CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS COMMITTEE

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 Friday, October 24, 2014 9:00 AM City Hall, Room 301-B 1. Review and approval of the minutes of the October 3, 2014 Meeting. Meeting convened: 9:06 A.M. Members present: Ald. Bauman, Mr. Nicolini, Mr. Schifalacqua, Mr. Korban, Mr. Froh and Mr. Matson, Ald. Kovac (arrived at 9:14 A.M.) Mr. Schifalacqua moved, seconded by Mr. Korban, for approval of the minutes (with one correction that was made just prior to this meeting). There were no objections. 2. Further discussion and recommendations for the Mayor's Proposed 2015 Budget. Mr. Nicolin abstains from all the votes at today's meeting. Mr. Nicolini said that the Dept. of City Development had provided a communication showing balances and carryover amounts in some of the capital accounts that the committee has discussed. He said DCD listed projects that are potentially covered by these amounts. Mr. Nicolini also provided background information about the fire repair shop. The committee discussed the Municipal Art Fund. Ald. Bauman said that the committee had discussed increasing the Municipal Arts Fund by $25,000 and earmarking the additional funds for public art in the new libraries. Mr. Nicolini said that the allocation could be increased without affecting the levy limit. Ald. Kovac said that the Municipal Arts Fund is administered by the Arts Board. He said that the Public Arts Subcommittee has developed a competitive process for annual competitions. Ald. Kovac said that he made a request on behalf of the Library for an installation at the new East Library. He said that it might have been possible for the neighborhood to raise the necessary funds without support from the Municipal Art Fund but he expressed concern that other neighborhoods may not have the same fund raising capability. Mr. Froh said that raising private money for art should not be overly difficult. Ald. Kovac said the initial $17,500 from the Municipal Art Fund, was instrumental in leveraging other donations and it facilitated greater artist engagement. The committee agreed to recommend increased funding for the Municipal Art Fund. The committee discussed the City Hall 8th Floor Remodeling and City Hall Foundation projects. Ald. Kovac said that the Commissioner of Public Works provided an update on the 8th floor project at the Finance & Personnel Committee budget hearings. Mr. Korban said that after review, moving the LRB Library staff and maintaining continuous access to the library collection in the basement may be an acceptable solution. He said the move would consolidate LRB staff on the 3rd floor. He said moving the Treasurer’s staff from the basement to the 1st floor will result in a better more efficient workspace and that Historic Preservation will have a remodeled City of Milwaukee Page 1 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Minutes October 24, 2014 COMMITTEE space. Mr. Korban said DPW will be appearing at the next Public Works meeting to explain the plan. Ald. Kovac agreed that the City Attorney would return to the 8th floor at some point. He suggested that consideration be given to investing in the City’s housing infrastructure before investing in a remodeling project. He also said that he would prefer to commit to stabilizing the foundation of City Hall before proceeding with remodeling projects. Ald. Kovac suggested providing some funding for the Foundation project in 2015 to reduce the amount that would be required in 2016. Mr. Nicolini said he would rather not proceed with funding until there was a robust estimate of total cost. He said the total amount will not be easily absorbed in the capital budget. He said it is important to evaluate the impacts and timing of the Foundation project in the context of the entire capital plan for the next 6 years before budgeting any funds. He also said that delaying the 8th floor won’t solve the challenge of the basement Mr. Schifalacqua said that he had concerns with the planning aspect of the related projects. He said it appears that the City is moving forward with the 8th floor without a having gone through a thorough planning process. He also expressed concern that no funding was proposed for the Foundation project. He said funding should be provided for the project on a preliminary basis. Mr. Korban said that the Foundation project is still a top priority and that it is moving forward. He said that existing funding plus the savings from the City Hall corrective work, which can be transferred to the Foundation project account, should be enough to do the necessary work in 2015. He said that 2016 will be a very aggressive year in terms of implementation. He said the schedule could be moved up a little bit, but not a whole year. Mr. Korban said that based on the evaluation that has been done so far, there is immediate need, intermediate need and long term need. He said that next year he will request between $25 million and $30 million to address the immediate need and part of the intermediate need. Ald. Bauman suggested that the committee recommend moving the funding for the 8th Floor project to the Foundation project. The committee agreed with one dissention. Ms. Brengosz asked if the committee wanted to make a recommendation regarding space planning. Ald. Bauman said that consideration should be given to the formation of a body that would manage space planning in City facilities. There were no objections. The committee discussed the proposed construction of a new fire repair shop. Ald. Bauman said that his opposition to the fire repair shop project was that constructing the Annex would eliminate the opportunity to redevelop the current site. He suggested moving the repair operation to a new site where it would be a catalyst for neighborhood development and investment. Mr. Nicolini said that the current repair shop location is not centrally located within the geographic limits of the City but that it is central relative to the fire stations which are still heavily concentrated in the older parts of the city. Mr. Nicolini said part of the rationale for constructing the Annex was to move quickly because there are on-going savings that can be achieved. He said that the department would likely need one less apparatus every three years and that each apparatus costs between $500,000 and $900,000. He said that if the Annex isn’t approved an alternate site would be investigated. Mr. Schifalacqua asked if money should be provided for site acquisition. Ald. Kovac said that the sites the Fire Department explored were Milwaukee Public Schools sites which would have no acquisition cost. He said that building a new facility at a new site would cost $15 million and that the Annex would cost $10 million. He said that at some point in the future, the existing shop would need approximately $6 million in repairs and upgrades which makes the two options much closer in cost. He said the real question was staging and how to spread out the budgetary impact. Ald. Kovac questioned the urgency of the project saying that the City has known for many years that an investment in a new repair shop would save money and be operationally efficient. He City of Milwaukee Page 2 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Minutes October 24, 2014 COMMITTEE agreed that the current site has great potential for redevelopment. He suggested providing funding in 2016. Ms. Brengosz said that part of the funding for the Annex came from the elimination of four apparatus. The committee did not recommend restoring funding for the apparatus. The committee discussed the allocation of funds in the Local Street and High Impact accounts. Mr. Nicolini said that it would be helpful to get the committee’s input on whether the proposed expanded preservation strategy for is a good approach. Ald. Kovac asked how effectively DPW could use additional money in the paving program. Mr. Korban said that DPW would meet with potential contractors very early in the year to make sure they are aware of the increased program. He said the work will also be bid out early. Mr. Schifalacqua said that the industry has tremendous capacity but that as it gets later in the year; the contractors are committed to other jobs. Mr. Korban said the department proposed the expanded preservation strategy at the budget hearing. He said that if the department implements the strategy, reconstruction projects on local streets would decrease over the next 2 or 3 years, but that any commitments the department has made to local projects would be included in the 2015 program. Ms. Brengosz said that most of the high impact projects that would be added to the 2015 program be on collectors and arterials. Ald. Bauman said that if the department is proposing to use funds in a manner different from the executive budget a friendly amendment would be needed to implement the intent. He suggested consolidating the proposed funding in one account. Mr. Schifalacqua expressed concern that the total allocation for city funded streets (Local Street + High Impact) was $1 million less than in 2014. Mr. Korban said that if funding was added he would prefer it be added to the High Impact Program. Mr. Froh suggested that it may be helpful to know how many square yards of pavement the department is extending the life of. He said that this is really a strategic move to protect the traffic quality for residents and the community. Mr. Korban emphasized that this is a temporary fix and the life expectancy of High Impact streets is nowhere near conventional construction. He said that must be very clear in terms of expectations. Mr. Nicolini said that the City can’t address everything in an optimal fashion and this preservation strategy is a way to get at more work accomplished, in a reasonable amount of time, at a cost we think we can manage. Mr. Schifalacqua said that the committee should recommend reallocating funding. Ald. Kovac said he would offer an amendment to realign the funding. He said that the High Impact program is very popular and is supported by the public. The committee discussed the water main program. Ald. Bauman said that the Public Service Commission is requiring the Water Works to increase its water main program. Mr. Schifalacqua said that providing funding for the water main study called for by the PSC was imperative. Mr. Korban confirmed that the department intends to do the study. The committee briefly discussed IT projects. Mr. Nicolini said that IT projects are a category that is difficult to plan for. The committee made no recommendation. The committee discussed the allocation for street lighting. Ald. Bauman said that there was a substantial reduction in the proposed budget compared to the committee’s recommendation. Mr. Christianson said that the reduction was primarily in the control circuit upgrade and modernization project. Mr. Nicolini said that the project will still move forward, it will just be slowed down for a year. Mr. Bill Christianson, Budget and Management Division, said that $800,000 was included to construct one control circuit. Ald. Bauman asked if the department had the capacity to do more series circuit conversion with more funding. Mr. Korban said that if additional funding is provided for the series circuit conversion it will need to be a long term commitment because it will require increasing the size of the workforce. He said that the series conversion is not a project that can be outsourced. He also said that it may be possible to outsource other activities in order to let existing staff focus on converting series circuits. Ald. Bauman said the committee would amend its recommendation to support the executive budget. City of Milwaukee Page 3 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Minutes October 24, 2014 COMMITTEE The committee discussed general impressions of the capital budget. Mr. Schifalacqua said that he would like the committee to go on record in support of the Administration’s capital budget. He said that there was a great effort made to adequately fund the City’s the infrastructure. There were no objections. Ms. Brengosz said that the next committee meeting is scheduled for November 24th. The agenda will include the regular condition report from the Fire Department, the Police Department, the Library and the Health Department. Meeting adjourned: 10:16 A.M. 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 4