Public Works & Facilities Commission

PUBLIC WORKS & FACILITIES COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES WEDNESDAY April 10, 2024 TIME: 6:30 P.M. Via WebEX.com MIDDLETOWN CONNECTICUT Members Present: Councilman Gene Nocera Councilman Tony Gennaro Councilwoman Leslie Spatola Councilman Darnell Ford Staff Present: Howard Weissberg, P.E., Acting Director of Public Works Rohan Manning- Chief Management Analyst Public: Tyler Eckstrom, Joy & Tim Hollister, Jennifer Shourds, Ray Blaney The meeting was called to order by Councilman Nocera at 6:30 p.m. Councilman Ford moved to approve the Special Meeting Minutes dated March 20, 2024. Councilwoman Spatola seconded the motion. The motion was approved. PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS: Tyler Eckstrom- current president of Friends of Pameacha Pond. They are curious about the grant money for the dam rebuild and looking for an update on the project. Jennifer Shourds- Is looking for an update on Jack English Drive. Tim Hollister of 1000 Chamberlain Hill Rd- Is looking for updates on Chamberlain Hill Rd. He stated that he did receive a copy of proposed plans to address these concerns from Acting Director Weissberg. He stated it does not show on the plans provided any provisions for drainage before 1000 Chamberlain Hill or around 980 Chamberlain Hill where all the water issues exist. Acting Director Weissberg stated that the regrading work that Eversource did was supposed to have redirected a lot of the water. He asked Mr. Hollister if he noticed any mitigation of water coming down from the access road since they did that work. Mr. Hollister stated that wasn’t typically where the water was coming from. He said a ton of water comes off the hillside on the left side of his driveway, which is before the access road. He said there has been no improvement. CORRESPONDENCE: Acting Director Weissberg stated that an email was received the day of the Public Works Commission Meeting regarding 455-465 Middlefield Street. This will be added to the packet. It was concerning EPA testing for chemicals potentially leaching into drinking water and the condition of 455-465-467 Middlefield Street. NEW BUSINESS: a. Middlesex County Historical Society’s 38th annual car show- Acting Director Weissberg stated that this will be held on the first Sunday of October. Councilman Ford made a motion to approve the request. Councilwoman Spatola seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. b. Household Hazardous Waste Municipality Agreement- Acting Director Weissberg stated this is an agreement with the RiverCog for the next five (5) years with a number of other towns to dispose of household hazardous wastes. This prevents household hazardous wastes from getting into the solid waste stream and into water ways. There are two components to the cost share. The first is by population where towns pay a percentage by population and then there is the actual cost of the number of people who attend each event. Councilman Faulkner made a motion to approve the agreement. Councilman Ford seconded the motion. The motion was approved. Councilman Nocera will research previous resolutions and update for approval with Finance and Government and General Common Council. c. APWA Spring Conference- Acting Director Weissberg attended and presented at the spring conference. He presented on the Smart Growth America Complete Streets Grant pedestrian lighting project that was done. Councilman Ford made a motion to approve. Councilman Gennaro seconded the motion. The motion was approved. d. Master Municipal Agreement for Rights of Way Projects- DOT—Acting Director Weissberg shared that this is for right of way projects. It discusses rules of engagement for DOT, how the City can get reimbursements and the process moving forward. This is a standard in communities across the State now. Councilman Faulkner made a motion to approve the agreement. Council Ford seconded the motion. The motion was approved. OLD BUSINESS: a. Smith Park Playground – Acting Director Weissberg stated that he and Rohan Manning, Chief Management Analyst, have been in touch with the vendor. They are still waiting on some construction level documents and specifications. Information has been shared with the Parks Department who suggested that the Butternut Park color scheme would be favorable to the location. They are in the process of getting the Purchase Order issued for the project. Councilman Nocera stated the approximate cost is $500,000. Acting Director Weissberg said there is a lead time to acquire materials. Mid-late summer is a reasonable time expectation. b. Westfield Safety Concerns- Acting Director Weissberg stated that edge lines were painted on Country Club Rd and parts of Ridge Road. The lanes were narrowed down which created a shoulder. Average speeds are typically reduced when edge lining is done. There will be advanced warning signs posted at major intersections with the street names. Preston Avenue will have a traffic counter placed to determine how much cut through traffic is occurring. We are still waiting on the DOT to approve no thru truck signs. He is working with DOT to find a plowable reflective pavement marking to put down on center lines. c. Chamberlain Hill Rd Update- Acting Director Weissberg shared that he has been in touch with our on call contractor to determine where skim patching can be done. He said this could be a temporary fix while larger issues surrounding drainage are worked through. He stated he will contact Mr. Hollister to do a site walk to see what can be easily addressed. d. Saybrook Road Update – Acting Director Weissberg shared that the Water Department will be replacing certain areas with asphalt. He is looking into selective skim patching for certain areas along Saybrook Rd. He is working with Cardinal Engineering to clear up a long history of financial challenges. He is hoping for a public information meeting for May or June on the project. e. 455/465 Middlefield Street Concerns- Deputy Director Weissberg read correspondence into the record. Councilman Nocera stated that multiple departments and agencies are aware of the issues at this location. Acting Director Weissberg stated that the forever chemicals issue would not be something that Public Works would look into and Councilman Nocera stated he will work with the Chief of Staff to determine who will look into it. Councilman Gennaro suggested getting the legal department involved since it seems like we are spinning our wheels. Acting Director Weissberg stated that a focus group may be a good idea to address issues specific to this area. f. Sanitation Update- Acting Director Weissberg stated that there have been several meetings with the Citizens Advisory working group to discuss the co-collection program, waste audits and financial assistance. Kim O’Rourke has been meeting with the school on how best to manage their food and materials waste. Big belly trash compactors will be replaced in the downtown area with more attractive cast iron styles for both trash and recycling. He stated that Public Works is looking to extend the residential pass for the recycling center program to align with the calendar year instead of the fiscal year. g. West Lake Park- Acting Director Weissberg is looking into getting the RFP out for West Lake Park. h. Pameacha Pond- Acting Director Weissberg shared that the dam has been holding up fantastic since repairs were made. Tata & Howard will be doing additional dam inspections and an assessment of Pameacha Pond. They will make recommendations to the Public Works Department about what should be done with the dam going forward. They will also assist in finding additional grant funding for any potential work that will be done in the future. i. Route 9 Update- Acting Director Weissberg said that DOT will be having a presentation at Wesleyan University on April 30th. It will be an expansion of the public information sessions that were previously held at City Hall. DOT is confident that they can find solutions to meet the needs of Middletown and surrounding towns. They are looking to minimize traffic impacts to Main Street. j. Dog Park- Acting Director Weissberg stated that a special meeting has been created to meet for the dog park. This will be a field meeting and will be at the Long Hill Soccer Complex. Councilman Nocera stated that the Mayor has sent out a tentative meeting on the same date for Council Members to tour Citizens Bank at noon. The dog park special meeting will be rescheduled for a different date. k. Jack English Drive Update- The Land Use Department will be issuing a letter in consultation with the Legal Department to the developers of Jack English Drive indicating that the housing portion of the project is completed and looking at what the next steps are so the project can move forward. They are looking to get drainage issues addressed, a schedule for paving, as built documents and acceptance of the street. They want to work with the developer to see where they are with their construction schedule. Acting Director Weissberg will be researching the private road acceptance policy with Councilman Gennaro. There was a brief conversation about how streetlights are acquired by the City as part of the subdivision process. He stated that road bonds cannot be attached to this project because it is not a road that we own. The road would need to be turned over to the City. If that is not the case, the City would need to pursue obtaining the road through imminent domain or negotiations with the developer after an appraisal is done. The hope is that the developer finishes the road to City standards and turns the road over to the City. l. Sidewalk Update- The City has been doing an evaluation of streets, sidewalks, signs and potentially street trees. This is the basis of forming the pavement management program. Handicap ramps are also being evaluated for accessibility. There are two major areas that there will be ramp improvements. There is $700,000 in ARPA funding available. Sidewalk improvements are being looked at for Washington Street and Mellili Plaza. They are actively doing trip hazard removals. OTHER: Reported on by Howard Weissberg a. March Department Updates- Acting Director Weissberg stated that there are staffing shortages department wide. He said that time is being taken up by bulk pickups, woodchip deliveries and brush pickups at the expense of maintaining our road network. b. March 2024 Monthly Report Highway – The Highway Garage is working on getting a fleet management system in place. c. March 2024 Monthly Report Parks – The Parks Department is busy managing fields. d. March 2024 Public Works Overtime Report- Highway OT is related to large rain events, especially on maintenance to gravel roads. e. March 2024 Building Permits – Building permits are expected to ramp up over the next month. No totals were shared but are in the packet for review. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS: None Adjourn – As there were no further questions the meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.