Public Works & Facilities Commission

City of Middletown PUBLIC WORKS & FACILITIES COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY July 14, 2021 TIME: 6:30 P.M. Via WebEX.com Members Present: Councilman Gene Nocera Councilman Ed McKeon Councilman Philip Pessina Councilman Darnell Ford Councilman Ed Ford Jr Staff Present: William Russo, Director of Public Works Christopher M. Holden, P.E., Deputy Director of Public Works Kimberly O’Rourke, Recycling Coordinator Others: Catherine Lechowicz- Director of Recreation and Community Service Paul Pizzo- Landmark Architect Mike Doherty- SLR International Corporation (formerly Milone & MacBroom) John Hall- member of public Councilman Nocera opened the Public Works & Facilities Commission meeting at 6:30 P.M. Councilman Nocera requested a motion to approve the minutes dated June 9, 2021. Councilman Pessina made the motion to approve the minutes. The motion was seconded by Councilman Ford and passed unanimously. Councilman Pessina moved to amend the agenda per the request of Director Russo to move item 5e to the end of item 6, old business to 6g. This was seconded by Councilman Darnell Ford (not sure how to differentiate between the two councilmen Fords? and passed unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS: Nobody from the public was present at the meeting. CORRESPONDENCE: CIAC Boys and Girls Tennis Invitational Championship and 2019 Baseball Payments. Councilman Pessina requested to see the payments that were made by the American Legion, Malloves Jewelers and the Hartford League. This included the $1,000 donation that the CIAC gives Catherine Lechowicz, Director of Recreation and Community Services, for children in need to go to camp. The bill is included for the CIAC baseball tournaments at Palmer Field. These are for 2019 as the tournaments didn’t happen for 2020 due to Covid. The City partnered with Wesleyan to host the Division 3 tournaments. Several thousand people attended at Palmer Field for the finals and one of the pitchers was drafted by the Kansas City Royals. NEW BUSINESS:  a. Blue Earth Compost food waste- Middletown will be the first in the State to join with Blue Earth Compost Food Waste to help reduce waste as one of the largest trash facilities in the state will be closing in a year. Blue Earth is a food waste collector that has been in business for 7-8 years. The pricing for this service is slightly lower than the cost for normal trash disposal which results in a small savings to the City for the Sanitation District. So far 10-15 restaurants have signed up and are separating food waste. Efforts will continue and more businesses outside of Main Street will be targeted. Food waste will go to the anaerobic digester in Southington where it is turned into clean energy and compost. The public is very excited about this effort. Moving forward to address issues with Residents as well by expanding food waste drop offs within the City. We continue to provide education at the Farmers Market and provide containers to those that commit to drop offs. Councilman Pessina asked how often these drop-off locations waste are picked up and removed. They are currently picked up once per week. b. Connecticut Recyclers Coalition- Kim O’Rourke is seeking permission to attend. This is the annual membership for the Coalition. Councilman Nocera requests a motion to approve. This was moved by Councilman McKeon and seconded by Councilman Pessina. Motion passed unanimously. c. CT Carp Tournament-Approval for Fishing The dates for the tournament are October 21-24. 2021. This annual event provides permission to fisherman to stay in Harbor Park overnight. This is the 4th year the event is happening. This event brings a lot of business to Harbor Park. Councilman Nocera requests a motion to approve. Councilman Pessina moved and seconded by Councilman McKeon. Councilman Darnell Ford questioned if construction isn’t completed, what the plan of action would be. Director Russo does not believe there will be any issue with the work being completed before the tournament in October. Councilman Nocera requests a motion to approve. Moved by Councilman Ed Ford Jr and seconded by Councilman Pessina. Motion passed unanimously. d. Tall Timbers Road Update. The project is moving forward to be accepted as a public road. Director Russo has worked with Central Communications to ensure road name is acceptable. Public Works Commission needs to accept Tall Timbers Road as the name. Councilman Nocera requests a motion to approve the name. Moved by Councilman Ed Ford Jr and seconded by Councilman Pessina. Motion passed unanimously. OLD BUSINESS: a. Recreation Center update- Paul Pizzo updated the Commission on the ongoing work at the recreation center. Paul states that the drawings are being submitted to the Building Department for review and permit. The project will go out to bid by the first week of August. The budget shown at $1.3 million is not being met as the work is no longer being subcontracted through Public Works. The new budget when, adding overhead of contractor, is estimated at $1.8 million. Plans are going to be altered to meet the 1.3 million budget. Some costs are being handed off to the BOE as they are required to provide a functioning building. It does not come out of BOE funds it will come out of the project bond as contingency. No effect to the BOE budget. Pending north end bridge. b. Veterans Pool and Splash Pad Update- Mike Doherty states there is a scheduled meeting regarding Veterans Pool materials, improvements and design. The splash pad details are being fleshed out with suppliers. Soil samples collected during the geotechnical borings on site are at the lab for analysis. The building demo survey is being scheduled. The design hopefully will be submitted to Planning and Zoning in August. Should be able to provide detailed estimate by end of month.  c. Update on Harbor Park Boardwalk- The decorative concrete has been poured. Currently the contractor is completing cleanup work and finish work happening soon. Demolition was approved for the North End boardwalk. Waiting on update regarding status of railings. Additional S&E controls being put into place. Bulkhead a non-issue. d. Multi-use trail- holding pattern on final routing to connect near school fields near existing trail. Continuing a little further east from original plan so as to not impact any school property. e. June 2021 Public Works Overtime Report- the Public Works Commission reviewed their monthly reports. There were no questions. f. June 2021 Building Permits- the Commission reviewed their Building Permits. As of June 30, 2021, we have generated nearly $1.28 million in permits. Saybrook Road plans delayed until end of August due to Cardinal Engineering- pending final plans. Potential for no movement this year on project. Pictures of damage from storm will be forwarded to commission for review. Insurance is involved to see if any portion of damage will be covered. g. American Rescue Plan Discussion- Water & Sewer infrastructure may qualify under this plan including Basswood Drive, South Fire and Boston Road/George Street. Erosion of yards due to drainage issues. Council is looking at putting together a committee for review of these funds and outstanding projects. Pending flood study. Concerns regarding Chamberlain Hill Road brought up. Possibility for Public Works & Water and Sewer issues to be addressed together. OTHER: a. June 2021 Monthly Reports- Highway Division- the Public Works & Facilities Commission reviewed their monthly reports for the Highway Division. There were no questions. b. June 2021 Overtime Reports-Parks Division – The Public Works & Facilities Commission reviewed their monthly reports for the Parks Division. There were no questions. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS: As there was no further discussion, a motion was made to end the meeting by Councilman Nocera. The motion was seconded by Councilman Pessina and approved unanimously. The Public Works & Facilities Commission meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.