center and utility improvements to Water Street (2022), and replacement of the bridge deck for the at- grade pedestrian bridge over the Kenduskeag Stream (2022). This meeting represents the starting point of a public engagement process. City staff will work with interested stakeholders to provide a variety of forums through which to solicit input. Prior to finalizing the bid package, any updates to the plan will be reviewed with the Committee. The desire of these improvements is to provide a programmable space that can be utilized by downtown residents and visitors for a large array of activities. Anticipated bid date would be early spring, with construction in the summer. There was continued discussion of the potential with Betsy Lundy suggesting adding an a potential attraction to draw tourists and minimize unfavorable public activities associated with unused open space. Vote: No vote required.