Public Works & Facilities Commission

PUBLIC WORKS & FACILITIES COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 14, 2018 TIME: 7:00 P.M. MUNICIPAL BUILDING ROOM 208 MIDDLETOWN CONNECTICUT Members Present: Councilman Carl. R. Chisem Councilman Sebastian Giuliano Councilman Gene Nocera Absent: Councilman Thomas Serra Councilman Philip Pessina Staff Present: William Russo, Director of Public Works Christopher M. Holden, P.E., Deputy Director of Public Works Others: John Hollerbach, Creative Recreation Chair Chisem opened the Public Works & Facilities Commission meeting at 7:00 P.M. Chair Chisem requested a motion to approve the minutes dated October 10, 2018. Motion to approve the minutes was seconded and approved unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS: None. CORRESPONDENCE: a. Newfield Corridor Trail Letter – Director Russo stated that the Complete Streets Committee is in attendance to speak during agenda item 5a. a. Lucinda Lane Thank You Letter – The Commission reviewed the Lucinda Lane thank you letter. b. HBRA of Connecticut, Inc. HOBI Award – The Commission reviewed the HBRA of Connecticut, Inc. HOBI Award. c. Middlesex County Historical Society Thank You Letter – The Commission reviewed the Middlesex County Historical Society thank you letter. NEW BUSINESS: a. Newfield Corridor Multi-Use Trail / Complete Streets Presentation & Discussion – Howard Reid, 6 Newtown Street resident and Chair of the Complete Streets Committee, spoke on behalf of John Hall for the East Coast Greenway. Their goal is to urge the City to proceed with the Newfield Corridor Trail project. Howard stated that about $4,000,000.00 was designated in a parks bond and that the Newfield Corridor trail is part of a much larger project which would create a shortcut in the East Coast Greenway. It is estimated that the survey and design costs will be around $254,000.00; the construction will cost around $3,157,500.00, the inspection costs will run around $200,000.00 with a $360,700 contingency totaling approximately $4,000,000.00. The East Coast Greenway is a biking and walking trail that will run from Florida to Maine which is about 3,000 miles. The Farmington Canal Trail and the Air Line Trail will eventually be connected through Portland, Middletown, Meriden and Cheshire. This will not only provide a shortcut, but it will also provide a loop that runs from just west of Meriden out to Windham and back for recreational cyclists. The Newfield Corridor Trail will benefit Middletown in many ways. The bikeway will run from residential neighborhoods to three schools. Three miles will be added to the Mattabassett Bik and Walking Trail for exercise (10+ mile off-road round trip). It makes for safe bike access from Westlake, berlin and Cromwell to downtown. The East Coast Greenway is also an alternate route through downtown Middletown. Louis Pear, former Co-Chair of the Airline Trail Steering Committee (ALTSC) and Deputy First Selectman in Portland stated that two years ago the Committee met in Cheshire with feasible representatives from Middletown, Portland, Cheshire and Meriden. The goal was to get the Airline Trail from Pomfret, CT to the Farmington Canal. Louis mentioned that he sees the Merritt Parkway as possibly being the highway trail next to the highway since there is a lot of land. There are some roadblocks in the way moving forward. Since speaking two years ago, the Airline Trail in Portland has gone from Depot Hill Road in Cobalt, CT to Jobs Pond near the YMCA property for Camp Ingersoll which is about two and a half miles. This has since been completed and there was a ribbon cutting ceremony early in the fall. Phase two will add to the Airline Trail from Camp Ingersoll all the way to Butler’s Construction. The state right of way along Route 66 may have to be used to complete this phase. Conversations were had with the Jarvis property owners for the lot across the street from Dairy Queen about the Airline Trail extension. Dairy Queen purchased this piece of property to create a Grill and Chill which is a larger Dairy Queen. They have already stated that they would love to have bikers and walkers come by their restaurant. The next area is behind the existing Dairy Queen and Dunkin Donuts which has received permission from the owners there as well. This will bring the trail to William Street Extension. It is the goal to have discussions this winter with Butler Construction. Eversource has given approval to use their property and to connect up to their wires. The phase 2 connection should occur within the next 2-3 years. Phase three involves a trail that currently exists and is owned by one or two individuals. It is hoped that permission to use the property will be given when phase three is in effect so that the trails can be connected. This trail most likely does not need a lot of work since it is in good shape. If the trail leads to the Adams supermarket it will provide two options. The first option is to turn right out of Adams to a state property and maybe make it a state right of way to a road called Freestone Avenue which will bring the trail to Main Street and then to the bridge. It will also bring the trail to the Riverfront Park in Portland. The second option would get us closer to the trail. From Adams the trail will lead to Route 49, cross Marlborough Street where the depot is have a rail to trail pathway to Hickory Street and down under the bridge. If the trails can connect, East Hampton is working on having a section to connect which will most likely be done by the spring. This section goes from Depot Hill Road to Alden’s Crossing which is on Route 16; this goes under Route 66. All of this can possibly be completed within 10 years. b. 2018-2019 CNR – Director Russo stated that Joe Augeri, Assistant Superintendent of Streets, is attending this meeting. He has done a lot of work with the CNR for the last five or six years. The Department has been asked by Finance and Government for a five year CNR. A couple of months ago a list was put together; however, the pricing is only good for thirty days. The only prices that will remain the same five years from now are the trucks which are on state bid. The truck that needs replacing is a 2004 and is not doing the Department any justice. The Garage Division has been going nationwide for parts and the next truck down is in the same disrepair. Joe stated that the Department is replacing trucks every fifteen years. He believes that the trucks should be replaced every seven to nine years. A discussion was held amongst the Commission, Joe Augeri and the Directors in regards to the trucks and the length of time on the roads each one gets. Joe reiterated that the longer they keep the trucks, the less they receive for a trade in value. Director Russo stated that the items listed on the CNR list are needs, not wants, since the items listed are mandatory in order for the Department to function properly. c. Pat Kidney Playground Quote – A motion was made to move Pat Kidney Playground Quote up to new business, item 5b. Motion was seconded and approved unanimously. John Hollerbach, Creative Recreation, spoke in regards to the design and layout for the small playground equipment being installed at Pat Kidney Field. He was asked to take a look at the park to come up with an area suitable for a children’s playscape. He found that there is a small parcel just in between the basketball courts and the parking lot outside of the softball field line that best suitable for a playscape; it is a long narrow space of greenway. The particular design of interest allows for great supervision from any location in the park. It provides easy access from the parking lot, it is ADA accessible and it also meets all of the current safety guidelines. The playground can be any color even though the product being presented was a natural color. It was previously mentioned that the top side of the playscape consist of a blue color to match the basketball courts next to it. There were two designs presented at the Parks Committee meeting: free standing components and a modular design. Both of these options are popular in today’s age for outdoor play equipment; each option accommodates the same number of kids playing at one time. An estimate was provided for both options. The free standing play equipment makes for easy supervision with climbing, sliding and swinging. It is a more conventional system than the modular design playscape since much more components can be added with the freestanding layout. Director Russo stated that he had Deputy Director Holden work with Milone & MacBroom to look into the proposed area for the playscape to make sure there will be no issues with the berm behind the woman’s softball fence near right field. Mike Doherty gave the go ahead to construct in that area. The site behind the woman’s softball field was chosen for the playground since it is far enough away to where there will not be any accidents with softballs hitting children playing. John stated that he will provide layouts and color selections for the Commission to review. Director Russo stated that he will keep this Commission on the email trail for this information. OLD BUSINESS: a. October 2018 Public Works Overtime Report – The Commission reviewed their October 2018 Public Works overtime reports. b. October 2018 Building Permits – The Commission reviewed their October 2018 Building Permits. OTHER: A motion to add a Professional Services Agreement for Country Club Road soccer fields to the agenda. Director Russo stated that last month the design for Country Club Road was spoken about with Milone & MacBroom. He also stated that Deputy Director Holden has since worked out a deal with them for Professional Services which involves the Mayor, Finance Director and the Director of the Department. Deputy Director Holden stated that in the last proposal there was an alternate for inspection but the inspection is needed from an outside Engineer. The current estimate for phase one which is the design survey and permitting is $161,200.00. They would go out and do wetlands and lineation to see what kind of impact there will be with wetlands. They would do the full design including the concession stand, offices and restrooms. They would either take someone else’s design or they have also included the design that includes the septic system in hopes that a holding tank will be the choice solution since there is not a lot of natural soils up on the hill. A motion was made to approve of the Professional Services Agreement. Motion was seconded and approved unanimously. Director Russo stated that the last thing he has for the Commission is the CIAC Tennis Finals. He believes that we are just about there with them and Wesleyan has a few dates where they’ll need our courts. They will be in town from May 28th to January 7th. Due to the lack of maintenance, donations will be sought out of the Camp Fund which will be worked through email with this Commission on copy. They were thrilled with what Wesleyan and the City did and it will bring a lot of people into Middletown. College coaches come and look at these kids and even though there was a cost to build these courts, there is no further cost to the City for these events. Director Russo stated that he met with Tom Nigosanti, Chief Engineer, Deputy Director Holden and the painters about the bikeway that leads to Millbrook Road. Safety Markings has given the state bid pricing to complete the project. This bikeway will go from Eli Cannon’s, down deKoven Drive all the way to East Main Street and Millbrook Road; eventually the bikeway will lead all the way to Durham. a. October 2018 Monthly Report – Highway Division – The Public Works & Facilities Commission reviewed their October 2018 monthly reports for the Highway Division. Director Russo stated that there is nothing out of the ordinary. b. October 2018 Overtime Report – Parks Division – At this time, there was no Overtime Report for the month of October 2018 available to review for the Parks Division. Director Russo stated that the Division has taken in $187,930.00 which is about $47,000.00 per month. This puts the Division at a pace of $562,000.00 for the year out of the projected $550,000.00. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS: As there was no further discussion, a motion was made to end the meeting. Motion was seconded and approved unanimously. The Public Works & Facilities Commission meeting adjourned at 8:20 P.M.