City Council Committee Agendas

Public Works Committee Meeting February 14, 2018 Attendees Present: Mayor Boudreau Council Members: Beaton, Brocksmith, Carias, Hudson, Hulst, Lindquist Staff Members: Public Works – Bell, Chesterfield, Christen, Love, Owens; Library – Huffman; City Attorney – Rogerson; Police Chief – Dodd; Project Development Manager – Donovan; Finance – Volesky 1. Approval of Public Works Committee Minutes: Councilmember Lindquist moved to approve the minutes from December 13, 2017; Seconded by Councilmember Hudson; Carried by all. 2. Program Coordination Division – Blaine Chesterfield a) 2018 Washington Conservation Corp (WCC) Agreement The 2018 Detention Pond Maintenance budget include $50,000 of which $40,000 is allotted for WCC for their work. The remaining $10,000 is for tree work that may need to be done. The City has been utilizing this agreement for the last three years and typically receives anywhere from four – six weeks of work depending on availability and resources from the WCC. Crews are assembled in teams of six members with one as a supervisory role, and they come will all standard equipment needed to complete their work. The collection and street crews due a substantial amount of work with the ponds. By utilization of the WCC much more work can be done in areas that are more difficult for our crews such as Skagit Highlands Ponds which have steep slopes. Staff will bring the contract to Council for approval at the February 28th Council meeting. b) Maddox Creek Culvert Update Maddox Creek Culvert was originally installed in the 1970’s by the County as an extension to S 19th Street near Bonnie Rae Park. In 1992 the Department of Fish and Wildlife granted HPA approval for a developer to removal the culvert which did not end up happening. In 2001 the culvert removal was added to the CIP and in 2003-04 the City received a Centennial Grant of $500,000 to remove the culvert but unfortunately, it was very difficult to meet the terms of the agreement and the money was eventually passed on to the County which also found the terms of the agreement difficult. In the end the County was also unable to utilize the funds to remove the culvert. February 14, 2018, Public Works Committee Minutes Page 1 of 5  In 2013 the Laventure Anderson projected replaced three of the four fish blockage culverts and installed a new bridge. In January 2019 the culvert replacement was added to the Washington State Department of Ecology 2019 DRAFT Water Quality Funding Offer List for another Centennial Grant. Skagit County has taken the lead on the project. The public comment period is January 19 – February 19, 2018 with issuance of Final Funding List and Funding Letters on June 29, 2018. There is a good likelihood of receiving the grant funding if the public comment period goes well. Completion of this project and removal of the culvert would open up 2.2 miles of upstream fish habitat. c) Super Bowl Sunday Storm Event Outside of Skagit River flooding, this storm was largest storm staff has seen. City crews were very active during the event and responded to drainage concerns quickly and did an excellent job. There were numerous drainage and flooding problems throughout the City. It was noted that with the completion of the Kulshan Creek Bridge by BNSF last year flooding was minimized upstream and water was able flow freely. The Kulshan Pump Station was running at full capacity with all three pumps going. Surface Water staff is still working with residents to address drainage concerns. The Wastewater Treatment plant had its first Combined Sewer Overflow in two-years. During the event the WWTP still hit record numbers pumping at 25 million gallons at peak flow. d) Electric Vehicle Charging Discussion Public Works and Development Services staff met with a representative for EVgo to discuss installation of EV charging stations in the downtown area. EVgo would like to have three to four parking stalls for these stations at no cost to them and a five-year lease agreement. Staff is always open to new technology and opportunities, however, in this case this concept might serve better in the private sector or on a County site. Councilmember Brocksmith inquired whether staff had data available regarding the use of the stations that are already in place. Blaine noted staff visited sites where these were already installed and utilization is very minimal if at all at this time, but that was just a visual and there is likely data available from the companies that own the stations. 3. Project Updates – Mike Love a) Intent to Amend CIP and STIP to Include the 4th Street/Riverside Drive BNSF Railroad Crossing Improvement Plan The City was awarded a grant of $1,447,947 in federal funding from the Washington State Department of Transportation for this project which would significantly improve the BNSF railway crossing on 4th Street/Riverside Drive. If the City can authorize construction prior to April 30, 2019, there would be not local match for the funding, if not, the local match would be 10%. February 14, 2018, Public Works Committee Minutes Page 2 of 5  In order for this to happen the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) need to be amended to include the project and amend the Washington State Surface Transportation Plan (STIP) to include the project. Once this is done the funding for design can be obligated with an estimate of $222,761. Staff is asking Council for approval of the intent to amend the CIP and STIP to include the project at the following council meeting. b) Project Acceptance for 2017 Street Improvements This project was awarded to Lakeside Industries, Inc., in the amount of $793,969.10 in June 2017, with a final completion amount of $841,346.05, an increase of $47,376.95. The increase is due to added work to the contract and actual quantities used during the project. Added work to the contract was the salt and sand storage building $10,350; pre-level on Division Street $9,300; paving of driveway approaches $2,250; and additional bid item quantities of asphalt $8,900 and utility adjustments 15,880.00. Staff is asking for project acceptance at the following council meeting. c) Pedestrian Activated Flashing Yellow Light – Washington =Traffic Safety Commission Grant The City is working on a grant from the Washington Safety Commission School Walk Route Improvement Grant to install pedestrian activated flashing yellow lights in six locations in school zones in Mount Vernon. The application is due in March with a decision by the commission on April 16, 2018. Even if the grant funding does not come through, staff plans to move forward with the lights. There are four other locations that would not be included in this funding which the City will be moving forward with as well. Discussion was held between staff and council regarding specific locations of the signage. 4. Public Works Director Comments – Esco Bell a) Ordinance for Recycling Services Rate Increase This item was removed from the agenda. b) Interlocal Cooperative Agreement with Skagit County for Mutual Assistance on Small Projects The City has historically had an interlocal agreement which has been more specific to chip seal activity and that agreement expired in 2017. The new interlocal agreement would primarily be used for the same purpose but allows a bit more flexibility for mutual services between the City and the County for small project work. This agreement does not have a budget attached to it, as it works within the budget which is already in place for the work being performed. Staff will be asking Council to authorize the agreement to be executed at the following Council meeting. February 14, 2018, Public Works Committee Minutes Page 3 of 5  c) 2018 Street Improvements Project (REET/TBD) A list of the preliminary 2018 Street Improvements Project was presented to Council. The estimated cost for this work is $1.4 million for overlays, street reconstruction, and ADA ramps. Staff provided Councilmembers with on overview of how pavement is rated throughout the City. A visual pavement rating survey of all City streets is completed by an outside consultant every two years using WSDOT approved methods. Staff uses the survey report provided as an important part of the selection process of streets which will be included in the project each year. 5. Library Committee Topics – Isaac Huffman a) Public Space Updates The Library has relabeled some signage to make things easier to read and understand as well as reducing by twenty percent. The new signage has been very effective and reduction in signage hasn’t been a problem. New shelving has been installed. Though this may seem like little change, it makes a big difference. The new DVD shelving is designed just that purpose and has dividers, it isn’t as deep, and overall holds the capacity better. The old shelves utilized book ends which worked poorly and were ineffective much of the time. Other furniture needs are currently being specified for use and cost. b) Technology Plan Statistics show that Skagit County as a whole is more wired than other counties overall; however, there are still over $4,000 residents without access to broadband, mostly rural. For these residents the Library is essential and very useful for them. They can come in and use a computer without even needing to get a library card. The library is essentially a HUB for them. The Library’s strategy with technology is: • Experiment with new pilot programs, to try something new. • Differentiate between adult and children, the demands are not the same. • Flexible technology for various applications. For example: - Data Equity for Main Street – Bringing Open Data home through local libraries. As part of the Open Data Initiative the Library is working with the California State Library and the Knight Foundation on a program to train Skagit County Residents to be users and interpreters of open data. Open Data is the idea that some data should be freely available to everyone to use and republish as they wish, without restrictions from copyright, patents or other mechanisms of control. GPS is an example of Open Data. February 14, 2018, Public Works Committee Minutes Page 4 of 5  - Oculus, a virtual reality system that completely immerses you inside virtual worlds, is being used at the Library. A screen shot of someone using a handset to catch a butterfly on a computer screen was shown. Isaac explained that with the use of virtual reality, people are being exposed to new experiences, such as a virtual walk through France for example, for someone that may not be in a position to actually go there. Or for someone, to experience the inside of the International Space Station or tour the human blood vessel, utilizing virtual reality. The Library will share research and participate in findings. - The use of a Digital Learning Lab. Starting with a need and growing it into a new skill. For example: The Library is looking at a learning space and specifications to purchase a bulk photo scanner. It would be a place where people can learn how to take old pictures and digitize them; or transfer old film or movies to DVD, etc. c) Programming Update • Police Storytime – the event was the first ever with police and was attended almost as well as fire storytime. It was fun to see the officers interact with the kids and listen to the kids ask officers a bunch of questions. • Mayor’s Wellness Challenge – 46 people attended the February 13th free community event hosted by the Library on Changing the Tide on Opioid Use is Skagit County. The public learned about what is being done to diminish the harmful impacts of opioids in the County and the progress that is being made. • A presentation on Water Management with William Dowell US Army Corps of Engineers will be held at the Library on February 27th at 6:30 pm. The presentation will cover flood risk in the Skagit River basin, focusing on the natural factors that cause flooding and how reservoirs are managed to reduce flood risk. 6. Miscellaneous/ For the Good of the Order Meeting adjourned at 6:58 pm Michele Myers Michele Myers, Public Works Department February 14, 2018, Public Works Committee Minutes Page 5 of 5