CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS COMMITTEE
Regular MeetingMilwaukee, WI · September 2, 2015
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
Wednesday, September 2, 2015 9:00 AM City Hall, Room 301-B
Meeting convened: 9:07 A.M.
Members excused: Mark Nicolini and Mariano Schifalacqua
1. Review and approval of the minutes from the June 25th meeting.
Ald Kovac moved for approval of the minutes. There were no objections.
2. Presentation of the Dept. of Publlic Works Fleet Condition Report.
Mr. Jeff Tews discussed the City’s capital fleet. He said the Repair Division works at
five locations on two shifts and has the capability to run a 24/7 if needed during
emergency operations. He said that the Division was recognized for the second year
in a row by Government Fleets magazine. He said the City’s fleet was ranked 16th
out of approximately 25,000. Mr. Tews said there are 123 different types of
equipment. There are 4,700 pieces of equipment about 2,800 of which are owned by
Fleet Services. The full replacement value of the fleet is over $228 million. The Fleet
Services portion is $164.6 million. He said there are 839 pieces of capital equipment,
which is about 30% of the quantity of the fleet but over 82% of the monetary value.
Mr. Tews discussed recent additions to the fleet including seven brush chippers, two
street sweepers, ten snow and ice control dump trucks, two hydro excavators and a
tractor.
Mr. Tews discussed compressed natural gas (CNG) packers. He said 22 new refuse
packers were purchased at one time using funds allocated in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
He said the City now has 45 CNG packers. He said the CNG packers are
economical, quiet and reduce emissions. He said 12.6% of the fleet’s fuel needs are
met with CNG. He said that using CNG has saved the City $508,000 since 2012.
Mr. Tews said that the average age of capital equipment is about 12.2 years. He said
that funding at the 2016 requested level of $6.725 million is expected to raise the
average age to 12.3 years. He said that some equipment in the fleet lasts longer
than the traditional life expectation for its duty class because it is not used every day.
Mr. Tews said the overall size of the City fleet is relatively stable over the course of
the year. He also said that changes to Sanitation routes that are currently being
developed may decrease the number of packers required for garbage pick up. Mr.
Matson asked what the current replacement cycle for packers is. Mr. Tews said that
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CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Meeting Minutes September 2, 2015
COMMITTEE
the department tries to replace packers on an 11 year cycle. He said that some
packers are 17 years old, but that they are used more for snow plowing than for
regular garage pick up. Mr. Korban asked how a reduced packer fleet will affect
snow and ice control operations. Mr. Tews said that dump trucks may be redeployed
from other divisions to supplement the plowing fleet.
3. Presentation of the Water Works Condition Report.
Ms. Carrie Lewis discussed the condition of the treatment plants, pumping and
storage facilities and the distribution system of the Milwaukee Water Works. She
said the department evaluated five different aspects of each asset in the treatment
plants; the buildings, the physical structure of the device, the pipes and valves
leading to it, the electrical system and the connection to the SCADA system. Each
item is rated on a scale of 1 to 5. For pumps, the evaluation included the physical
structure of the building, the electrical, the pipes and valves and the individual pumps.
She said there have been small improvements at most facilities over the last three
years. She noted that pumping and storage facilities had a relatively large
improvement in 2015.
Ms. Lewis discussed recent projects including the bypass valves and backup power
generation at the Linnwood plant, the Riverside Tunnel, pumping improvements at
Riverside and the replacement of the Adler pumping station. The installation of
bypass valves will allow raw water from the lake to go directly to the chlorination
phase of treatment. The project will allow the treatment plant to continue operating in
the event the ozone system needs has to be taken offline for maintenance or repair.
The backup generator will provide 4.5 megawatts of power to run the plant in the
event of a power failure. The generator will automatically turn on and reconnect the
plant to the grid as necessary. The Riverside Tunnel was found to be in generally in
good condition. The 7,100 foot long 9 foot diameter concrete tunnel was drained,
cleaned, photographed, videoed, physically assessed and measurements. Cracks
were repaired and new gaskets were installed at access points. Ms. Lewis said
access to the tunnel is through narrow vertical shafts. Pump 5 at the Riverside
station was replaced while the tunnel was out of service. A 25 million gallon/day fixed
speed pump was replaced with a variable speed pump of the same capacity. The
variable speed pump is more energy efficient and allows for more constant pressure
in the distribution system. The underground Adler pumping station, which
pressurizes the Bluemound pressure district was replaced with an above ground
station. The project was primarily funded by WisDOT (90/10 split). The new station
has three variable speeds pumps each with a capacity of 3 million gallons/day.
Current projects include a finished water reservoir at Linnwood, flood protection at
the Riverside pumping station and the painting of the Lincoln tanks. Ms. Lewis said
the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR) is requiring that buried reservoir
tanks have a membrane on top of the concrete. The membrane will provide an extra
level of public health protection. She said a spillway will be constructed this fall to
prevent bluff runoff from flooding the Riverside station. She said access to the path
will be maintained and that Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District provided
funding to disconnect from the combined sewer system. The interior and exterior of
the Lincoln tanks is being stripped and repainted. Ms. Lewis said the project is a little
behind schedule because the DNR required mitigation of contaminated soil.
Ms. Lewis discussed the distribution system. There are 1,825 of distribution mains
130 miles of feeder mains. She said that so far in 2015, 8 miles of main have been
installed, 6 miles are under contract and one mile will be bid shortly. Ms. Lewis said
this past winter had far fewer main breaks than the previous winter. She expects that
2015 will be below the 10 year average of 600 main breaks per year. Ms. Brengosz
said that the number of main breaks per hundred miles of main has been trending
downward. Ms. Lewis said the downward trend is due to water main replacements
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COMMITTEE
and operating improvements. She said variable speed pumps come on and off more
slowly which puts less stress on the distribution system. Mr. Korban said that a
reduction in water main breaks will also reduce the cost and impact of undermined
pavement.
Ms. Lewis discussed water consumption saying that it is down 2.5% over last year.
She said consumption has been trending downward at that rate for several years.
She said most of the reduction is related to residential customers. She said a recent
study predicted that water usage in North America will continue to decline for another
20 years because so much of the country’s housing stock has yet to replace regular
flow toilets, showers, and dishwashers with low flow fixtures.
Ms. Lewis discussed water usage for community gardens. She said the department
would like to get all non-firefighting uses off of hydrants. She said many gardens are
doing creative things to get their own water such as filling cisterns. She said the
smaller gardens that are currently popping up are more difficult because they don’t
always have access to a hydrant. She said the department generally does not allow
hoses to go across the streets, alleys or driveways and strongly encourages the
installation of a service if at all possible. She said the department works with Ground
Works, a non-profit organization, to coordinate the community gardens. Ground
Works gets the permits and takes responsibility for oversight.
Meeting adjourned: 9: 38 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
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
Wednesday, September 2, 2015 9:00 AM City Hall, Room 301-B
1. Review and approval of the minutes from the June 25th meeting.
2. Presentation of the Dept. of Publlic Works Fleet Condition Report.
3. Presentation of the Water Works Condition Report.
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
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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.
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City of Milwaukee Page 1 Printed on 8/28/2015