CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS COMMITTEE

200 E. Wells Street City of Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202 Meeting Minutes CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS COMMITTEE ALD. JOSEPH DUDZIK, CHAIR Ald. Robert Bauman, Ald. Michael Murphy, Ghassan Korban, Martin Matson, Mark Nicolini, and Mariano Schifalacqua Staff Assistant: Tobie Black, 286-2231; Fax: 286-3456, tblack@milwaukee.gov Fiscal Planning Specialist: Kathleen Brengosz, 286-3926, kbreng@milwaukee.gov Wednesday, May 4, 2011 9:00 AM Room 301-B, City Hall AMENDED 5/2/11- Item Numbered #2 has been amended. Meeting called to order at 9:07 a.m. Members Present: 7- Gerard Froh (Ald. Murphy Alternate), Jeffrey Mantes, Michael Daun (W. Martin Morics Alternate), Mark Nicolini, Ald. Robert Bauman, Ald. Joseph Dudzik and Mariano Schifalacqua Excused: 0 Also in attendance: Kathy Brengosz, Fiscal Planning Specialist, City Clerk's Office Venu Gupta, Facilities Director, Department of Public Works Jennifer Meyer, Budget Analyst, Office of Budget and Management David Sivyer, DPW-Forestry 1. Approval of the minutes of the April 14th, April 15th and April 19th meetings. Mr. Schifalacqua offers the following amendment to the minutes: In the minutes for the morning of April 15th, under "DPW-Infrastructure Services", the requested report should be for information on the backlog of street maintenance, not manhole maintenance. Mr. Daun moves to approve as amended. 2. Discussion of and recommendations for the 2012 Capital Budget Requests. Please see the documents "2012 CIC Capital Worksheet Summary", 2012 Capital Worksheet" and "Memo from Mike Daun re: Capital Budget Requests" attached to Common Council File 101154. The worksheet summary highlights differences between requested amounts and draft amounts shown in the 2012 CIC Request Recommendation worksheet. City of Milwaukee Page 1 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Minutes May 4, 2011 COMMITTEE Ald. Dudzik announced that there would be no public testimony at the hearing. SPECIAL CAPITAL PROJECTS: Mr. Schifalacqua suggested that the three year plan for renovation of the City Attorney's offices be changed to a two year plan. Mr. Schifalacqua said that a three year plan would increase unit costs and rates are better now for borrowing than they will be later. Mr. Daun said that the city would only borrow money when it needs to and money can only remain tax free for a certain amount of time. Mr. Daun said that within a two year window, there are milestones every six months at which a certain amount of money has to be spent to maintain the tax exempt status of the borrowed money. He said that there is little question that the interest rate environment in the next six months is likely to be more favorable than a rate two or three years down the road. He also said that there is an advantage in knowing that the money borrowed can be spent in a two-year period. Ald. Bauman said that he has not supported the renovation of the 8th floor of City Hall in the past and that he still does not support it. Ms. Brengosz said that a general consensus is needed on the overall recommendations to the Mayor's office; there does not have to be a unanimous agreement on each request. She also reminded the committee that just because the committee recommends a project, that does not guarantee it will be included in the Mayor's budget. Mr. Daun asked how the renovation would proceed operationally. He asked if there would be a phased movement of staff. Mr. Gupta said that it would be best for all demolition to be done and to then start moving personnel and staff back to the 8th floor when construction is complete. Mr. Schifalacqua said that he asked Mr. Langley about the move, and that the City Attorney would like to move only when all the renovations are completed. Mr. Daun asked when the City Attorney's office could make the move back. Mr. Gupta said that by fall of 2013, the process should be completed if the project is allowed to commence early. Ald. Dudzik said that he can see the wisdom in moving the project forward in a two-year window. The committee agreed to maintain the level of funding for the 8th Floor project with an objection from Ald. Bauman. Mr. Froh asked if there was a requirement that the committee recommend a certain amount of money for a project. Ms. Brengosz said that the committee is not required to recommend specific dollar amounts for each request. Mr. Nicolini requested being recorded as abstaining from any votes. The request was granted. Ald. Bauman asked if the committee was recommending any capital funding for the Housing Trust Fund. Mr. Nicolini said that it has typically been included in the requests made through the Department of Administration as part of the budget process. City of Milwaukee Page 2 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Minutes May 4, 2011 COMMITTEE Mr. Nicolini said that there will be a discussion of budget issues in the Mayor's office as well as at the Finance and Personnel Committee. Mr. Daun said that the committee is making comments on certain items that were requested and is taking no position on funding for other parts of the budget, such as the Housing Trust Fund. Mr. Daun suggested that the committee can identify any line item to discuss, but the committee can also establish that if it does not address a budget item and the worksheet does not address it, the committee officially has no position on the budget item. Mr. Schifalacqua said that the committee has an obligation to address only the requests that were presented at the budget request hearings. Mr. Froh agreed and said that since requests that were not submitted to the committee were not reviewed by committee members, the committee should not take a position on them. Ald. Dudzik said that the committee will encompass more items in the future. DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION: Ms. Brengosz said that there were three items that received feedback from committee members: Mr. Froh said that he did not see a justification for upgrading broadcasting and that it is a luxury. Ald. Dudzik asked what was involved in the 809 building renovation. Ms. Brengosz said that there would be a comprehensive remodeling of the IT Department. Ms. Meyer said that the office space for that department has not been remodeled in 25 years and is probably not functioning as well as it should for a 2011-12 IT office. She also said that the Budget Office is asking the department to go back to DPW and get a more detailed scope so the Budget Office can decide whether to make it a priority for future budgets. She also said that there are no critical systems issues that need to be addressed. Mr. Daun said that he would put more value on the IT upgrades than on the upgraded webcasting. Mr. Schifalacqua questioned whether 100,000 dollars is an appropriate amount of money for the IT upgrades. He said he would have liked to have seen a needs analysis, but he believes that it is probably money well-spent. Mr. Nicolini said that it is a fair question as to whether the webcasting request is really a capital item. Ald. Dudzik said that as technology moves forward, he is not certain that cutting out 100,000 dollars is a wise choice. Ms. Meyer said the department is taking on a significantly broader role in city-wide applications and it needs some flexibility in being able to address those needs as they come up. She said that the account was requested to help address those needs. Mr. Schifalacqua said that he understood the need for a program account such as this, but he questioned whether the amount requested was appropriate. Ms. Meyer said that the Budget Office can provide the committee with the history of some projects that the department has had to take on for other departments. Ald. Bauman asked for more information on the webcasting request. Ms. Brengosz explained that the webcasting is a way to provide better service and better capabilities to departments and to provide a consistent look and feel for users and to maintain the ownership of posted video. Ald. Bauman objected to deleting the funding for webcasting. Ald. Dudzik said that he understands the importance of upgrading the appearance. Mr. Froh said that his concern is the technological impact of a large amount of people watching video on City of Milwaukee Page 3 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Minutes May 4, 2011 COMMITTEE the city's websites, which may shut down the city's internet connection. He recommends that video not be on the city's website and that this is an opportunity that merits consideration for outsourcing. Ald. Dudzik said that his concern with not funding the webcasting is the loss of ownership once any video is on YouTube. However, he also said that the broadcasting is all public information. The recommendation of the committee would be to not fund the city's webcasting upgrade (with an objection from Ald. Bauman) or the 809 Building renovation, but to approve the funding for the ITMD upgrades. DPW INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES DIVISION: Mr. Nicolini said that until 2007, the bridge program was funded from a single account. He said that a key issue that the city will be facing over the six year plan is that requests will be higher than recent historic averages. The two primary reasons are that the state and federal aid through the Grant and Aid program will be much lower this year and the city's moveable bridges, which are expensive to maintain will require work. Mr. Nicolini thinks that there will be a 10 million dollar average request for local bridges, which will crowd out funding for local streets. He said that getting as much information about the local bridge program is important. Mr. Nicolini said that 8 percent of the local street network serves high traffic volume areas and that several connector networks have a pavement quality index under four, which could be a concern. He also said that the street lighting program has a growing problem of area outages that need to be addressed in a timely fashion, if possible. Ald. Bauman asked if the Budget Office is suggesting that the committee recommend more funding than the department has requested. Mr. Nicolini said that he is suggesting that the committee examine whether different components in the budget should be prioritized over others and that he is referring to prioritizing allocations for different components within the amount requested by the department. Mr. Schifalacqua said that DPW is monitoring progress in its pavement management system and tracking backlogs for collectors and local streets. The department is working to provide information in September that will allow the committee to adequately fund the three different categories of streets. Mr. Schifalacqua said that since there is reduction in the state funds for the bridge program, the result will be reductions in the local program that have long-term impact. Mr. Nicolini said that he is referring to the pace of bridge repair and preservation. He said that the committee will have to move from optimal to suboptimal maintenance for bridges. Mr. Daun said that there is no question that there will need to be an increase in funding for bridge maintenance, but the real question is how much the increase will need to be. Ald. Dudzik said that the committee is tasked with finding reasons for why funding should be at a certain level rather than what a department says a level should be. This may mean adjusting some levels upward from what the department requested. Mr. Mantes said that structural aspects of a bridge must be taken seriously, but functional aspects of a bridge can be addressed over a period of time. He also said that the repair of bridges had strained the state program as the city has been very successful in obtaining state money for repair. Mr. Mantes said that there is a City of Milwaukee Page 4 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Minutes May 4, 2011 COMMITTEE tendency to let bridge repair go unaddressed until truly necessary and now there is a lot of repair need to which the money will need to be distributed. Mr. Daun said that there should be a focus on the capability of the department to update the condition index for the city's buildings and the committee should be giving the departments the tools to do analyses and to gather information. He said that the committee can then have a dialogue with departments about priorities for maintenance and whether the amount of money requested is enough so that the maintenance responsibility is not being deferred. Mr. Daun said that it is critical that the committee ensure that the department has the resources to get and keep current its condition databases relating to pavement, water and sewers. He also said that the proper condition data is necessary for the committee to make decisions. Mr. Mantes said that the department has a substantial amount of condition data that may not be updated as often as it needs to be. He said that over the last fifteen years, the department has been reduced by 700 positions, which makes obtaining data more difficult. He said that city can look at contracting out the work of obtaining data. With respect to facilities, the city tends to look at the non-public facilities as opportunities to defer maintenance since they are not seen by the public. Mr. Froh asked about the large increase in requested funding for the two underground conduit programs. Ms. Brengosz said that in the past, the department prioritized based its request on anticipated funding levels. Now the department is looking requesting the money necessary to complete all identified projects. She said that departments will continue to prioritize projects based on the funding received. Mr. Daun said that the committee, by setting standards based on good condition data, is responsible for setting a target for the preservation of infrastructure. Ald. Bauman asked what the reasoning is for the reductions in the Alley Reconstruction and Sidewalk Replacement programs. Ms. Brengosz said that when the repair of infrastructure is being prioritized due to funding constraints, alleys are low on the priority list. Alleys do not see a lot of traffic volume and primarily serve a limited number of residents. Ald. Bauman asked if the dollar amounts for reduction are arbitrary. Ms. Brengosz said that the dollar amount is relatively arbitrary and the number was meant to be a starting point for the committee's discussion. Ald. Bauman said that there should be a special assessment revenue source reflected for the alleys since they are still assessable, as are sidewalks. Ald. Bauman said that he objects to the reduction in funding to the alleys and sidewalks. Ald. Dudzik said that when looking at a tighter budget, reductions in the alley program may be warranted. He also said that he has never seen the alley reconstruction as a major project for DPW because of the limited number of residents it affects. Mr. Nicolini away from the table at 10:25 a.m. He was replaced by Ms. Meyer. Mr. Daun said that he will abstain from giving an opinion on the infrastructure portion of the budget until condition data is received later on in the year. Mr. Schifalacqua proposed that the funding amount be left as requested with no recommended reductions at this time. Ald. Dudzik said that he thinks this may be prudent in this situation. Ms. Brengosz asked for clarification as to the recommendation of the committee for Infrastructure Services, saying the recommendation is to add the special assessment information for alleys and sidewalks in the recommendation and to make no City of Milwaukee Page 5 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Minutes May 4, 2011 COMMITTEE adjustments to the requested amount from the departments. Mr. Daun said that the committee waiting to make a recommendation on certain items until it receives the appropriate condition data is different from the committee saying it agrees with certain requests. Ald. Dudzik said that not making a recommendation regarding funding means that the committee is not completely comfortable making recommendations at this time with the information that it has. Ms. Meyer said the Budget Office, if the committee does not propose specific dollar amounts, would submit, as part of the request, what the department submitted. The Budget Office would do an analysis and review during the summer. She also said that the committee, per the Code, will need to have a discussion in future meetings about the capacity of programs' or projects' funding level to fit within funding, Debt Service and levy targets. The committee will need to talk about the Debt Service and levy targets and how they fit into the city's overall tax levy. The Alley Reconstruction and Sidewalk Replacement were left as requested without the proposed reduction. DPW OPERATIONS- Mr. Mantes said that he would object to any reductions in the Operations Division's budget as he feels the submitted requests are reasonable. He said that while he can somewhat agree with the recommendation regarding the Industrial Road facility, the city needs to be ready to relocate within a 24-month period due to the extension of the option that Direct Supply has on the property. Obtaining a piece of land for relocation will be critical. Ald. Bauman asked if the proposed budget reductions proposed are arbitrary. Ms. Brengosz said that the recommendation was based largely on last year's budget with an increase for the costs of vehicles that will cost more due to the EPA's requirements for diesel engines. Ms. Brengosz recommends submitting what was requested if the committee is not comfortable recommending a specific dollar amount. Mr. Mantes said that the department needs the Two-Way Radio Replacement funds because the department is part of the emergency response team and it needs to have an update from analog to digital radio. He said that installations have begun and that the 1 million dollars requested is needed to finish the project that has already started. Ms. Brengosz said that there were concerns about whether moving forward with the digital radios was premature and that a little more study may be needed before the plan could go forward. Mr. Mantes said that the department had been studying for the last four or five years. Mr. Schifalacqua asked how much it costs to install and buy the equipment. Mr. Gupta said that the cost per radio is about 800 dollars and the value of the system is that it can be used on the Police system, which will not require any additional infrastructure. Mr. Schifalacqua asked if two-way radios are needed in dump trucks. He said that cell phones are cheaper and certain phones are able to transmit data. Ald. Bauman said that most of the radio equipment has already been purchased. Mr. Mantes said that having the radios in dump trucks is more critical in the winter time and the system gives the department the capability of establishing the location of vehicles, City of Milwaukee Page 6 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Minutes May 4, 2011 COMMITTEE which cannot be done with cell phones. Mr. Gupta said that in a future meeting, the department can make a presentation as to how the two-way radio system works. Ald. Dudzik said that having picture capabilities or texting capabilities would have been more useful. But he said that the committee is not willing to stop the project since so much of it has already been completed. The committee's recommendation will be to let the Budget Office and Mayor's Office decide and will not have a recommendation on the two-way radio replacement. Ms. Brengosz said that the committee can avoid recommending a certain dollar amount for a program, but can recommend that a project be put off until a future date. Mr. Daun said if the committee does not have a position, a number should not be recommended at all. He said that if an amount is included, it is assumed that the committee had enough information to recommend an amount. He also said that it is better to preserve the committee's credibility and to give no recommendation if the committee has no position. The committee will recommend deletion of the Central Repair Garage Back Lot project. It may be considered next year. Mr. Daun asked about the Tree Planting and Production Program and the impact the reduction in the program would have. Mr. Mantes said that any trees that are removed or destroyed will not be replanted as quickly. Ms. Brengosz said that the proposed reduction would result in the elimination of approximately 2000 trees. She said that Forestry could decide to postpone the replacement of trees lost to paving projects or it could delay the planting of trees that would be added as part of the Sustainable Boulevard Project. Where the trees would not be planted would left up to the Forestry Department. Ms. Meyer said that the reduction in the funding does not impact the tax levy because funding is provided through the Sewer Maintenance Fund. Mr. Daun suggested matching the reduced level adopted by the Council this year, which would split the difference between what the department is requesting and what the committee's recommendation is. Therefore, the recommendation would be to maintain the 2011 level of funding for tree planting and production. Mr. Sivyer said that the funding at the 2011 level would cover the salaries listed for the offset on the capital request. If the level goes down to 1 million, the reduction would have to be shifted to the O&M budget to account for the salaries or it would lead to a reduction in staff. CITY CLERK/COMMON COUNCIL- Ald. Dudzik said that the HD conversion is not necessary at this time. Ms. Brengosz said that request is conversion from analog to a digital system, not for High Definition. Ms. Meyer said that it relates to the webcasting issue and the committee might recommend that the City Information Management Committee study the issues to determine the need for the conversion. Ms. Brengosz said that the committee makes suggestions about how the capital funding is used in the city and that the city can make a recommendation for more study for a project. The committee will recommend no funding for the HD Conversion. City of Milwaukee Page 7 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Minutes May 4, 2011 COMMITTEE Ald. Dudzik said that this year is the wrong time to do the remodeling to room 307. The committee will recommend the project be delayed. DEPARTMENT OF CITY DEVELOPMENT- Ald. Bauman asked about the reduction to the Tax Incremental Districts. Ald. Dudzik said that the city does not necessarily need the borrowing authority. Mr. Daun said that it sets a level of expectation regarding the level of activity. Ald. Bauman objected to the reduction to Tax Incremental Districts, the Development Fund and the Neighborhood Commercial District Street Improvement Fund. Mr. Nicolini back at the table at 11:22 a.m. Ald. Dudzik said that until there is a will on behalf of the Council to address remodeling issues, it would be prudent to not move forward with the 809 building remodeling. The committee recommends keeping the requested amount for DCD except for the 809 Building remodeling, the Neighborhood Commercial District Street Improvement Fund and the InRem Property Fund. FIRE DEPARTMENT- Ald. Dudzik said that he did not receive any justification for the auxiliary generators. Ms. Meyer said that the Fire Department is halfway through the installation of generators in fire houses and that it is unlikely that twelve or thirteen fire houses that receive the generators will be closed anytime soon. Ald. Dudzik asked about the ability to move the generators if a firehouse were closed. Mr. Gupta said that the Fire Department can be asked about the ability to move the generators. Ms. Brengosz said that the committee could include funding for 2012 but going forward could request condition data to determine whether the project should get continued funding. Ald. Dudzik said that he is comfortable leaving the dollar amount in and can later transfer funds to another project. The committee recommended making no changes to the requested amount. Ms. Brengosz asked if the condition data be requested as a part of the committee's recommendation. DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES- Ald. Dudzik said that the remodeling of any building should be put on hold. Regarding the conference room remodeling, the committee recommended that the project be postponed. Ms. Brengosz said it was suggested that this project require additional reporting from the department. Mr. Froh said that he did not believe it is within the committee's purview as IT projects were excluded. Ms. Brengosz said that the request was based on the reporting requirements for large scale infrastructure projects. So the committee would just be going on record as requesting the additional reporting. Ald. City of Milwaukee Page 8 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Minutes May 4, 2011 COMMITTEE Dudzik said that there is not a will to do so. Regarding NSS Replacement, the committee recommends that the funding be retained. Ald. Bauman away from the table at 11:45 a.m. HEALTH DEPARTMENT- Ald. Dudzik said it would be prudent to move ahead with the window replacement project to reduce energy costs. The committee recommended funding at requested levels. LIBRARY- Mr. Daun said that the Library's presentation said that the new libraries planned for the next six years were contingent on closing or consolidating libraries. Therefore, the committee should not include the recommendation in the final capital budget unless the Council and the Mayor make a prior decision to close or consolidate Mill Road and Capital Drive libraries. The new library should not be built without an agreement on consolidation lest the city end up with one more library than the city intended and higher operating costs for low participation. Mr. Nicolini said that the funding request was in two pieces. He said half of the four million dollar request is needed to install a new East Side Library that has a similar smaller footprint to the Villard Avenue Library's. The other two million is to get a start on the Northwest Area Library. Mr. Daun said that he would modify his comments to refer to the second two million dollar amount, which seems to be tied to the library consolidation. Mr. Daun said that the Mayor and Council could require that the Comptroller not release the borrowing authority until the Mayor and Council make a decision on whether to consolidate the Mill Road and Capital Drive libraries. Ald. Dudzik said that he was not sure that it is under the purview of the committee to make that kind of recommendation. Ms. Brengosz said that the recommendation that Mr. Daun is suggesting is an appropriate one for the committee. Mr. Daun said that if the recommendation were made to the Council, there would be a file introduced to consolidate the Capital and Mill Road libraries. Until that file were approved and signed by the Mayor, no action can be taken on building a new library. Mr. Schifalacqua said that the committee could hold back the two million dollars of funding until the plans for consolidation are complete. Mr. Daun said that it is the harsher position, but once the consolidation is approved, the city could use borrowing authority or, if it is before the 2012 budget adoption, it could be included at that time. Ald. Dudzik does not know how viable it is for a Council member to agree to eliminate a library in his or her district. Mr. Daun said that if there will not be a consolidation, the committee should reduce the requested funding to two million dollars. Ms. Brengosz said that the Library and the Library Board has been developing a facilities plan and looking at how to provide library services going into the future. For a number of years, the Library has been strategically deferring maintenance on neighborhood libraries because there has been an intent to pursue a new strategy. Mr. Daun said that if the Library Board and the Director of the Library would present the Library's long-term plan to the Council, it would provide a framework for the decision that needs to be made. City of Milwaukee Page 9 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Minutes May 4, 2011 COMMITTEE Mr. Daun said that failing some sort of Council action, the recommendation should be to include the requested amount, withholding the two million until the Council has taken action, or it should be to reduce the four million to two million to exclude the new library. Ald. Dudzik said that the committee should reduce the funding to two million dollars until the committee has the information from the Council as to whether they are willing to close a library. The committee recommended funding at two million dollars rather than four million dollars requested for the Library Facility Initiative. MUNICIPAL COURT- The committee recommended adopting the requested funding. POLICE DEPARTMENT- The committee recommended delaying funding for the Evidence Storage Warehouse. Mr. Froh said that adding more transmission capability with added radio towers would be a good idea and it would be an inexpensive way to improve the bandwidth available to the police. Mr. Schifalacqua asked for clarification on the yearly request through 2017. Ms. Brengosz said that the department is requesting 200,000 dollars per year through 2017 for projects under Digital Radio Communications Infrastructure, which includes the addition of a new transmitter for this year. She said that it is being added as a new line item in their capital request. Ms. Brengosz said that if the request will be replacing a tower that existed before, the committee should allow for the 200,000 for this year's budget and require more information on the new line item for the years going forward. Mr. Daun away from the table at 12:04 p.m. The committee recommended leaving in the 200,000 dollars for this year with the request for more information on the future communications upgrades. PORT OF MILWAUKEE- Ms. Brengosz said that she received suggestions to reduce the funding for the Dockwall Rehabilitation and for Port Security. The committee elected to keep those requests intact. Ms. Meyer replaced Mr. Nicolini at 12:09 p.m. Ms. Brengosz said that she also received recommendations that the committee request a comprehensive inventory of the Port of Milwaukee's capital assets. Mr. Schifalacqua agreed that there should be some sort of condition report from the Port. The committee recommended that the Port's requests be approved with a request for an inventory of the department's capital assets. DPW-ADMINISTRATION Ms. Brengosz said that she received a recommendation to reduce funding for Public Safety Communications by 125,000 dollars. Mr. Mantes said that the requested amount was most likely based on the paving program. If there are streets being City of Milwaukee Page 10 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Minutes May 4, 2011 COMMITTEE constructed, it makes sense to put a communications facility in. Ms. Meyer said that the Budget Office has historically allocated an amount of funding based on what the city can afford and the department has prioritized the projects within the amount that was allocated. The committee recommended the requested amount without reduction. DPW-INFRASTRUCTURE BUILDING PROJECTS- Ms. Brengosz said that the key changes made to the draft with respect to the department's request relates to recreational facilities. There was a suggestion that the funding for recreational facilities remain separate from the outlying facilities remodeling and the ADA compliance programs. It was also recommended that the facilities condition asset information be obtained as soon as possible, so the funding for that would be increased. Mr. Gupta said that the department is suggesting accelerating and unifying the approach of doing facilities assessment in a very standardized approach so better data can be brought forth for the committee. Regarding the Municipal Services Building relocation, Ms. Brengosz said that there was a concern with whether or not there was a developer or anyone else interested in purchasing the building. The money is being spent with no real means of implementing the plan if there is no one interested in buying the building. Mr. Schifalacqua said that the location is in the middle of the Menomonee Valley redevelopment area and that it would be a great location for something bigger and better than what it is being used for. However, what the building is used for is very important to the city and cannot just be abandoned. Mr. Froh added that there is a communication node at the location and those do not move without great expense and inconvenience to the city. Mr. Mantes said that there have not been any unsolicited offers for the property, but if the study is completed in a timely manner, the city would be able to act more quickly if there was any interest expressed. Regarding the Municipal Building, Lower Parking Floor Restoration, Mr. Mantes said that the project should be starting this year. Regarding the Recreational Facilities Program, Ms. Brengosz received a suggestion that the committee recommend that the city request Milwaukee Public Schools provide annually condition inventory for all its facilities for which the city has capital maintenance responsibility. The intention would be to get feedback from MPS on the condition of the facilities. Mr. Mantes said that he is in support of the suggestion. The committee agreed. Ms. Brengosz also said that she received a request to recommend an annual update for expansion, closing, or consolidation of the facilities. The committee agreed. PARKING FUND- The committee made no recommendations for changing the Parking Fund. MILWAUKEE WATER WORKS- Ms. Brengosz said that Mr. Daun raised some concerns about the level of capital requests and asked if there might be other methods of funding, in the short term, the Milwaukee Water Works programs, with the expectation that the money would be City of Milwaukee Page 11 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Minutes May 4, 2011 COMMITTEE paid back by the water department. He said that the city should consider using 2012 borrowing authority to support adequate capital maintenance for the department. Mr. Schifalacqua asked if the request from the department is all cash funded. Ms. Brengosz agreed. Mr. Schifalacqua said that the amounts seem too low to sustain the infrastructure in the water department. He said that until the committee has more information, it is difficult to recommend funding levels, although the committee can tell that the levels are too low. Ms. Meyer said that the Commissioner of Milwaukee Water Works is in the process of creating an RFP to get some expertise in rate analysis and rate setting. She also said that the department has made enough big improvements over the last few years to be assured that there are no public safety concerns. The committee recommended retaining the funding that was requested. Ms. Brengosz said that the committee should say that it recognizes that the requested funding is not sustainable and that it has concerns about the numbers. The committee agreed. SEWER MAINTENANCE FUND- Ms. Brengosz said that she received a suggestion to reduce funding for Relief and Relay by four million dollars. The committee declined. The committee recommended that the funding request for the Sewer Maintenance Fund be accepted as proposed. Ald. Dudzik said that he will put together a letter with the recommendations to the Budget Office no later than May 9th. He also said that the recommendations are final. 3. Set next agenda. The next meeting is scheduled for May 25, 2011. Agenda items proposed by the Budget Office include: Overview of City financial condition and credit access as it affects development of Executive Budget targets for the Capital Budget Brief review of capital finance tools available to the City Budget Office perspective on relationship between capital finance and the potential priorities and tradeoffs in the upcoming Executive Capital Budget proposal Presentation from Springsted regarding the Sewer Maintenance Fund (SMF) Rate Study The Water Department was scheduled to make a condition report presentation. The Water Department and the Sewer Maintenance Fund can present condition reports at the June meeting. Meeting adjourned at 12:43 p.m. Staff Assistant Tobie Black City of Milwaukee Page 12 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Minutes May 4, 2011 COMMITTEE This meeting can be viewed in its entirety through the City's Legislative Research Center at http://milwaukee.legistar.com/calendar. City of Milwaukee Page 13