Capital Improvement Committee

CITY OF LACONIA PLANNING BOARD CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT SUB-COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, October 12, 2016 Meeting Minutes Call to Order; Bill Contardo opened the meeting at 6:31 pm Roll call; Chairman William Contardo, Vice Chairman Mike Foote, Ava Doyle Gail Denio, Ham McClean, Paul Lambert, and Robert Hamel were present for this evenings meeting. Also in attendance was Brandee Loughlin, Interim Planning Director and Wendy Patterson, Zoning Technician/Recording Secretary. Chairman welcomed everyone and explained that there was an error on the agenda and that the police department will be speaking second and fire 3rd. Water will proceed first. 4. Presentations OF Department C.I.P.’s; Water Department; Seth Nettleman spoke in behalf of the Water Department. He presented the Committee with a spreadsheet containing all of the information that was also given in regular packets but in an easier to read format. He explained that the spreadsheets break down in to 2 categories, streets relayed on page one and second page contains vehicles upgrades, etc. On page 1 it lists the street that the Water Department would like to accomplish repairs on for the given year, based on age and type of pipe and historical problems. The pipes on Morningside Dr. were installed in the early 1950 but they are 2” iron pipes and they are be breaking down. Franklin Street has been presented by public works as they will be working on it due to the iron pipes being installed circa 1924 from the Washington Street end. North Main street has had issues for approximately 8-10 years with pipes breaking and being on ledge, they are hoping to tie this in to a project by public works for re-paving. Hamilton McClean asked how old the pipe on N Main is. S. Nettleman said that it was placed circa 1961-1962. S. Nettleman continued with his presentation and said that it was discovered that the pipes on McGrath St. were installed sometime in the late are closing with tuberculation. The rest of the streets on the list will be moved around depending on issues and what can be done in conjunction with public works. The proposed project on Union Ave from Main Street to Church Street is on the docket a few years out because of the projected cost being $400-$500 thousand dollars overall, so it is broken out over a few years for budgeting purposes. Robert Hammell inquired if the pipes from Busey Corner out to Strafford Street are anticipated to be done in the near future. S. Nettleman stated that they are not planning to do them (the pipes in that area) in the near future as the road bed is in good condition and they try to do their projects at the same time that DPW is re-doing the roads so that it will reduce the costs. Robert Hamel asked why Davis place why on list? S. Nettleman said when the overlay was done the pipes could not be done at that time and now need to be replaced. Paul Lambert inquired if last year’s projects have been completed. S. Nettleman stated that the projects have been done or are in the works and that Merrimack Street is in this current budget year and will be done in April. Mike Foote inquired where Veterans Ave is. Seth Nettleman explained that it runs parallel to Lakeside Ave and he believes it is a private street, however, there is an old 6” cast iron pipe that is a city issue. Bill Contardo inquired how the Water Department handle the 20-30 unaccepted roads. S. Nettleman explained that the Water Department has briefly discussed this type of issue as there is an issue with Tremont Street. The Water Dept was under the impression that from Pleasant to North Main it was a public road and when DPW was preparing to be paved it came to light that it was not a city accepted road. Bill Contardo inquired if there were any other private or unaccepted roads there, may be an issue with in the future. S. Nettleman stated no, as they accept pipe in private developments, for example Southdown, the Water Dept. covers those but Sewer does not cover them. Sheet 2 talks about some of the repetitive items, pumps, gates, and how money is used to do upgrades to what is needed most at the time. Pumps can go at any time but gates and hydrants have a tendency to require more maintenance. The painting of the Long Bay tank has been on the docket for a while as it is rusting. It has been inspected by divers and it has been suggested that it be painted. Bill Contardo asked if there is lead paint. S. Nettleman stated that there is no lead paint as it was redone late 1980’s early 1990’s but that the structure is being tested for lead. Mike Contardo then asked if just the outside or both outside and inside are to be painted. Seth Nuttle man said that both surfaces will be painted and that it will be contracted out due to epoxies. Bill Contardo inquired what it would cost be to replace? S. Nuttleman said that it is a 50,000 gallon tank and elevated so it would be possibly $750,000 to 1 million dollars. S. Nuttleman explained that some of the next items on the list are: a. ¾ ton pickup truck (existing is a 2006). b. replacement of skater radios control booster station and treatment plants. c. ½ ton pickup truck (existing is an 05). d. The computer server is 5 years old and it is suggested it be replaced. They are also looking to join with other departments in being fiber connected to City Hall. Bill Contardo asked if he (Mr. Nuttleman) knew mileage on the vehicles. S. Nuttleman stated that there are approximately 80k miles on the ¾ ton and that ½ ton has probably over 100k. Service trucks have a tendency to do less mileage but more work and the others visit the pump sites more often. Bill Contardo inquired if they were traded in or if they are given to other departments. It was explained that they try to sell them or bring them to the state auction. S. Nuttleman explained that there is also a loader with a price of $160,000 but that it is a few years out for budgeting. Bill Contardo inquired why we do not lease. Seth said he has to look at the leasing program and will talk to Wes Anderson about how public works does it. Rest of items are a few years out. The Department will be looking at a backhoe in the future because it is a 2000 and should be exchanged after the loader. At this time the Weirs Pump station is good for filling Briarcrest and the Weirs and gives opportunity for a soft start to mitigate excessive pressure. Bill Contardo stated he does not see filters. Seth said that the filter bed project was complete 4 years ago and he does not see any large investment at this time and due to air scour systems he figures they will not be needed for approximately 20 years. Robert Hammell stated they did a great job with replacing the filter bed and because they did it themselves they saved the city a lot of money and gained a lot of knowledge. Mr. Hammell asked if water still needed to be dumped from the tank at the Weirs. Seth Nuttleman said that the demand has picked up and is recycled up to Cedar Lodge and the Lighthouse and then back to the Weirs. In warm weather times they do dump water because of the 2 steel tanks with different pressure zones and they do this for water quality. Bill Contardo asked if the tanks the same as the one in Long Bay regarding maintenance? Seth explained that they are structurally different but that we need to maintain them. Mr. McClean asked if the projected costs will come out of the revenues from sale of water or if money will need to come out of the general fund. Seth Nuttleman stated that they have no intention on bonding. Mr. McClean then asked if the reserve account will remain fluent. Seth Nuttleman said yes, rates were raised and they seem to be in a good place financially. There was no decline in water usage and hopefully the economy is turning around as in the past it was a 1.5% reduction in previous years. Mr. McClean asked if any restrictions are foreseen with the drought. The response was no. Bill Contardo thanked Seth Nuttleman for his presentation. B. Police Department; Matt Canfield and Al Graton explained that a few things have been added to their request. Police vehicles, which are requested yearly with the fleet replacement plan, and they will request three for next year. They rotate their vehicle request as 2 in one year and three in the next. The second request is police mobile data terminals as everything is computer based whether they are at station or in cars and the reliant on mobile data units in vehicles. They have tried different types of systems and have found that the vibration in vehicles is not good for the computers and they are looking to replace 7 patrol cars with a system that is built specifically for police and fire vehicles with rubber protective parts. These units will cost about $6000 each. Mr. McClean inquired if they are semi indestructible. Officer Graton said that they are built to military spec and should take drop from 6’ and still function. Bill Contardo asked if this is the same as fire department. Graton said no. Mike Foote asked how many systems are looking to be replaced. M. Canfield said that they are looking to replace 7 at this time. He further noted that he believes the State Police is replacing theirs with these systems from a company in North Attleboro, MA. Bill Contardo inquired if they will move from vehicle to vehicle or be stable and how many vehicles are in the fleet. M. Canfield stated that there are 19 vehicles in the fleet and ten of them would need the computers so there will be three more than requested at a later time. These computers are used in the frontline cars. Mr. Hammell inquired if the company referred to is the only company known to make these? Officer Graton stated that this is the only company found specifically for fire and police as it has a license reader, timer so computer will soft shut down and not use car battery or crash computer, and other specifics to protect them. It would also be able to come out of cradle be used as a tablet so that would help. Canfield explained that it is a 3 year warranty for all components except if the screen is broken. Mr. McClean inquired if the warranty would provide a replacement or does it take the vehicle out of commission? Canfield said the lack of the system would take the cruiser out of commission. Bill Contardo asked if this is the max amount of memory they can get. Al Graton explained that the PD connects by a wireless card into the network so a lot of space is not needed. Bill Contardo inquired asked about costs and frequency of upgrades. Graton said all upgrades are free. Gail Denio asked if the training of the system is included in the price. Canfield they (the company) will come train but the operating system is the same because it is our server that they connect to. Mr. McClean asked if the state police maintains spare systems to which M. Canfield said he would assume they do. Mr. McClean then asked if all patrol cars are out every day. M. Canfield said all cars except #18 are rotated daily and that at any time there are 3-5 patrol officers and a supervisor on the road. Radio System; Al Graton stated that the next proposal is for a cost of $438,000.00 and that what this entails is our current radio infrastructure that is old and on the verge of not being able to be repaired. Brian from Ossipee Mountain Electronics was present to speak about the proposed upgrades. Bill Contardo inquired what type of system we have now. Lt. Canfield explained that most of the equipment they have now if from a Lawnet grant back in 2003 which was used for mobile devices, portables, and infrastructure (receivers at Petal Pushers, LRGH, and Weirs Beach Fire Station). Bill Contardo inquired how old the portable radios are. M. Canfield explained that some are three generations old. Mr. Contardo then inquired if they replaced some last year and old ones would go to Fire. Mr. McClean said there was a grant involved last year. A. Graton, explained that they did not get the Homeland Security grant and that is why this is here again and once again the grant has been applied for Brian from Ossipee Mountain Electronics explained that the infrastructure was set up about 20 years ago and it is coming up on the expected lifetime. The product has been cancelled and he can only get parts for repairs, and that those will only be refurbished parts, until 2018. The letter that has been provided points out the particulars. Main issue is that the equipment used today is not up to today’s standards as in IP capable, all of this is based on current phone lines for transport from the radio site on Parade Road to the dispatch to receiver sites are using an antiquated phone line system that Fairpoint no longer services well. What is happening is that the radio equipment is heading toward an IP protocol, using an Elan that carries data. Bill Contardo stated that land lines cannot be hacked and inquired if IP lines can be hacked. Brian said no, they are proposing a microwave backhaul that will replace the need of land and elines and will provided point to point connectivity. There is a proposal to move the receiver at the Weirs Beach fire station and place it up on Meredith bay which will drastically improve coverage also provide connectivity needed to make line of site shots for receivers. This will also, in long run, eliminate monthly reoccurring phone fees which is probably 12-15k a year just on the police side and may be more on the fire side as their information comes in from a separate infrastructure. As part of the grant they are looking to duplicate the police system so that the fire has the same coverage. The big difference is that the fire system is out of LR Mutual Aid on Mt Belknap and their system has gone to a simulcast system, with 9 sites, and has been installed for a few years but needs upgrades for the city. How this can happen is that if the sites are duplicated we are not paying for multiple lines and some equipment can be shared so not purchasing twice and promotes overall officer safety as they current systems are not adequate in coverage. For example when in basements and some other structures, connections are lost, with this system they would not be lost. A. Graton explained that they have already applied for the grant again. K. Beattie, Fire Department, said that he had someone from the state come in and help write the grant as they looked for more information and that she helped with terminology. Bill Contardo asked if Belmont is involved. K. Beattie explained that the grant isn’t for multi- jurisdictional applicants but that anyone around us that could bounce off of the antennas would benefit. Bill Contardo inquired if they will benefit right away. K. Beattie said that this is not a partnership. Bill Contardo asked if anyone could just tap in to our system. A. Graton said they could but only if they are on our frequency. K. Beattie said when they went to simulcast system, the crossing over of one another has been worse with the other agencies bouncing in and this should help with this issue. Gail Denio asked when we will know about the grant. K. Beattie said he does not know. Brian said some grants have been awarded and Laconia is pending. The biggest thing about Homeland Security grants and EMPG grants is that they are looking for regional type systems and want them to cover multiple agencies. When this is looked at it from the fire side it is all of Lakes Region Mutual Aid so that may be the big factor in possibly receiving the grant. Bill Contardo inquired that if we get the grant, does that mean that the outreaching areas would have to work with us. Brian said no they would not need to. Not knowing what will happen with the grant, this can project be done in a phase approach and that is something that can also be discussed. Brian explained that it could be done in subscriber parts and that is a phased approach. Brian would like to emphasize that the infrastructure is essential. Even though the equipment is outdated and coming up or at end of life, there is a short term, maybe a two year window that the radio equipment passed down from the police to the fire will dept. have to be used for 2 years. All radios have to be the same make and model. The state will make the decision on who receives the grant. Approximately 6-8 million dollars was granted to the state and they will then decide who receives the funds. Al Graton, stated that the last time this was applied for a grant writer was brought in to make sure we hit all of the marks for consideration. There is a committee that will rate the application, such as this committee does. K. Beattie said last year Meredith and Gilford Police wrote letters in support. Bill Contardo asked if Belmont says they are interested and it would help them, would that help our cause. Al Graton said yes. Brian also said that the other point made in the benefit of Laconia is that we have pumpkin fest and bike week that brings in outside officers and departments so this was put in grant to show it would be a benefit. There will be a secondary channel that can be used when we have special events. Mr. McClean inquired if when officers come in from other areas, will the communication system work for them as well? M. Canfield said they would work off of the same frequency. National Guard has set up a separate frequency tower but there was no coverage in the Scenic and Watson Road areas but that it worked ok at the Weirs. This will give us a better infrastructure and outside officers can use it. Brian stated that all of this boils down to the age of equipment and digital interface unit has been discontinued and there are no longer parts available for them as they can only get refurbished until 2018 and this would be eliminated if the proposed system going forward if approved. Mr. McClean inquired if this will be all interchangeable with the new equipment being set up for E911 at the state school. Brian said it is all the same. Mr. McClean then asked if we don’t do this can we still interact with E911. Brian said we would be out there on our own. K. Beattie said what came up was that for fire is that they lose contact in certain areas when a portable device is being used. Police said they were having the same issue so this came up as a safety issue. Al Graton said he worked with Fairpoint for 6-8 months because the repeaters were constantly going out. M. Canfield said when the Parade Rd transmitter goes out they rely on cell phones to communicate as they cannot use the portables. K. Beattie said the grant was done under both departments but if grant is not given, the projected price is broken down between separately between the two departments. K. Beattie said the fire department is under the headline because they saw to the gran that way the proposed system will continue to function even if items fail. Bill Contardo asked if there was a reason why the grant was rejected last time. K. Beattie said he thinks it was that they wanted more substance and it is what they gave them this time. Mr. McClean explained that last year the City Council did not approve this in hopes of the grant coming through. K. Beattie said another problem with the grant is that it is a 30 day grant, there is a not a lot of time to get it all started. Last year when it was planned they were starting from scratch, this year a lot of the ground work has been done. Brian stated that the equipment list is for all infrastructure and a duplicate radio system for tactical. There are also other components such as the console that are not included in the $438k. Mr. Hamel asked if all equipment will be redundant on the list. Brian said no. Mr. Hamel also inquired if the price include upgrades for police and fire and the old system for mutual aid. Brian stated that it does. Mr. Hamel inquired if new portables would be needed that are not already in the cost? K. Beattie said yes, and that is being worked on outside of the CIP. It will cost $275,000 for dispatch console. Mr. Hamel inquired if the console is needed? Brian stated said that there is a way to phase it but as mentioned earlier, the digital interface unit has been discontinued so if the grant does not come through as part of this, his recommendation would be to purchase refurbished DIU’s for backup until the money is granted. Mr. Hamel inquired if there is a yearly maintenance cost? Brian stated that 24/7 coverage would be (on a 3/4 million dollar investment) for advanced replacement approximately $20,000-25,000 thousand yearly. Currently the city does not have a contract in place they work on a parts and materials/labor system. Mr. Hamel stated that back in 70’s-80’s he does not remember a lot of problems with communications. M. Canfield said newer technology is not always a good thing and in the past he could not even get out a call from in the hospital. Mr. McClean said the frequencies are crowded now. Brian said when you go to digital it is better to hear but it goes to a data signal on fringes and there is a hum. McClean his concern is that if it that important we should have the 24/7 coverage and how long do we think this will last as things are always changing. Brian said that by Federal guidelines, portables and mobiles are 5 years, infrastructure is 10 years and consoles are 12-15 years for life expectancy. Mr. McClean stated that in ten years the infrastructure may need to be changed again at a higher cost and that at this time we need to do something better than just throwing a ban aid on this. Bill Contardo inquired for clarification that if we get the grant, will it cover the whole thing or how much would the City need to come up with? A. Graton said if grant comes in and approved they would use the money requested to purchase the console and have some money in reserves. Mike Foote asked if these transmissions are encrypted. M. Canfield said that they are not. Brian said when in digital there are things that can monitor but when in encryption the only way to decode is with a special key needed to unscramble it. Manchester is encrypted on the police side so no one can hear off of a police scanner. Mr. McClean inquired when will this all kick in and when the PD would be able to get started? M. Canfield said 2017. Mr. Hamel asked where the equipment is made. Brian said mostly in Israel for Motorola which is an American company. Brian reminded the Committee that with the microwave backhaul, we will be able to get rid of phone bills. Bill Contardo said that if we get the grant that is great but if not we will still being asked for ¾ million dollars. Why not ask for it all at once? Al Graton, because we thought it would be best in phases than to sticker shock with the huge financial request. Chairman Contardo thanked the Police Department, Fire Department and Brian from Ossipee Mtn. Communications for their time and explanations on this item. c. Kirk Beattie for the Fire Department; Mr. Beattie explained that for the FD there are only a few comments because most is repetitive from last year. On the inflatable rescue boat the motor was not listed however they are looking at 30 horse power, double what is on there now. The rescue boat is taken to every water rescue no matter where it is. Bill Contardo asked how many times it was used this year. K. Beattie said they average about 17 yearly but there were 20 in three months this year, it is also taken to ice rescue. K. Beattie said that the brush fire skid unit is also a repeat from last year and that it is the tank and pump that slide in to the forestry trunk. The tank is old and the pump is really old. Bill Contardo asked if the price was for the whole thing. K. Beattie said yes, that the pump would cost approximately $5000 and would be a polyglass tank. Next item is engine 2 replacement, last year they talked about decommissioning engine three and it has been sold so there is only one spare engine at this time. We could not maintain the up to 4 spares we had. The replacement one really needs to be a strong piece of equipment. Mr. Hamel inquired if there will be a pumper at Weirs and spare downtown? Beattie, yes. Hamel, we would look to buy a 540k truck with the deals we have with Belmont and Gilford and they respond to first alarm, if we are going to regionalize why do we need another pumper truck if Belmont and Gilford have one? Gilford uses our million dollar ladder often for fires but do they reciprocate as much. Hamel feels that other town should pitch in as we send out trucks often and have let them borrow our pumper trucks with no reciprocation. Beattie said they cover for us a lot and feels that mutual aid should grow exponentially. Hamel asked if we really need to buy another piece of equipment as they bring their equipment over to assist. Beattie said with no backup we are waiting for the other towns to show up and that could be dangerous. McClean asked why we send a ladder truck to Gilford every time they have a fire. Beattie said it is best to send the larger piece of equipment in case it is needed than to have a second call come in. Hamel asked who made the agreement. Beattie said it has always been and is typically between fire chief and fire chief. We do track the amount of time we go to other communities and they come to us and he knows we get more aid than we give. Bill Contardo said he looks at regionalization as a great way for sharing costs. Mr. McClean asked what kind of fires on the water the boat would be used for. K. Beattie said certain shoreline areas, boat fires, and possibly some structure fires. McClean asked if we actually fight structure fires from the water. Beattie said it is not optimal but there are island properties. Bill Contardo stated that most boats that catch fire are fiberglass. Beattie said we do not do it a lot and the key is that there is also safety involved such as pulling people from the water or dock fires. Bill Contardo inquired how many people are housed at the Weirs Station. There are three housed there. Mr. Hamel inquired if there is there any use that Mr. Beattie can see for the use of the fire department in Lakeport as the Weirs is used for storage when seasonal items are switched out. K. Beattie said the boats are stored in the salt yard of the DPW and there was a major clean out the Weirs Station but it is already tight there. The Lakeport building would only be used for storage and not housing. Chairman Contardo thanked Kirk Beattie for his presentation and comments. Bill Contardo made the Committee aware that next week would be the DPW and Parks and Recreation Department. Brandee stated that the order will be Parks and Recs first and then DPW. She is also made the Committee aware that there was a last minute request from Code to ask for a new truck. The property maintenance code clerk either uses the truck or a city vehicle (which we are charged for). Brandee Loughlin said that she does not spend time in the truck but has heard it is in bad shape. B, Loughlin further stated that she will change the scoring sheets because there are some discrepancies and will leave the $438k shown on both on fire and police on only one CIP. Scores are due the first of November. Mr. McLean moved to adjourn. Seconded by Mike Foote. Motion carried in favor 7-0. Meeting adjourned at 8:32 PM. Respectfully submitted, Wendy L. Patterson