Public Works & Facilities Commission

PUBLIC WORKS & FACILITIES COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES WEDNESDAY January 10, 2024 TIME: 6:30 P.M. Via WebEX.com MIDDLETOWN CONNECTICUT Members Present: Councilman Gene Nocera Councilman Tony Gennaro Councilwoman Leslie Spatola Councilman Grady Faulkner Councilman Darnell Ford Staff Present: Christopher M. Holden, P.E., Director of Public Works Howard Weissberg, P.E., Deputy Director of Public Works Public: Dan Penney, Mick Bolduc, Maryellen & John Sutton The meeting was called to order by Councilman Nocera at 6:33 p.m. Councilman Gennaro moved to approve the Meeting Minutes dated December 13, 2023. Councilwoman Spatola seconded the motion. The motion was approved. PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS: Dan Penney- Gave a big thank you for the patching that was done on Chamberlain Hill and Lyceum Road. He gave specific thanks to Dave Harris who was out mowing the area, which is unusual for this time of year. He stated that the utility company has been out in the area grading and repitching to hopefully address some of the water issues. The south end of Chamberlain Hill Rd has had processed stone packed and regraded recently just to be washed away by the most recent large storm. He stated that the drainage issues need to be addressed to help mitigate this. He encouraged new council members to come to the area and take a look at the outstanding issues. He requested the swale on the north side of Lyceum road be cleaned. He also requested that the two basins at 1123 Chamberlain Hill be fixed. They are currently clogged up with material. Maryellen and John Sutton- 387 South Main Street- Are looking for updates regarding Pameachea Pond. They state they are very upset about the dam breaking given how much work they have done for Save the Pond. Maryellen expressed concern as to why there wasn’t action before the incident considering it’s been an ongoing issue. She also stated that now would be a good opportunity for the City to clean up the surrounding area and asked what emergency response was followed after the dam was breached. Councilman Gennaro made a motion to add this item to the agenda for discussion. Councilman Faulkner seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. CORRESPONDENCE: None. NEW BUSINESS: a. Portland Street Parcel Abandonment (parcel next to 28B Portland St)- Director Holden shared a map of the parcel that is being discussed. Deputy Director Weissberg stated this is a small sliver of land that was converted to a park. The adjacent property owner has expressed interest in acquiring the parcel. Director Holden stated they are looking to abandon the property and give it to the owner of the adjacent lot who has been maintaining it. Councilman Gennaro made a motion to approve. Councilwoman Spatola seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously. b. Route 9 Update- Deputy Director Weissberg updated the commission on construction. He noted there haven’t been many complaints from the public but when there is, it is immediately forwarded to DOT. DOT has been very responsive in addressing issues. The signal removal project will have a series of workshops at the end of February. DOT is finalizing their data and creating draft concepts regarding how this will work. c. CT Tree Protective Association Annual Meeting- Director Holden stated that this is an annual meeting that he and the deputy tree warden, Rick Romano, would like to attend. Councilman Faulkner made a motion to approve. Councilwoman Spatola seconded the motion. The motion was approved. d. Ordinance 214 Parks, Facilities and Recreational Areas Changes- Director Holden stated that these are changes to the ordinance to update park fees and procedures to ensure that we are charging a rate that can cover the overtime parks typically has to get the area ready for use and clean up the area once the event is completed and to limit the number of reservations any one person or organization can make. Councilwoman Spatola made a motion to approve the changes to the ordinance. Councilman Gennaro seconded the motion. Councilwoman Spatola asked Director Holden whether there is a requirement for certificates of liability for use of our parks and facilities. This will be looked into and discussed at the next Common Council Meeting. The motion passed unanimously. e. West Lake Park- Director Holden stated that questions about improving the area were first discussed a few years ago. A feasibility study and conceptual design can be presented this summer with potential for construction over the following year. Basketball courts, tennis courts and walking trails are all things that are being considered. Councilman Faulkner questioned who owned the area and Director Holden confirmed through the General Councils Office that is now owned by the City. This will be on the agenda for updates. f. Coleman Carnival (3rd week of March to 3rd week of April)- Director Holden stated there is an existing contract that can be piggy backed off of. Approval is sought to allow them to come in and perform their carnival in the palmer field area. Updated insurance certificate will provided. Councilman Ford made a motion to approve. Councilman Gennaro seconded the motion. The motion was approved. g. Pameachea Pond- Director Holden shared we’ve gotten at least 12 inches of rain in the last month. This is not typical. He shared some photos of the section of the dam that was breached. Deputy  Director Weissberg stated Public Works informed DEEP of the breach. They are actively working on emergency restoration repairs. Large concrete blocks will be placed, backfilling with fabric and rip rap to stem the flow of water. They have been in touch with the consultants who have been working on the dam program. A grant was applied for this past spring but the grant was not approved. We will continue to apply for funding for this. They hope to have the dam stabilized for the next day. Fire and Highway did not see any signs of damage or erosion on their downstream inspection. Councilman Tony Gennaro asked if they knew why we were not successful in getting grant funding for the dam. Deputy Director Weissberg stated there were a lot of applications and a small pool of money. Director Holden stated higher hazard dams were the ones that were awarded funding. The other option is to go through the bonding process. Councilwoman Spatola asked if the dam breach was something that could have been prevented. Deputy Director Weissberg answered that the dam is over 100 years old and has had negligible maintenance over its lifespan. He said it needs a full renovation. Councilman Nocera questioned if this is something we can work with our State Reps with to get funding for. Director Holden said he can work with the Mayor to see if the State Reps are aware of any other funding sources. OLD BUSINESS: a. Smith Park Playground – Director Holden showed a rendering of the suggested layout of the playground. b. Westfield Safety Concerns- Deputy Director Weissberg stated that he drove the area with the police department and looked at other surrounding streets. Recommendations for enhanced signage and pavement markings were made to the Chief of Police. He stated there is little justification for additional stop signs and if need be, a study can be done to show this. Preston Ave no through trucks signs were approved through CT DOT so long as the City of Meriden agreed as well. Correspondence to the legal traffic authority in Meriden was sent. He will be following up with DOT this week. Councilman Ford asked Deputy Director Weissberg whether there was any discussion about bus stop signage for Preston Avenue. He stated that he wasn’t aware of that issue and hopes that enhanced signage will address it and he will look into it further. c. Chamberlain Hill Rd Update- Deputy Director Weissberg shared that the line on Chamberlain Hill will be cleaned out. He stated that an engineering firm will be coming in to recommend how to better preserve gravel roads. Councilman Nocera stated it should be included in the next road bond. d. Saybrook Road Update – Deputy Director Weissberg shared that they are working with Cardinal Engineering to finalize plans. They hope to have a public information meeting in February. They have minimized the impact to people’s property but still have room for sidewalks and bike lanes. If the public information meeting goes well, the project should be able to start this summer. The Water Department phase is wrapping up. e. 455/465 Middlefield Street Concerns- Director Holden stated that a cease and desist order was issued at this location regarding industrial activities and illegal apartments. One of the back buildings was condemned. f. Sanitation Update- Director Holden stated that we received a grant from the State of about $350,000. A community meeting was held at the library, which was well attended. More meetings will be held to educate the public on the program and how they can reduce the amount of waste they’re creating. Councilman Gennaro brought up concerns of landlords who shared their tenants aren’t compliant. He also brought up people’s concerns with the cost of the bags for low income families. Director Holden stated there is an assistance program for low income residents. Community meetings will be held once per month. OTHER: Reported on by Christopher Holden a. December Department Updates- Deputy Director Weissberg stated we applied for a safe streets for all grant through the Federal Government. We received a $720,000 grant to look into safety, capacity, pedestrians, busses and mass transit on certain City streets. This will help develop a transportation master plan for Middletown. We will be partnering with the DOT for some of the State roads. We also received grant funding as a part of a multi-use trail study. This will work on connecting between Meriden, Middletown and Portland. b. December 2023 Monthly Report Highway – Two major rain storms caused trees to fall and flooding issues. There was a lot of overtime related to these rain events. c. December 2023 Monthly Report Parks – Nothing additional to above. d. December 2023 Public Works Overtime Report- Nothing additional to above. e. December 2023 Building Permits – Permit totals are around $1,000,000. Wesleyan, Big Y and the new Newfield Street apartments have contributed to this. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS: None Adjourn – As there were no further questions the meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m.