CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS COMMITTEE
Regular MeetingMilwaukee, WI · April 7, 2014
Minutes
200 E. Wells Street
City of Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin
53202
Meeting Minutes
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS
COMMITTEE
ALD. ROBERT BAUMAN, CHAIR
Ald. Nik Kovac, Ald. Michael Murphy, Ghassan Korban,
Martin Matson, Mark Nicolini, and Mariano Schifalacqua
Staff Assistant: Linda Elmer, 286-2231
Fax: 286-3456, lelmer@milwaukee.gov
Fiscal Planning Specialist: Kathleen Brengosz, 286-3926,
kbreng@milwaukee.gov
Monday, April 7, 2014 9:00 AM City Hall, Room 301-B
1. Communication transmitting the 2015 Capital Improvements Budget Requests.
Meeting convened: 9:01 A.M.
Members present: Mr. Froh, Mr. Schifalacqua, Mr. Korban, Mr. Matson, Ald. Bauman,
Mr. Nicolini (arrived at 9:03 A.M.)
Department of Public Works - Fleet
Mr. Jeffrey Tews discussed the capital request for DPW – Fleet . Mr. Tews said that
the City maintains 4,400 pieces of equipment. He said that 783 of them are
considered capital equipment and that their value represents 81% of the total value of
the fleet. He said the department is requesting $7.5 million which will maintain the
fleet age at approximately 12.2 years. Three automated refuse packers are included
in the 42 vehicle request. He said that the equipment budgeted in 2014 for the
demolition of houses has been purchased. He said that 16 demolitions have already
occurred. He said the goal for the year was 100. Ald. Bauman asked for a report at
the next meeting of the Joint Committee.
Department of Public Works - Forestry
Mr. David Sivyer discussed the capital requests for DPW Forestry. He said that the
department’s request would maintain the 98% stocking goal for street trees. He said
that the department removes about 3,600 trees per year. Ald. Bauman requested
information about historic tree planting.
Mr. Sivyer said there are three active emerald ash borer (EAB) infestations in the City
but no treated trees have shown EAB activity. Mr. Schifalacqua asked if the City
receives any state or federal money to manage EAB. Mr. Sivyer said no. He said
the treatment is important to ensure public safety and to be able to manage and
control the timing of the replacement of the street ash trees.
Mr. Sivyer described the six year plan to remove and replace 5,400 untreated ash
trees. He said the work would be done by contractors at an estimated cost of $1,000
per tree. ($700 for planting and $300 for stump removal). He said the funding
source for the replacement trees has not been determined. He said untreated trees
will be removed before they are infested. He said that so far only about a dozen
trees have died but that all untreated trees will become infested and die.
Mr. Sivyer said that the division is unable to keep up with stump removal because of
a lack of personnel. The department is requesting funds for the contract removal of
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1,300 stumps each year. He said it costs the City approximately $130 to remove a
stump. The contract cost incurred has been about $275 per stump. Mr. Sivyer said
that this is an on-going issue and that without additional funding the stump backlog
will increase each year. Mr. Nicolini asked for a detailed analysis of the assumptions
used to develop the request.
Mr. Sivyer discussed the repairs and modifications need at the Central District yard
and the Industrial Road Facility. He said the request includes some office remodeling
to accommodate the staff required for the management of foreclosed properties and
for the enforcement of the revised tall weeds and grass ordinance.
Department of Public Works - Sanitation
Mr. Paul Klajbor discussed the capital requests for DPW – Sanitation. He said that
the central salt dome, which services downtown and the east side, only holds 400
tons of salt. Most other locations hold between 11,000 and 12,000 tons. The
requested project would add 3,500 tons of capacity. Ald. Bauman asked if this type
of improvement was funded with the snow and ice fee. Mr. Klajbor said that typically
projects like this are funded in the capital budget.
Mr. Klajbor described the repairs requested for 6 th and Howard and the Central Area.
He said parking lot paving is required for plow blade storage. He said the blades
have been stored at Cameron, but the Water department is taking over that facility .
He said that there might be space to store them at the Tower site but that
operationally it made more sense to store them where the trucks are parked.
Mr. Klajbor said that there has been no action by Direct Supply indicating that they
intend to exercise their option on the Industrial Road facility. He said the department
would like to do a study to evaluate the department’s needs for a new facility and to
update the cost estimate. Mr. Klajbor said the study would cost approximately
$150,000. The Direct Supply option expires December 31, 2019.
Mr. Klajbor discussed the proposed purchase of brine makers. He said using brine to
pre-wet salt could decrease the amount of salt used. He said the request would fund
three brine makers and three storage facilities. He said the City’s current brine
maker is not automated and does not allow for the addition other additives like
calcium chloride. Ald. Kovac asked about the effectiveness of cheese brine. Mr.
Korban said that the City received cheese brine, which is a waste product, from a
cheese manufacturer in Polk County. He said that it was effective down to about 20
degrees. He said that the supply was limited in part because not all types of cheese
produce brine with the appropriate salt concentration. He estimated that cheese
producers would only be able to supply about 2% of the brine that the City expects it
would need. He said the department is continuing to explore other options and ways
to reduce salt usage. Mr. Klajbor said that even if the City could get enough cheese
brine, it would need to install facilities to store it.
Mr. Korban said that the department will be appearing before the Public Works
Committee to discuss Material Recovery Facility (MRF). Mr. Klajbor said that general
repairs at the MRF were funded in 2013 and 2014. He said the cost of the equipment
will be shared with Waukesha.
RECESS: 10:15 A.M.
RECONVENE: 10:30 A.M.
Department of Public Works - Infrastructure Services
Mr. Craig Liberto discussed the capital request for bridges. He said that most of the
state and federal funding received in the last solicitation was for construction funding
in 2017 and 2018. He said the local bridge requests will be about $10 million for the
next several years. He said the local request has increased because state and
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federal funding is less available and the City’s moveable lift bridges are no longer
eligible for state aid. He said that when allocating funds in the bridge program the
state looks at what was received in previous years. He said that overall state funding
for bridges has remained relatively stable, Milwaukee is just getting a smaller
proportion of the funding. Mr. Schifalacqua said he believes the funding formula the
state uses is flawed. Mr. Liberto agreed and said that other programs such as the
Connecting Highway program may be able to supplement the state’s Local Bridge
program. Mr. Polenske said that from the federally funded Surface Transportation
Program, the City used to get about $4 million right off the top. He said the rest was
competitively distributed . He said that the FHWA has required a process where all
projects are competitive. He said that in the full competitive process the City
received $42 million out of $84 million over the next four years. He said he was
hopeful that the state’s bridge program would move toward the same kind of
competitive process.
Mr. Nicolini asked if the 1st Street bascule bridge has been designed. Mr. Liberto
said the City will issue an RFP for the design work later this year . He said the bridge
has required a lot of maintenance and the deck is in very poor condition. He said that
consultants will be used to design the Michigan Street Bridge. He added that the
Clybourn and Pleasant Street bridges were designed in-house. He said that city staff
is also utilized to design parking structure repairs and some of the riverwalks. Mr.
Nicolini asked if there was an opportunity to assess railroads for the cost of the
bridges that span their rights-of –way.
Mr. Polenske discussed the other capital requests including the sidewalk
replacement program, the local street program, the high impact program, and the
alley program as well as the street lighting and traffic control programs. Mr. Nicolini
asked for additional information on the bicycle related improvements. Mr. Polenske
said bicycle projects are typically funded by CMAQ grants. The projects take time to
develop and the grants have sunsets.
Mr. Bryson discussed the capital requests for underground conduit and manhole
repairs. He said that the request for underground conduit was based on
shortcomings identified by ITMD, and is largely driven by paving projects. Ald.
Bauman asked why there was a big increase from last year. Mr. Bryson said that
most of the work was related to state and federal paving projects. He said the
department has prepared a prioritized project list. Mr. Schifalacqua said that when
you get more grant and aid funding for major street paving, it becomes necessary to
increase funding for street lighting and conduit. Ald. Kovac said the departments
should be requesting the funding that they believe will meet the City’s needs , not the
amount they believe the City has the ability to budget.
Mr. Polenske said that the department is in the process of hiring a new crew to do
manhole repairs. He said that most of the repairs done in 2014 would be by contract.
Mr. Nicolini said that funding was added to this capital account in 2014 with the
expectation that city crews would be utilized to do the work.
Department of Public Works Facilities
Mr. Paul Fredrich discussed the capital requests for DPW Facilities. He said the
department has seven on-going programs and several special projects. He said that
the ADA account will bring three facilities into compliance in 2015. He said that the
department has established site specific plans for the Facilities Exterior program. He
said that in 2014 the department focused on Northwest garage. In 2015 the
department will be concentrating on Lincoln garage. He said that DPW general
requests funding for facilities used by DPW and general areas in the City Hall
Complex. Mr. Fredrich said that all of the requests are generated or substantiated by
the FCAP.
Mr. Fredrich said that City Hall Foundation project is in the early draft stages of
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establishing the need. He said he expects that actual work will begin in 2015, but
that work will not start until the terra cotta is complete. He said the foundation will
likely be a staged, design/build project. Mr. Korban said that a report on the progress
is expected in May.
Health Department
Ms. Yvette Rowe presented the capital request for the Health Department . She said
that the department used the FCAP to develop the capital budgets for 2014 and
2015.
She said that the recent window project came in under budget so the department will
be able to make some smaller additional improvements in 2014. She said that the
request for 2015 focuses on building automation systems for three buildings and the
replacement of the garage roof at Northwest Health Center. She said that the
department had to seek a temperature variance this past winter because it was
unable to keep the buildings warm enough for clients.
Library
This item was taken up first on the agenda.
Ms. Paula Kiely and Ms. Taj Schoening discussed the capital requests for the Library
(MPL). Ms. Kiely said that the express library at the West Lawn housing
development and the new East library will open in 2014. She said that in the next six
years the MPL plans to replace four neighborhood libraries with new mixed use
libraries. Ms. Schoening said that the capital request was based on an assessment
of the facilities which includes the life cycle of the building components as well as the
functional adequacy of the buildings. She said the total request for 2015 is $9 million.
She said that the focus of the interior improvements at the Central library has always
been on the public spaces and that most staff spaces have never been updated. She
said the façade restoration on the original Central library building is complete. She
said that funding is requested in 2015 to renovate the interior of the Tippecanoe
library.
The committee discussed the existence and importance of carryover borrowing
authority as it relates to budgeting additional funds. Mr. Nicolini said that
uncommitted expenditure authority is more relevant to budgeting decisions than
carryover borrowing authority. Ald. Bauman said that the City budgets based on its
capacity to pay debt service and suggested that departments should not be given
more borrowing authority until they use up what they have. Mr. Nicolini said that new
borrowing authority should be tied to whether prior expenditure authority has actually
been used. Mr. Schifalacqua said that carryover borrowing authority in a parent
account should be looked at differently than carryover borrowing authority in a project
account. Mr. Matson said it is necessary to know what will be expended in 2014.
Regarding the construction of new mixed used libraries Ald . Kovac said that he had a
high level of confidence that the projects will proceed. Mr. Nicolini said that funding
can be spread over multiple years because generally the process s of identifying and
purchasing the land parcels can be done separately from the construction of the
building. He said the Budget office monitors development plans to make sure that
authority is not budgeted before it can be used.
Ald. Bauman asked if all the libraries were needed. Ald. Kovac said that in the last
decade, closing branch libraries has been actively contemplated. Ms. Kiely said that
a facilities planning project done between 2007 and 2010 considered several options
including neighborhood library consolidation and the addition of express and mixed
use libraries. She said that mixed use libraries have been welcomed by the
community and are cost effective for the City. Mr. Nicolini said that the capital
planning process has made it clear that the administration recommends rebuilding
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four libraries over six years and refurbishing Tippecanoe . He also said that the
administration felt that access was better preserved by maintaining the existing
neighborhood library system.
Mr. Matson recommended that the capital request forms be modified to include
carryover that is related to specific projects. He alternatively suggested that the
committee advise the departments to be prepared to discuss carryover amounts at
the table.
Police Department
Mr. Chuck Burki presented the IT related capital requests of the Police Department.
He said that the City currently has 13 radio tower sites. He said two more are
scheduled to go live in two weeks, one will be constructed in 2014 and two are being
requested for 2015. He said that sites located near the City border in adjacent
communities have special equipment that reflects the signal back into Milwaukee. He
said that whenever possible the department negotiates for free access to sites.
Mr. Burki said the department is requesting $4 million to continue the replacement of
the department’s record management system (RMS) He said that vendor
demonstrations will be in April and that the contract should be awarded in July or
August. Mr. Plant said that virtually every record that the police department creates
with the exception of CAD, which is a separate system, goes into the RMS system.
He said the new system will improve both the way that the department interfaces with
the FBI and the department’s daily use of tactical data . He said the new system will
exponentially extend the amount of automatic analysis that can be done. He said
that the state of the art now is to have a robust technological system mine the data
then it is given to a human analyst. Mr. Burki added that the new system will have a
crime data warehouse that will allow the analytics to be done more efficiently. Nr.
Nicolini noted that the methodical approach improved the project’s chance of
success.
Mr. Burki described improvements needed for the CAD system. Mr. Schifalacqua
asked if the department had considered a new system instead of an upgrade. Mr.
Burki said that a new system would cost between $3 million and $4 million. He said it
would also require the data migration, a re-evaluation of business requirements and
RMS interfaces, and the creation of a new message switch.
Mr. Burki discussed the remaining IT related capital requests. Regarding the
replacement of mobile data computers he said that the department would like to
replace 320 computers over two years. He said the department keeps 20 spare
computers on hand because of high failure rates in the existing computers. Mr. Burki
said that new digital asset management software would provide a single access point
for all digital files and documents associated with an incident regardless of their
format. He said that it would also automate post processing of photos. He said that
currently photos must be edited on at a time. Mr. Burki said that the current in-house
system for tracking the training and certification requirements of officers is not
keeping up with the department’s needs. He said a new system will allow for
automated warnings and alerts for when re-certification is require. The department
intends to issue an RFP.
Mr. Moore said that department’s request for funding for the PAB reflects a change in
the construction schedule. He said the next level of construction funding will be
required in January 2016. He said the request included funding for leasing space on
the old Concordia College Campus for the department’s Human Resource division for
the next two years. He said other departments will be located in the same space
during future phases of the project.
Mr. Moore said that the restrooms and a janitor’s closet that are being requested will
allow the department to comply with CJIS and FBI security protocols. Mr. Moore
discussed the other building projects being proposed for various district facilities.
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Fire Department
Mr. Dale Schwark discussed the Fire Departments capital requests. He said the
department is in the fourth year of a twenty year facilities capital plan. He said the
department is working with DPW to evaluate the condition of the firehouses. He said
the first an asset review is expected in June. He said the department has revised the
proposed purchase pattern for fire engines to reflect the closing of three companies.
Mr. Schwark discussed the fire repair shop options. He said that workspace is
limited, heating and cooling are problematic and that it is inefficient to have reserve
equipment dispersed around the city. He said that a site for the proposed new shop
has not been determined. Chief Rolfing said that the department was asked to revisit
the original shop request that was submitted four years ago. He said the annex and
shop upgrade request reflect that review. Ald. Bauman said that if there was a more
valuable use for the site of the current fire repair shop, that could be justification for
building a new garage.
Meeting adjourned: 12:00 P.M.
This meeting will be webcast live at www.milwaukee.gov/channel25.
Members of the Common Council and its standing committees who are not members of this
committee may attend this meeting to participate or to gather information. Notice is given that
this meeting may constitute a meeting of the Common Council or any of its standing
committees, although they will not take any formal action at this meeting.
Upon reasonable notice, efforts will be made to accommodate the needs of persons with
disabilities through sign language interpreters or auxiliary aids. For additional information or
to request this service, contact the City Clerk's Office ADA Coordinator at 286-2998,
(FAX)286-3456, (TDD)286-2025 or by writing to the Coordinator at Room 205, City Hall, 200
E. Wells Street, Milwaukee, WI 53202.
Limited parking for persons attending meetings in City Hall is available at reduced rates (5
hour limit) at the Milwaukee Center on the southwest corner of East Kilbourn and North Water
Street. Parking tickets must be validated in the first floor Information Booth in City Hall.
Persons engaged in lobbying as defined in s. 305-43-4 of the Milwaukee Code of Ordinances
are required to register with the City Clerk's Office License Division. Registered lobbyists
appearing before a Common Council committee are required to identify themselves as such.
More information is available at www.milwaukee.gov/lobby.
City of Milwaukee Page 6
Agenda
200 E. Wells Street
City of Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin
53202
Meeting Agenda
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS COMMITTEE
ALD. ROBERT BAUMAN, CHAIR
Ald. Nik Kovac, Ald. Michael Murphy, Ghassan Korban, Martin
Matson, Mark Nicolini, and Mariano Schifalacqua
Staff Assistant: Linda Elmer, 286-2231
Fax: 286-3456, lelmer@milwaukee.gov
Fiscal Planning Specialist: Kathleen Brengosz, 286-3926,
kbreng@milwaukee.gov
Monday, April 7, 2014 9:00 AM City Hall, Room 301-B
1. Communication transmitting the 2015 Capital Improvements Budget Requests.
Presentations given by the following City departments on their proposed 2015 Capital
Improvements Budget Requests:
Department of Public Works - Fleet
Department of Public Works - Forestry
Department of Public Works - Sanitation
Department of Public Works - Infrastructure Services
Department of Public Works Facilities
Health Department
Library
Police Department
Fire Department
This meeting will be webcast live at www.milwaukee.gov/channel25.
Members of the Common Council and its standing committees who are not members of this committee
may attend this meeting to participate or to gather information. Notice is given that this meeting may
constitute a meeting of the Common Council or any of its standing committees, although they will not
take any formal action at this meeting.
Upon reasonable notice, efforts will be made to accommodate the needs of persons with disabilities
through sign language interpreters or auxiliary aids. For additional information or to request this
service, contact the City Clerk's Office ADA Coordinator at 286-2998, (FAX)286-3456,
(TDD)286-2025 or by writing to the Coordinator at Room 205, City Hall, 200 E. Wells Street,
Milwaukee, WI 53202.
Limited parking for persons attending meetings in City Hall is available at reduced rates (5 hour limit)
at the Milwaukee Center on the southwest corner of East Kilbourn and North Water Street. Parking
tickets must be validated in the first floor Information Booth in City Hall.
City of Milwaukee Page 1 Printed on 3/28/2014
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Agenda April 7, 2014
COMMITTEE
Persons engaged in lobbying as defined in s. 305-43-4 of the Milwaukee Code of Ordinances are
required to register with the City Clerk's Office License Division. Registered lobbyists appearing
before a Common Council committee are required to identify themselves as such. More information is
available at www.milwaukee.gov/lobby.
City of Milwaukee Page 2 Printed on 3/28/2014