Public Works & Facilities Commission

PUBLIC WORKS & FACILITIES COMMISSION SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES WEDNESDAY March 20, 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: Howard Weissberg, P.E., Deputy Director of Public Works Public: Jennifer Shords The meeting was called to order by Councilman Nocera at 6:31 p.m. Councilwoman Spatola moved to approve the Meeting Minutes dated February 14, 2024. Councilman Gennaro seconded the motion. The motion was approved. PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS: Jennifer Shords of Jack English Drive stated she previously emailed Director Holden about Jack English drive and did not get a response and did not receive anything back from the Mayor’s Office, either. She has lived on Jack English Drive since September 2020 and construction has been completed. She stated that there are no streetlights, the road has not been paved and they can’t pave their individual driveways. She feels they have been ignored by City leaders. Deputy Director Weissberg shared that there have been several internal meetings on the subject over the last two weeks. He stated that it is being discussed about reaching back out to the builder and reaching a conclusion with all these issues. This item will be included on the agenda in coming months for updates. CORRESPONDENCE: City of Middletown Agriculture & Conservation Commission- letter regarding Chamberlain Hill Rd drainage issues- This was included in the packet for the commissions review. NEW BUSINESS: a. Sidewalks- Deputy Director Weissberg shared that there is an active repair program for sidewalks including trip hazard removal and small section repair. Sidewalks are very expensive to maintain and construct. They retained a company to do sidewalk grinding for trip hazards. The company has done  several thousand linear feet of grinding over the last year and a half. It’s a good process and very cost effective. There have been additional repair items put in this year’s sidewalk bid. There are some ARPA funds set aside for sidewalks. A full inventory of pavement, curb ramps and street signs is happening. There is a linear foot and material count being done on the sidewalks. Deputy Director Weissberg shared some of the inventory outcomes with the commission. He stated that they will be aggressively going after curb ramps to improve accessibility. The sidewalk contract is out for bid. OLD BUSINESS: a. Smith Park Playground – Deputy Director Weissberg stated that Director Holden has been in touch with the company and the design is being finalized. b. Westfield Safety Concerns- Deputy Director Weissberg shared that DOT has received both requests for signage. Once it’s approved, DOT will most likely install the signs. There is an active bid for street signage. He will be preparing the signage as was discussed with Public Safety. They are also working on getting pricing for striping for Country Club Road. He hopes that striping will be done in early May or June. Councilman Faulkner questioned whether GPS could be edited to keep traffic out of the area. Deputy Director Weissberg said it would be very difficult to do and it may not even work. c. Chamberlain Hill Rd Update- Deputy Director Weissberg shared that Eversource provided a full report of the work they did. The access road has been regraded, added water bars, cleaned catch basins and diverted water to holding basins. Arrangements are being made to add additional catch basins and drainage. The contractor is on board to do a full gravel road inventory and make recommendations for maintenance to those roads. He stated that funding for general road maintenance is just not there. If it’s not tied to a bond account road it is very difficult to get general maintenance done. d. Saybrook Road Update – Deputy Director Weissberg stated that there has been an agreement reached with the consultant to bring the plan to a public meeting. The Water Department completed the water line portion of the project. e. 455/465 Middlefield Street Concerns- Deputy Director Weissberg does not have an update on this item at this time. f. Sanitation Update- Deputy Director Weissberg said they will be submitting the household hazardous waste agreement to the commission next month. Recycling workshop will be held with DEEP at the Senior Center. There will be a Middletown resident only paper shred event held in April at Palmer Field. Another Sanitation District Citizens Advisory committee meeting will be held in April. g. West Lake Park- Deputy Director Weissberg said the RFP is close to going out. They are eager to get the project underway. There is an estimated cost of $1,000,000. h. Pameacha Pond- Deputy Director Weissberg said there is a consultant on board. They will start looking at alternatives and options for the dam repair. He reported that the repairs that were made  after the dam breach are holding up very well. There were no downstream issues associated with the dam breach. i. Route 9 Update- Deputy Director Weissberg said that the DOT held public workshops on the Route 9 project. They had 10-15 engineers there per day answering questions from the public. There were excellent presentation videos. There were roughly 150 residents who attended the meetings over two days. DOT has made the signal removal a priority. DOT is considering a roundabout. This would mean that DOT would rebuild River Road. He believes this plan would create a phenomenal gateway to Middletown and open up the riverfront. DOT is planning on holding anther meeting at Wesleyan in April. j. Dog Park Update- Deputy Director Weissberg said there will be a special meeting held at one of the dog park potential locations. OTHER: Reported on by Howard Weissberg a. February Department Updates- Engineering and Highway Divisions are prepping for paving projects. They are assessing treatments that were done on some of the streets last year and seeing how they are holding up. Overall they have performed well. A full paving list will be presented at a different date. b. February 2024 Monthly Report Highway – Fleet management software will be implemented for the Garage. Stop signs have been upgraded in numerous areas of the City. There will be additional pavement marking and striping done. c. February 2024 Monthly Report Parks – Parks has been working OT opening and closing fields and this trend will continue through the summer. d. February 2024 Public Works Overtime Report- Highway OT can be attributed to large rain storms that cause damage to gravel roads. e. February 2024 Building Permits – Permit totals were reported in the packet. The Building Division has been working overtime to accommodate more inspections. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS: None Adjourn – As there were no further questions the meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.