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 Thursday, January 22, 2015 9:00 AM City Hall, Room 301-B Meeting convened: 9:10 A.M. All members present with Mr. Glenn Stenbrecher present for Mr. Matson. Ald. Kovac arrived at 9:16 A.M.; Mr. Nicolini arrived at 9:29 A.M. 1. Review and approval of the minutes of the November 24, 2014 meeting. Mr. Schifalacqua moved for approval of the minutes. There were no objections. 2. Presentation of the Street Condition Report. Jeff Polenske discussed the street and alley programs. Mr. Polenske said that the department is moving from the old condition data which was collected in the mid-2000s to new data that was collected in 2013 and 2014. He said the department will report on street condition at a later date. He said the main objective for pavement management is to preserve the streets and alleys for as long as possible. He said the department is re-evaluating the process for project selection, rating and development. He said the goal is to accommodate project development and utility coordination and to establish a paving program 2 years in advance instead of doing it on an annual basis. Mr. Polenske said that 2014 was a very bad year for potholes. He said that at the peak there were between 70 and 75 calls per day for pothole repairs. So far in 2015 calls are averaging 9 or 10 per day. He said that the department is combining call center data, staff observation and street maintenance activity to identify areas where there is a higher concentration of problems. That information can be compared to the Pavement Quality Index (PQI) data and used to develop the paving program. Mr. Polenske said that the City is required to submit the pavement quality index to the state. He said the state has strongly suggested that the City collect new data every four years. He said the City has received an extension from the state in order to complete the condition survey that is currently underway. Mr. Polenske said that the consultant (Stantech) evaluated a number of roadway conditions including cracking, potholes, joint failure, rutting and ride comfort to determine the pavement quality index. He said that all streets were videotaped. He said the field survey is complete and that Stantech has given staff an overview of the data that will be available. Stantech will continue to work with staff to determine what reports can be produced, how to best use the data, how to best represent improvements and how improvements will affect the data that have been collected. Mr. Schifalacqua asked if City of Milwaukee Page 1 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Minutes January 22, 2015 COMMITTEE the reporting will contain long term spending projections. Mr. Polenske said yes. He said the program will generate a priority list of segments that we should be concentrating on. He anticipates that the program will be able to track the effectiveness of the maintenance strategies used by the department. Mr. Schifalacqua said would be helpful to have the funding scenarios before the committee reviews capital requests. Mr. Polenske said a report should be available by late summer. Ald. Kovac asked if the type of roadway failure and the required improvement can be determined by the PQI. Mr. Polenske said that the PQI is a starting point for evaluating the particular improvement a street segment may need. Mr. Korban said that there are two general ways of improving a pavement; reconstruction and resurfacing. In most cases, when the PQI is very low, reconstruction will be required. Resurfacing may be an option on streets that are still in fair condition. He said reconstructing a pavement versus resurfacing will provide a different outcome and life expectancy. Mr. Polenske discussed the preventative maintenance being done by the department. Mr. Polenske said that the High Impact paving program is considered preventative maintenance. He said that the department is doing more slurry and chip sealing. He said chip sealing is more durable and that the department has tried using it on more highly travelled streets. He said slurry seals are more suited for the residential streets. He said new pavements are being crack filled 3-6 years after construction to help keep moisture from getting under the pavement. He said the department has also been doing more joint repair. He said the only real solution to frost heave is reconstruction. Mr. Polenske discussed the use of “super-crews”. He said a super-crew is larger in size and each member focuses on a different aspect of the street. He said it is a much more comprehensive maintenance strategy than traditional pothole patching. He said super-crews are used to maintain longer segments of streets. Mr. Nicolini asked if the funding budgeted for transitional workers would allow for the continued use of super-crews. Mr. Polenske said yes and that the department may expand their use. Mr. Korban said that it would be difficult to operate the super-crews without the use of transitional workers. He said that he is hopeful that some transitional workers will apply and be hired for regular city positions. Mr. Polenske discussed the local street program. He said the approach is to shift some funding from the local program and concentrate on a larger High Impact program. In 2015, $8 million will be focused on the local program and $7 million will be used on the High Impact program. He said the funding split will allow for the improvement of 30% more streets in 2015. He said this funding strategy will only be effective for two or three years because the High Impact projects have a much shorter life expectancy than traditional resurfacing or reconstruction. Mr. Polenske discussed the Major Street program. He said the main source of funding is the Surface Transportation Program (STP). Mr. Schifalacqua asked if there have been discussions with the state about using STP money for High Impact projects. Mr. Polenske said no. He said that changes to the STP now require the City to submit particular projects for consideration in a competitive process to receive funding. He said that under the new process the City received more funding than it has in the past. Mr. Polenske said that state funding fluctuates, but that the City typically gets between $4 million and $6 million per year. He said that for the program years 2015 through 2018, the City received a total of nearly $42 million, which was approximately half of the total state wide program. Mr. Polenske discussed the alley program. He said that concrete is the predominant pavement type. He said that decreasing the assessment rate effectively increased the public hearing approval rate. Ms. Dziewiontkoski said that the approval rate is virtually 100%. Mr. Korban said that one benefit of a high approval rate is that the City doesn’t spend money designing projects that may not get built for many years. Ald. Kovac said there is a tradeoff. A lower assessment rate means a higher approval City of Milwaukee Page 2 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Minutes January 22, 2015 COMMITTEE rate but the budgeted funds will construct fewer alleys. Mr. Froh asked how frequently the department measures traffic volume. Mr. Polenske said that traffic counts are done on arterials and collectors every three years. On local and residential streets it is only done if there is a specific purpose or request. 3. Presentation of the Alley Condition Report. This item was discussed as part of item #2. 4. Review and approval of the 2014 Annual Report. Ald. Kovac moved to approve the annual report. There were no objections. Meeting adjourned: 9:50 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 3