Public Works & Facilities Commission

PUBLIC WORKS & FACILITIES COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY September 8, 2021 TIME: 6:30 P.M. Via WebEX.com MIDDLETOWN CONNECTICUT Members Present: Councilman Gene Nocera Councilman Ed McKeon Councilman Darnell Ford Councilman Philip Pessina Staff Present: William Russo, Director of Public Works Christopher M. Holden, P.E., Deputy Director of Public Works Cathy Lechowicz, Director of Recreation Others Present: Keith Emery- 725 Main Street Paul Pizzo- Landmark Architect Michael Doherty- SLR International Corporation (formerly Milone & MacBroom) Councilman Nocera opened the Public Works & Facilities Commission meeting at 6:30 P.M. Councilman Nocera requested a motion to approve the minutes dated July 14, 2021 and August 11, 2021. Councilman Pessina made the motion to approve the minutes. The motion was seconded by Councilman McKeon and passed unanimously. Councilman Pessina moved to amend the agenda by moving items 6. a – g to fall under correspondence. The motion was seconded by Councilman McKeon and passed unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS: Philip Bennett, resident on Old Road Drive, was present to discuss having his street be accepted as a public road. He Stated the public is using the road for recreation purposes, there is a tree farm on the street that people frequent and for safety reasons, such as being able to get a fire truck on the street. In the winter there are a lot of elderly people on the road and there would be no way to get an ambulance up the street. CORRESPONDENCE: No Correspondence. NEW BUSINESS: a. American Legion Summer Baseball Bill – no questions b. Malloves Jewelers Greater Hartford Twilight League Bill – no questions c. Westlake Pond – Director Russo stated that we are starting the process of going in front of wetlands and conservation commissions. Brush needs to be cut back to open up the pond.  Bridges have been secured so nobody can use them. Looking to hire a firm to design new bridges. Would like for multi-use trails to connect to these bridges. Found old tennis and basketball courts. $1,000,000 set aside for this project. Public Hearings can be held after the New Year. Bond would be pulled after Vet’s pool project is completed. OLD BUSINESS: a. Recreation Center Update- Deputy Director Holden spoke to financing some of the critical components of the project. The bid waver came through to work with Agility to facilitate with the HVAC and cogen units. Paul Pizzo sated the project is going out to bid and the bids for phase one are due October 19th, 2021. There will be questions by the 2nd of October. Scope of work for the Agility contract will be cemented. They have requested that new work be added to the scope of work that can be added to the lease payment, such as a new roof and additional HVAC. It will be presented to the council in October 2021. Will have a general contractor and an energy services provider by the end of October. The Bemen Building committee approved to bring the data up to a functional level- security and fire alarm systems as well. b. Veterans Pool and Splash Pad Update - Deputy Director Holden spoke regarding the wetlands permits that were approved for activity that is happening within the 100 foot setback of the Coginchaug River. Mike Doherty and Chris Holden met with Eldon about the utilities at Vets Park so new work can be coordinated and Tom Nigosanti regarding some low impact designs for the area. Several meetings are set up to discuss progress on the project and the building itself. Hazardous materials team got testing back which showed lead, mercury and asbestos in the building. Not strange to find in a building that age but does put a wrinkle in demolition. Pool testing came back with no issue. Tree removal coordinated with city tree warden. Splash pad preliminary design submitted. Demolition started September 8th, 2021. Public Works will be doing as much demo and build out as possible to keep costs as low as possible. c. Harbor Park Boardwalk Update – Received first delivery of handrails. Bulkhead caps need to be resurfaced before they are installed. Hopefully within four weeks the work will be complete and opened. Councilman Nocera asked if the water issues have been addressed. Mike Doherty stated the materials have been delivered but believes they are waiting on approval. System of underdrains will be installed. d. Multiuse Trail Updates- Newfield Trail plans are still being worked up. Update was provided to Director Russo and Deputy Director Holden. There are two wetland crossings so details are being worked out. Also mentioned that the trail goes behind one of the schools. It’s possible the project needs a property easement and may not be approved by the property owner. e. Old Road Drive- Private to Public update- Tom Nigosanti, Director Russo and Deputy Director Holden met regarding this and Tom Nigosanti put together some comments that were shared via Webex. This is considered a driveway that services 7-10 houses. The resident, Philip Bennett stated that he talked to a firefighter who stated the driveway was not wide enough to handle emergency vehicles. What would be done is to extend the road and redo drainage, crossing to reconnect two open channels, reconstruct the whole road. Interested in the area to connect to Meriden and Cheshire for the multi-use trail. Easements would need to be obtained from each of the property owners that this affects. There is a  rough estimate of the costs associated with a project this size of approximately $1,200,000 and does not include contingencies. Financially, this would need to be under a road bond because the work and cost is substantial. Resident Philip Bennett expressed that this is really about safety for the residents that live on the street and if there is a plan that could be made in the meantime to be sure no accidents happen. Councilman Nocera asks when there is a private driveway like that it would have initially had to have gone through Planning and Zoning for approval. Director Russo does not believe it ever went through Planning and Zoning. This road was built privately and not to City standards. Councilman McKeon said a precedent is set once they open the doors to accepting a private road as a public road. Questioned if there is anything the City can do so that private developers have to develop to City standards. Deputy Director Holden stated it should be under planning and zoning for subdivision regulations that they could review. These Houses were built in the 1960’s and have a gravel driveway. Councilman Pessina asked if due to the safety issue this could be addressed through another bond that already exists? Director Russo would caution against it because the Council is the only one that can approve that and money approved through a bond that already exists has to be used on the streets that it’s been approved for only. Would have to be approved as a City street before anything. Councilman Nocera asked if the City assumed responsibility, maybe they could add trap rock to even out the road in the meantime. This would need to go through OGC. Councilman Ford is very concerned with safety. Responsibility to residents even if it isn’t considered a city street and how this could be addressed. Director Russo would like to leave this on the agenda for next month and he will sit with the City Attorney and ask the questions the commission is asking regarding this. In addition he will reach out to the Fire Marshal, Chief and Central Communications Chief to see how they would respond to an emergency. f. July 2021 Public Works Overtime Report- the Public Works Commission reviewed their monthly reports. Both large rain storms caused a lot of overtime. Coordination between Water & Sewer Department and Public Works regarding drainage. g. July 2021 Building Permits- the Commission reviewed their Building Permits. There has been $279,000 worth of Building Permits for ten weeks. Average of $27,000 per week. OTHER: a. July 2021 Monthly Reports- Highway Division- the Public Works & Facilities Commission reviewed their monthly reports for the Highway Division. Middle St is set to be repaved. Markham St was paved. Would like to overlay Silver St before the winter. Next year’s work is already being discussed. b. July 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 7:40 PM.