Public Works & Facilities Commission

PUBLIC WORKS & FACILITIES COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING AMENDED MINUTES WEDNESDAY October 12, 2022 TIME: 6:30 P.M. Via WebEX.com MIDDLETOWN CONNECTICUT Members Present: Councilman Gene Nocera Councilman Darnell Ford Councilman Phil Pessina Councilman Edward McKeon Councilman Mike Marino Staff Present: Christopher M. Holden, P.E., Director of Public Works Howard Weissberg Rohan Manning, Acting Deputy Director of Public Works Cathy Lechowicz, Director of Recreation Kim O’Rourke- Recycling Coordinator Mike Doherty- SLR Public: Philip Nettis, Maria Holzberg & Kristen Rzasa The meeting was called to order by Councilman Nocera at 6:32 p.m. Councilman Pessina moved to approve the Meeting Minutes dated September 14, 2022. Councilman McKeon seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS: Philip Nettis lives off of Saybrook Road. He states that Eversource has been doing work and as such, made the road worse than it was. They are paving it for a second time. The areas they haven’t repaved are cement sections are not even and it makes travel dangerous. The areas of 1662 Saybrook Rd, 1700 Saybrook Rd and Aircraft Road are in especially poor condition. When the bike path was put in the original skirts were not removed, they were just paved over. The water runs into the road instead of to the side of the road. It floods his property and has caused erosion issues. He lives on Dripps Road and it is not paved and probably never will be. The erosion goes down, through his property and into the pond, making it chalky white. There was a large fish kill. The sediment is filling in the pond. The catch basin doesn’t get regularly cleaned. Even though he stocks the pond the fish keep dying due to the run off. The issue of the run off should be addressed. The catch basins are not the appropriate type for the job they are doing. So unless the road is paved they will continue to have issues. Kristen Rzasa is in attendance in regards to the dog park. She states that Councilman Pessina stated that there was an allocation of $70,000 for the dog park. She says that Cromwell and Rocky Hill built their dog parks for roughly $40,000. She has sent and can again, a grant that could award $25,000 to local municipalities nationwide for dog parks. She says that there is a lot of support for a local dog park. She stated that at the last meeting there were some comments about the old pool and tennis club was. She said this is what her original goal but she has looked into several other parcels as well that have appropriate parking. She doesn’t want to destroy forest land that already exists so appropriate parcels would be the pool & tennis club location or the Zoars Pond property. She was told that there was going to be a vote on how the pool & tennis club would be used. As there were no other members of the public present, public comment was closed. CORRESPONDENCE: Email from Philip Nettis regarding: a. South Farm area of Saybrook Rd between Carabettas Apartments & Aircraft Rd- Director Holden stated that the South end of Saybrook Road is a challenege. We aren’t going to be doing any type of reconstruction but we could work with a consultant and the new Deputy Director who may have some ideas to address that section of Saybrook Road. We have been diligent about the damage that Eversource has done to that road and that they repaired such damage. He also stated that we can look at the section of Saybrook Road to see what the drainage characteristics are like to see if there is anything that can be done to improve it. b. Dripps Rd improvements- Director Holden stated that it is an unimproved road. There is a catch basin and a sediment basin. We could do a better job cleaning out the basin and that we will keep an eye on the roads maintenance. Councilman Nocera asked where the Saybrook Road project should be ending. Director Holden stated that it should be at Tryon Street. Bike lanes were not created but there were sections that were paved. Councilman Nocera asked whether the area between the corner of Randolph to Aircraft Road was a State road. Director Holden confirmed it is now a City road. Saybrook Road is on a road bond. It could be added in to another project in the future. Philip Nettis stated there is an issue with hikers off of Dripps Road. He has had to call the Police Department to tow vehicles from his driveway. This is another issue that should be addressed as emergency vehicles cannot get through. Director Holden clarified that the area in question, the spider weave, is actually Middlesex Land Trust property, not the City of Middletown’s. We have, however, been in discussions with them to potentially build a parking lot to address these concerns. Councilman Nocera asked that these issues be added to the November Agenda for an update. Councilman Pessina asked if there is a possibility to find out how much money is left in the Saybrook Road bond and to see if money can be dedicated to address Mr. Nettis’s concerns. Director Holden stated that he does not think there would be enough for construction but possibly for the design process. Director Holden stated there is an addition to the agenda and asked the committee to amend it to add the Naming of the Pollinator Pathway along Harbor Park. Maria Holzberg was present and asked the Committee to recommend the naming of this stretch of garden to be the Susan B. Wash Pollinator Pathway. She stated that Susan was a member of the garden club for over thirty years, she received the Medal of Honor from the garden club of America for work in conservation, and she established the fund that paid for the Conway School of Design’s plan for Harbor Park. She stated that there are two demonstration gardens that have done well there that can take the wind and water that the site has. There was a donation of 10,883 plants, many of which were used for this area. Councilman Pessina made a motion to add the naming of this pollinator pathway to new business. Councilman McKeon seconded the motion. NEW BUSINESS: a) EPA Healthy Communities Grant- Director Holden stated that the grant will be used for promoting reusable takeout containers. Kim stated that we are thrilled to receive this grant as they only issued 19 in the entire nation. It is $40,000. We will be working with the center for eco-technology. There will be a pilot with a small group of restaurants to try using reusable takeout containers. As there is a solid waste disposal crisis this is one way to try to teach people to think about their waste. Take out containers create a ton of waste. This is a yearlong pilot and this will research multiple systems which will give us data to use to expand the program to other restaurants. It is a jump-off of our Refill not Landfill coffee cup passport program. This program would be to get a reusable container when you get take out instead getting a clamshell, Styrofoam or black plastic container which are not recyclable. Councilman McKeon made a motion to move the resolution to the Council for approval. Councilman Marino seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. b) Glass Recycling- Kim stated that the container for the glass separation did come in and is at the Landfill. This is an effort to remove the glass from the single stream recycling as it is mostly not getting recycled. It is getting used as alternative daily cover for landfills. The cost of recycling has started to go up again. If glass can be pulled out of the recycling stream it will take some of the tonnage out and reduce our costs. We will be working with Strategic Materials to take that glass who will turn it into new glass bottles. There will be no cost for us to tip this. Where we currently bring our glass there are being upgrades being made and once they are in place the glass will be used in a concrete material instead of towards alternative daily cover anymore. Signage will be put up to promote it properly. c) Fairchild Road Island Removal- Director Holden stated that we have done this a few other places in the City. Plowing and maintaining the road have become difficult due to the island in the cul- de-sac. The removal won’t happen immediately. It will be more likely it would be a spring 2023 removal. Councilman McKeon asked what the cost of doing this is and where the money comes from. Director Holden stated that the money would come from either a road bond if there is one for the street, otherwise it would come from Town Aide for improved roads. He would need to do research to confirm. Councilman McKeon said he was questioning it because earlier conversations about Saybrook Road and how it’s falling apart so why this would be made a priority. Director Holden stated that Saybrook Road would cost millions of dollars. Fairchild Road would be relatively low cost. Councilman Nocera asked what the residents on the street think. Director Holden stated several residents have called and complained about the island and its maintenance, including curbing. Director Holden stated it can be added to the next agenda to speak again with more information and estimates for the work. d) Pollinator Pathway naming- Maria Holzberg asks the Public Works Commission recommend to the Council that the pollinator gardens at Harbor Park be dedicated to Susan B. Wash. Councilman McKeon made a motion to approve. Councilman Marino seconded the motion. This subject will go to the Council at the November meeting. Director Holden asked if something being named will need to go to two meetings. Councilman Marino stated that roads being changed required more action. Singular actions like this could be approved by the Commission. This will be clarified and moved forward to Council if needed. The motion passed unanimously. OLD BUSINESS: a. Monarca Drive – Director Holden stated that that the Chief Engineer evaluated the current conditions of the private driveway and compared it to City street standards. The current existing pavement varies from 19-22 feet. It would need to be widened to 26 feet. A map was shared on the screen that shows a right of way would need to be established, part of the road would need to be relocated to meet slope requirements and drainage work would need to be done. Permitting would possibly need to be done in regards to the wetlands. There is a fair amount of realignment of the road. Streetlights would need to be added so electric lines would need to be pulled all along the road. There is an estimated cost of $431,013.43 to bring this to the standards of a City street. This does not include permitting costs. Test pits haven’t been done at this point. The entire road would need to be reconstructed. Councilman Nocera stated it is obviously a costly project and there would be no revenue to pay for this other than the general fund. Councilman Marino stated that due to the amount of money we would need to put into it we need additional information. Councilman McKeon asked if we have spoken with the Planning Department to prevent construction like this happening in the future as it seems to happen on a regular basis and the residents may not realize they are moving onto a private road. Director Holden stated that he can meet with the Director and possibly remove private roads from the subdivision plans. b. Leaf Collection- Director Holden stated that we are making changes to the leaf collection process to make it more sustainable and allow crews to do more road work before the winter season. There will be four weeks that leaf collection will happen. There will be two full rounds on each street. This is a much more efficient way of doing leaf collection. As it is the first year, we will be more flexible. We will start November 14th and finish by December 9th. There was a press release detailing leaf collection. Councilman McKeon stated that because it’s a brand new program we should be more aggressive in getting this press release out there for residents to see. c. Hauler Registration & Bulk Waste- Director Holden stated that the bulky waste ordinance is updated and reviewed by Assistant General Council Kori Wisneski. Kim O’Rourke stated that we are getting a lot of bulk waste from out of town. Registration and licensing needs to be tightened up of any entity transporting solid waste in Middletown. It will help us to control what is coming into the transfer station. State law requires any hauler transporting any type of solid waste be registered with the city. They are also looking to do a license or permit for the transfer station for any commercial entity at a cost of $25. They would reserve the right to ask for proof of where the materials are coming from. The license would need to be renewed annually. Kim will be providing additional information for Committee members so that it can be reviewed for the next month’s meeting. d. Dog Park Update- Director Holden stated that the focus is currently on the pool and splash pad. There hasn’t been any headway on any new locations for the dog park as of yet. Councilman Nocera stated that while it would need to be clarified with General Council, the monies that were previously set aside for a dog park may not be available. He believes that it is held for a year. Locep money would not be able to be used for anything except for permanent structures. Director Holden stated that initial studies could potentially cost somewhere in the $10,000-$15,000 range. Three quotes would need to be received. e. Recreation Center Update – Director Holden stated that the project is moving along. Solar panels are up on the roof. A lot of work is being done along the pool area. Director Lechowicz stated that fall events will be shared with the public. December is the anticipated completion date. f. Veterans Pool and Splash Pad Update – Mike Doherty from SLR stated that much of the work that is being done on the pool and getting it ready for the pool forms. There is trenching work being done for electrical. HVAC and electrical work is being done on the inside of the building. Additional work will be done during the cold months on the interior of the building. There is one hiccup with the water heater. They are seeing a 40 week lead time. They are looking for alternatives. g. Fencing and Scoreboard – no discussion. Additional New Business: none OTHER: Reported on by Christopher Holden a. September 2022 Monthly Report - Highway Division- no additional updates b. September 2022 Monthly Report - Parks Division – no additional updates c. September 2022 Public Works Overtime Report- Road work has been completed on Heritage Blvd, Silver Street and Westfield Terrace. Portions of Bartholomew are being prepared for paving, as are sections of Atkins Street. d. September 2022 Building Permits – The building department has been working diligently. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS: None Adjourn – As there were no further questions the meeting adjourned at 7:46 p.m.