Board of Public Works

Board of Public Works Meeting Minutes May 5, 2016 A regular meeting of the Board of Public Works was held on Thursday, May 5, 2016 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, in Room 208, 229 Main Street, Nashua, NH 03060. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Members Present Mayor James Donchess, Chair Lisa Fauteux, Director of Public Works Commissioner Paul G. Bergeron, Vice Chair Stephen Dookran, City Engineer Commissioner Tracy Pappas Nick Caggiano, Superintendent of Parks & Recreation Commissioner Kevin S. Moriarty Jeff Lafleur, Superintendent of Solid Waste Commissioner Joel Ackerman David Simmons, Superintendent of Wastewater Jon Ibarra, Interim Superintendent of Streets Ken Siegel, Aldermanic Liaison David Deane, Alderman-at-Large Mayor Donchess called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. and called the roll. Mayor Donchess: Present Commissioner Bergeron: Present Commissioner Pappas: Present Commissioner Moriarty: Present Commissioner Ackerman: Present MOTION: Commissioner Pappas to approve the Agenda as presented. MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously MOTION: Commissioner Moriarty to approve the Minutes of the Board of Public Works Meeting of March 24, 2016. SECONDED: Commissioner Pappas MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously Public Comment: No public comment. Engineering Department A. MOTION: Commissioner Pappas to approve the Residential and Commercial Wastewater Service Permits and Fees as submitted. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously B. MOTION: Commissioner Pappas to approve Drain layer’s License for Cornerstone Excavating, 314 Merriam Hill Road, Greenville, NH 03048, in accordance with Nashua City Code §255-19 Issuance of Drainlayer's License. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously C. MOTION: Commissioner Pappas to approve a Use and Occupancy agreement for placement of outdoor deck in the City right-of -way at 4 Canal Street, Penuche’s Ale House. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty  DISCUSSION: Commissioner Bergeron I am not sure who I am addressing the question to so it’s the existing deck that was there for years and years and has only been brought up in 2014? Mr. Dookran Yes. MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously D. MOTION: Commissioner Pappas to approve a Use and Occupancy agreement with the Nashua Housing Authority for placement of a fence in the City right-of -way at Central Street at the Palm Street intersection. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty DISCUSSION: Commissioner Pappas Is it a security issue? Mr. Dookran The issue is that we got the right-of-way from them to install a signal that’s across from Palm Street so the right- of-way extends into their property. We got to the point where we have to put back the fence and the fence was going to make a jog and they preferred not to have that so they asked us if they could put the fence across the right-of-way but behind the signal equipment and we were okay with that. Commissioner Pappas So we can still get to the equipment if we need to? Mr. Dookran That’s right. MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously E. MOTION: Commissioner Pappas to approve the locating of the Downtown Street Pianos on the sidewalk on Main Street sidewalk and in adjacent public spaces. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty DISCUSSION: Commissioner Pappas I am going to vote no just because we’ve had an issue with things in the past where we get things after they have already been done. I do have an issue with that and I at some point I noticed the art and we nailed the Peddler’s Daughter for not; apparently they didn’t put in the stanchions properly and there was rust and that kind of thing Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 2  and we nailed them hard and I think we should follow our own rules. So I am voting against the pianos because they were put in; this is kind of an afterthought so that’s why I am voting no. Director Fauteux I had called each of you to talk about if the Mayor had… Commissioner Pappas Yes, for the art. Director Fauteux It was for the pianos and the art, just for two weeks until we had this meeting and then made a decision on whether they would stay. Commissioner Pappas Okay so this is for permit. Director Fauteux Yes, this would be authorizing them to stay. The Mayor had authorized it for two weeks. Commissioner Pappas Okay. Mayor Donchess What happened was we normally would have had a meeting last Thursday and we had the art’s weekend scheduled for a long time with the pianos and everything. After last month’s discussion, our intention was to bring it to the next meeting which would have been for both the pianos and the location of the artwork which would have been before the art’s weekend but there were scheduling problems and so we delayed the meeting by one week without quite realizing the problems that we have created by doing so. As the art’s weekend approached and as we began to realize that we are putting the pianos and everything is set up and advertised for the 28th, we thought rather than disrupt the entire art’s weekend that the director would call the Board and seek a temporary approval and so I think what they were granted was a two week approval so now, yes, we are retroactively but under the circumstances I described looking for a valid permit now until October 31, 2016. Right now they only have a permit for two weeks. Commissioner Pappas So, it sounds like the festival was a real success and I think that’s terrific. My concern about leaving the pianos there is that they are going to become an eye sore. I don’t think that they are being properly covered, I mean look at this week, it has been pouring rain. That’s a concern of mine. I think if we have special events and that sort of thing I would have no problem with those there but I just think that we need to be careful of cluttering our sidewalks that we have invested so much money in. I understand that I very well may be voting alone but at the risk of sounding like an old curmudgeon I think that I am really concerned that the pianos might become an eye sore if we don’t properly cover them. Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 3  Commissioner Ackerman I see that there’s not going to be any permanent affixing to the concrete or the brick, has anybody from the city actually looked at the pianos to see if there are any metal pieces at the bottom of the legs. They typically rust in the inclement weather. Are there any concerns with that? Director Fauteux I’m not sure, I would have to look. Alderman Siegel The pianos are on wheels and I seriously doubt that they are going to rust. I don’t think there’s much of an issue there, I played the piano at the opening and I played it afterwards. I don’t see the issue, it’s been well publicized for months that this was happening. In fact, as far as rain and everything, there’s rain cover, my company sponsored both pianos and the rain covers so clearly we have a pretty compelling interest in making sure that they are protected. Mayor Donchess Someone is putting the rain covers on, I’ve noticed that. Who is putting them on and off? Alderman Siegel I think we could probably ask Paul Shea because the Great American Downtown is taking responsibility for that and in fact they are going to be logo-ing them up and putting them out there and in the winter time they are going to be taking them in and servicing them so they are not going to be out during the winter either. There was a lot of thought that went into it I believe. Commissioner Bergeron Commissioner Ackerman and Alderman Siegel answered most of my questions but who installed the pianos originally to be sure that they are secure, was that the city or was it the Great American Downtown? Director Fauteux I’m not sure who; I know that the Great American Downtown was involved. We were involved just to make sure that the sidewalks weren’t damaged and they weren’t drilling anything into the sidewalks. Public Works didn’t install they make sure that it was secure. Commissioner Bergeron My concern is safety and that they are secure. Director Fauteux They are secure. Commissioner Bergeron So someone from the city… Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 4  Alderman Siegel You can’t move them at all. Mayor Donchess I was there and of course Alderman Siegel was there, people did really enjoy this thing. I had heard people saying that it was the most fun thing they had ever attended in Nashua. The opening had maybe 100 people. We had kids performing and I thought it was a really nice event. Commissioner Pappas I don’t disagree. Commissioner Ackerman Overall I have generally no concerns but two things just came up. In the last sentence of the discussion here it says “the owner,” who is the owner who will assume all of the liability if there was any damage to the sidewalks? Mayor Donchess The owner I think is the music school, the North Main Street Music School or the Community Music School. They are working with the Great American Downtown to do this but they are the ones who brought the pianos. Commissioner Ackerman Then to the comment that Alderman Siegel just mentioned, you referred to something about logo’s being put on the piano, I don’t see anything mentioned on this discussion. Mayor Donchess I think that the Great American Downtown authorized people to put logos on the pianos for a modest fee or something like that. Alderman Siegel They are actually fairly tasteful and not splattered all over. In fact, in the particular case of my company there are legal restrictions about how big the logo can even be. Commissioner Bergeron I think it’s a great idea and I like it but to Commissioner Pappas’ point, a lot of this stuff does seem to come after the fact so how would we not vote for it but if we have questions it would be nice going forward if it comes before us and people ask us about it. I was in Boston at the beginning of the month and the you can go around and see all kinds of public art and it is great and people want to be there, it’s lively. Anything on a Saturday in downtown Nashua is pretty thin with people walking around so anything helps. Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 5  Commissioner Moriarty Just a comment on Commissioner Pappas’ statement, she mentioned the Peddler’s Daughter. My recollection was that we took action because they actually drilled the holes in the concrete that we just poured so I mean I just want to make it clear why we did it. Commissioner Pappas It wasn’t a criticism. Commissioner Moriarty I thought you said because of the rust that was on the cement. Commissioner Pappas I was just hoping that we would hold ourselves to the same standard. MOTION CARRIED: Majority; Pappas – Nay F. MOTION: Commissioner Pappas to approve the construction contract for the LED Street Lighting Conversion project with Siemens Industry, Inc. of Austin, TX in an amount of $1,455,694. Funding will be through Department 160 Admin/Engineering; Fund: Bond & Contributions; Activity: Amherst Street Road & Traffic Improvements ($1,392,477). SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty DISCUSSION: Alderman Siegel Just briefly, before the Finance Committee we had tabled this motion both pending the Board of Public Works approval and the arrival of an actual contract. The contract will be vetted at Finance. Commissioner Bergeron On my list was where the contract was? Commissioner Moriarty Just a question for the engineering department, we are doing this to save the city money because of the decreased electrical cost of the lighting, is that why we are going through this process? Director Fauteux There is a cost savings associated with that. Mayor Donchess So the street lighting budget I think last year was $854,000 and the estimate is that once the LED lights are installed we will save about 40% of the electric budget and that would translate to $300,000 or maybe a little bit more. There will of course be a bonding cost, principle and interest with respect to this $1.4 million, that’s going to be a little over $100,000 per year so we will be saving a couple of thousand dollars per year. Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 6  Commissioner Bergeron Was Eversource…I am sure they didn’t contribute but are they just allowing us to do it? Mayor Donchess They have to allow it and in fact, you see that we have on the bid the base proposal with a control system. The control system or so-called Smart Meters, which would enable the city to not only determine how much electricity is being used at each light but also to determine or be informed electronically when lights burn out and it would also allow the city to adjust the color of the light. Eversource has come in and advised us that these Smart Meters violate the tariff; that they have been given by the PUC so they have denied us, based on their tariff, the right to put the Smart Meters on the lights. The tariff requires that we be allowed to put in the LED lights so that’s the way that we recommend to proceed. To get a tariff changed would be a long issue and would require a PUC order. Director Fauteux We did receive some information. We are going to look at this further. The City of Manchester had permission from the PUC to do a pilot program with the Smart Controls so we are going to look into the possibility…Manchester ultimately didn’t approve the use of the Smart Controls so we are going to look into seeing if we might be able to take their place in the pilot program. Commissioner Moriarty Do we tax Eversource for the utility poles? Mayor Donchess To some degree but the legislature is forcing us to reduce the assessment. Commissioner Moriarty If we are increasing the value of these we should be able to assess them higher. Mayor Donchess The legislature is getting involved. Director Fauteux Yes, especially if they won’t let us put the Smart Controls on. Mayor Donchess The legislative action isn’t related to the LED, I think they gotten it through at least one house, the legislation that would require the scaling back of the assessment on the poles gradually to some level that they establish. Alderman Deane Why are they doing that, Mr. Mayor? Is that the lobbyists hard at work? Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 7  Mayor Donchess Probably, that’s what I assume. Alderman Deane What return of value to the taxpayers is that? Mayor Donchess You’ve got me. Alderman Siegel With regard to the expenses for the updated Smart Controls, it’s not clear to me that they would get approved at the Board level. That’s a very significant expense and I just can’t imagine them getting approved. I mean we can spend a lot of time looking into but it won’t really matter. Mayor Donchess From my point of view since the tariff prohibits it anyway, I mean, as you said, we don’t really have to get into it. Commissioner Bergeron So at the Board this went to the Infrastructure Committee of the Finance Committee? Alderman Siegel The Finance Committee. Commissioner Bergeron And the Finance Committee tabled it because you didn’t have the contract? Alderman Siegel That’s correct, since this is north of a million dollars it has to go before the full Board. Mayor Donchess So we did have the boiler plate but we didn’t have included some of the essential terms, for example the period of time before completion of the work which is estimated to be 24 weeks as well as the start date which is around 30 days out from when the contract is approved. So by the next meeting the Finance Committee we are told that we will have those terms and we will have the total contract for approval by the Finance Committee. Commissioner Bergeron Were there any other concerns at the Finance Committee with regard to Siemens or… Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 8  Alderman Siegel None were expressed, the discussion centered around the fact that there was just a shell of a standard city issued contract unfilled out or signed and then a piece of paper at the end of it talking about $1.3 + million dollars. It’s not like we are buying a stick of gum. Commissioner Bergeron So at this point, because it’s over a million dollars, if we approve this tonight it just goes to Finance Committee and then to the full Board of Aldermen for proper vetting? Alderman Siegel Correct. Commissioner Ackerman The price under the quotes down below, is the base proposal without the Smart Controls price to the far right with the Smart Controls? Alderman Siegel Correct. Commissioner Ackerman Also, if I recall correctly, in the February timeframe we had public comment and I see here that there is some discussion about vetting the 3K LED lights vs. the 4K. When does that trial period slated to begin? After it gets approved through the Finance Committee and the full Board of Aldermen? Director Fauteux Yes. Commissioner Ackerman So we don’t know whether they choose 3Kor 4K LED lights, will that impact the cost of the proposal? Director Fauteux Yes. Commissioner Ackerman Do we have a timeframe of when that trial is going to occur? Director Fauteux Probably June. Jeanne Walker, Deputy Manager of Engineering Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 9  They will come in and they will do an inventory of all of our assets, the lights, the full count and that checks the ledger and while that is going on at the same we will install the 3K lights, hopefully near to where the 4,000’s are so that people can see both of them. Director Fauteux So we have 4,000 on the parkway so we will actually put the 3K on Pine Street or something like that so you can see them. Alderman Siegel This is a sore point with me because if you came to the committee discussion they brought up a bunch of discussion about 3K vs. 4K and the health benefits thereof or lack therefore and honestly it was pure nonsense because the only negative health effects were if you are trying to go to sleep and you are staring at a tablet and it wasn’t a 4K tablet it was a 5K. Unless we are looking to light the city like an Italian restaurant I suspect that…I mean we can run the experiment but this idea of public input sometimes; you forget what it is that we are trying to do, we are trying to let people see while they drive. Mayor Donchess What is the metric that the 3K vs. 4K? Alderman Siegel It’s a kelvin temperature and it has to do with the fact that radiation…the frequency of light is correlated with temperature; it literally is so if you have a 4K heated kelvin heated black body it will radiate at a given temperature and that temperature will be a particular shade of white and lower than that it will be more yellow and higher than that it will be more of the blue end of the spectrum just like you have the rainbows. It’s the visible and that’s why it is expressed in degrees kelvin, it’s a standard measure of emission frequency. Mayor Donchess Most communities have chosen 4K but there are some that have not; Gloucester I think. Commissioner Bergeron If I am correct then the 3K was a special order item and was (inaudible) to get in case they go bad. Director Fauteux We have spoken to the vendor about that and what they said it came down to personal choice, whether you like the whiter or the yellower light but they said it’s a difference of maybe two to three weeks in terms of the lead time for the full installation. Commissioner Bergeron So it’s relatively negligible. Alderman Siegel Well, if I might, negligible now but moving forward you try to get the largest variety, the most standard parts possible for the greatest choice and the least cost. There’s a reason why most communities are using 4K, it’s because they are driving cars down a road and they want them to see where they are going, that is our goal. The Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 10  older you get the less sensitive your eyes are and more light you need so this Italian restaurant thing isn’t going to necessarily work out real well for people that are older. Mayor Donchess Well we will be able to see for ourselves. I thought it was reverse, I thought 3K was better for the older person. Alderman Siegel That’s what the Kindle Paper White is set up to be; 4K because it’s optimal for seniors. Commissioner Pappas They have put the newer dimmer lights in our 1925 street lamps and it gives out about as much less light than a flashlight and you can’t see a thing. Mayor Donchess I believe that the LED’s will be a brighter light than what we have now. Director Fauteux It’s a little bit different, it’s a different light. Commissioner Pappas If we hung a flashlight it would be better. Mayor Donchess That’s the whole reason why we want to do the test rather than we debate this. Commissioner Pappas Sounds good. MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously G. MOTION: Commissioner Pappas to approve the use of Amherst Street Traffic Mitigation funds in the amount of $4,900, to install new underground loops for vehicle detection along the Amherst Street Corridor. Funding will be through: Department: 160 Admin & Engineering; Fund: Trust; Activity: 55 Other Services. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously H. Informational: MOTION: Commissioner Pappas to accept and place on file the Informational Pavement Management Analysis SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty DISCUSSION: Commissioner Bergeron When are we going to have this report of the pavement analysis? Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 11  Mr. Dookran I’m here to give a brief overview status for a couple of different reasons, one of them being that because I have to get to the Planning Board at 7:00. Secondly because we only got information yesterday and we are still trying to digest it and we also need some time to really put it together and present it properly to the Board, maybe in the form of a workshop or another meeting like this. I can tell you some of the findings we have got from the consultant. Just a review of what we have done so far. The condition assessment was done and we have the results and those results were put it a new program called Cartegraph and the condition index, the PCI’s were calculated and we have for the city an average of 77 and that’s on a scale from 0 to 100; 0 being 0 road and 100 being perfect. It’s in fairly good shape for being an average; obviously we have some very good roads and some very bad. They could be better. Most communities try to be in the 80’s so if we can do a little bit more we can be there. Mayor Donchess PCI means? Mr. Dookran It stands for Pavement Condition Index. The problem is it only gets worse unless you put money into the program. The consultant calculated the back log for paving and the back log is the term they use to measure in any given year how much money you have to put into the program to bring it to near perfect condition, around 90. They look at your different types of deteriorations, if your street has been paved in the last couple of years and you PCI of say 85 you don’t have to do a lot of maintenance to bring it back to near perfect, you just have to do crack sealing and that’s called routine maintenance. If it’s a little lower then you preventative maintenance which is a thin overlay or something called micro surfacing and it’s much cheaper than a thick overlay and that would bring your PCI back. As you go down the PCI scale you have to do more and more restoration work. What we typically do for main roads here in Nashua is we mill the street and then apply a thick overlay. There are some streets down at the bottom where we have to do a total reconstruction. Our backlog number as it stands today is $50.3 million. If we had that $50.3 million and applied it to the streets that need restoration our numbers would be back up into the 90’s. There are a couple of funding options. For a 10-year program we need to spend $59 million. They looked at what we can do over 10 years with a mix of different treatments and using an inflation rate of 3.5% per year. A total of $59 million dollars, $5.9 million per year will keep our condition index at 77; it’s good to have it at around 80 so maybe a little more than $5.9 million per year will get us there, however doing just the $5.9 million per year will bring at the end of 10 years will put our back log at $56 million dollars higher than it is today. A better option is to put more money upfront; a bonding scenario for instance, we spend $10 million per year for the first 4 years leaving a lower spending rate in the following 6 years of $2.3 million per year which is actually what we have right now, the $2.3 million. That will give us a lower backlog at $43 million at the end of 10 years. I am sure there are other accommodations that we can look at that are may be more suitable for the city and to the financing. That’s what I really wanted to bring to your attention today, we do want more time to look at other scenarios where we can bring in the issues with our sewers and other utilities because they have their own programs as well, they have streets identified. Hopefully in the next few weeks we can look at which streets and areas are recommended to go forward and which funding option that we choose. We also are trying to implement a Scenario Builder modular into the Cartegraph which will look at all of those different assets at the same time. We don’t have that program in full works at this time so we need some more time really have something that is more comprehensive. Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 12  Commissioner Pappas I think that was a great overview, thank you. I’m hearing that Public Works is doing a lot of extra stuff but they really have to get back to basics, our roads are falling apart. I would really appreciate, once you feel like you are having a handle on it and having specifics, I would like a special meeting just to discuss that with very specific information. That would be my preference although I don’t know how other people feel. We have to have all of the information because sometimes we get it in dribs and drabs and I understand what a project this probably is for you and getting this in place but I’d like to have it; once we have all of the information. I think our roads are falling apart and that is what constituents are saying and I think that Mr. Dookran did a great job with this whole review. When we have all of the information I would like to devote a whole meeting for that and invite the public. This is a lot to digest and this is a lot of money. Those are my thoughts. Mayor Donchess Do you have any sense of what the timing of when you may have enough information to discuss these things in more detail? Mr. Dookran I am thinking in 4 to 6 weeks. Getting the program running and everyone is trained and comfortable with the program is important. There are two different aspects here and they have to work together before I can say yes, this is good information and you can make decisions based on it. Mayor Donchess What are the two aspects? Mr. Dookran One is the program itself. Cartegraph has a Scenario Builder and it’s a new program and even the consultants are not using it yet but we are implementing it here. It’s taken a while for us to bring all of the data into the new program. Getting that working and getting everyone comfortable with that is one effort. Commissioner Pappas I could be wrong but I think this is the second software that we bought since I have been on the Board and I do think this is important but I don’t want to jump the gun and do it before there is a comfort zone but my specific question is I thought they were supposed to be doing the import; I thought that was part of the contract. Mr. Dookran That’s right, the company we hired to survey the streets, there job was to put the information into the program and they had completed the collection of the information but the program was not ready so there was a delay. They finally got the information in. The analysis is a completely different program and it is the new feature of Cartegraph. Commissioner Pappas So it’s the same seller though, the same person is selling both? Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 13  Mr. Dookran Actually, no, Cartegraph is the one providing the software so there is a Cartegraph OMS which is the Overall Management System and they are the ones who are also providing the Scenario Builder. The company we hired to drive the street and pick up the information is MDS from Ohio and their job was to put the information in and there was a gap between them completing and us being ready. Commissioner Pappas Maybe I didn’t understand that it was that much of a convoluted process but regardless, I would rather not have it for…it sounds like you are really the person who is trying to figure this out and coordinate it. I would say that I would rather have the meeting once you have a full handle on it. Mayor Donchess So MDS is finished with their work in terms of getting the data and inputting it into the system? Mr. Dookran Yes and they are also running some of the scenarios in the Scenario Builder. The good thing about this Scenario Builder is that it not only looks at say pavement but it also looks at sewers, drains and sidewalks. You can see what things require attention at the same time and that is quite of a learning effort. Mayor Donchess Who is dealing with that, is it a city staff or the consultant? Mr. Dookran Information Technology is in charge of implementing the software and they are the ones who are dealing with the consultant, Cartegraph is the vendor. When the software is ready they will invite us to train. They keep in touch with us and they ask us for input and parameters as part of the program. We are in constant communication with them but they are the lead as far as the software implementation. Mayor Donchess The $50 million news is a little bit of a shock. Mr. Dookran I’m not. Commissioner Bergeron I couldn’t agree more with Commissioner Pappas, once we have the information we should have a special meeting maybe with the Board of Aldermen and really dive into it and then show the public because I think that people think that all of a sudden it’s eminent that we are start paving roads immediately and the big number to me is if we increase the budget to $5.9 million and we did that for 10 years we would be right where we are now even though we spent all of that money unless we front load or we bond somehow. I think that people think that all of a sudden we are going to pave roads and I think it would be good to say obviously it’s not spring of 2016 that anything is going to get done. Anything over and above what we are currently doing. I’m hearing a lot as you are about the roads and I do drive around a lot and they are in terrible condition. There’s just no money for it. Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 14  Commissioner Pappas I wouldn’t disagree at some point to have the Board of Public Works and the Board of Aldermen meet but I would really like to have some kind of a workshop either on a Saturday; I want a full understanding from the City Engineer. Director Fauteux I agree but we have to get the information. Mayor Donchess As soon as we get a sense as to when this might be completed we can set up the workshop. Some of the streets that were done recently have come out pretty good, like Manchester Street and Ledge Street and they are still in pretty good shape. How did those streets rank on the PCI scale before they were done? Mr. Dookran For busy streets how we approached it in the past had to do with benefit value. For the residential streets we simply went with very low PCI’s, around 30. Manchester Street was one of those where the PCI could have been in the 40’s but because it was a busy street the benefit was higher. That scale that we have used in the past is not exactly the scale we are using now because they are two different programs. Here you would find that the recommendations for rebuilding a street could very well be in the 40’s whereas in the past it could have been in the 20’s. I am sure we could normalize it some way but we are going to use the new system for herein. Alderman Deane Mr. Mayor, in the grand scheme of things, what was before doesn’t matter anymore. Mayor Donchess Yes but I was just curious. Mr. Dookran One note, we do have a paving program for this year and there must be at 5 miles of streets on the contract so we are going to get going on that soon. Some of the streets that people are complaining about will probably be dealt with in this contract. Mayor Donchess Are there any other thoughts that anyone would like to offer? I don’t think we need a motion on this as it is informational. I. MOTION: Commissioner Pappas: To eliminate the CSO Stormwater Engineer position. SECONDED: Moriarty MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously J. MOTION: Commissioner Pappas: To add two Staff Engineer positions in the City Engineering Department. Funding will be through: Departments: 160 Admin/Engineering and 169 Wastewater; Funds: General and Wastewater; Account Classification: Wages Full Time. SECONDED: Moriarty Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 15  DISCUSSION: Commissioner Bergeron Can Mr. Dookran walk us through; we’ve had this talk about the engineers who have left and the institutional knowledge that we have lost by people leaving. Mr. Dookran We are not just creating positions because we want more people; these are positions to replace ones that are needed. The idea here is to create staff positions that will bring in a skill level at a lower range that we don’t normally see and to have these staff engineers grow on the job and work towards their professional engineer license and be a success and probably be in the job for some years and also not to have the problem that you mentioned where we hire a seasoned person and they come in and work three years and then they find out that the pay scale is not as good as outside and they move on. It’s important to have succession and have retention. How it’s set up here is that we also don’t want to have jobs that are very specific in title and description of duties, we want to have jobs that can do a broad range of duties. The departments work has broadened over the years taking on a variety of projects in terms of not just hiring consultants and getting the projects done but also doing a lot of the work ourselves; designs, drafting, construction and these staff positions have been developed and they would address those needs that we currently have. As well as we would be talking about Cartegraph which is a new piece of software we are implementing. We have a custom GIS and that’s very important for what we do today and we need more people with that type of skill as well as on-line processing. We want to bring in entry level engineers I see as a way to really address the department’s needs. Commissioner Pappas How did you come up with the formula of how much is going to get charged to admin & engineering and how much is going to get charged to wastewater? Mr. Dookran These are the same proportions that were used in the previous positions that we have eliminated. Commissioner Pappas So the person who is paid from wastewater funds; we are not going to use them for city staff other than wastewater? Mr. Dookran Right and a large number of the engineering employees spend a large amount of their time on wastewater related work. From year to year we look at that and sometimes we have to make adjustments. I think it’s an appropriate charge to the amount of work that they do. Commissioner Moriarty Director Fauteux, I was wondering if you could send the commissioners an updated flow chart now that we have some changes in the staff. Director Fauteux Sure. Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 16  Commissioner Pappas Also, we have two foremen at the Streets Department that I think are paid under wastewater. Director Fauteux Just one. MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously K. MOTION: Commissioner Pappas: To approve the selection of Ms. Amy Prouty Gill of Nashua, NH, for the position of Senior Staff Engineer in the City Engineering Department. Starting salary is not to exceed $69,236.61. Funding for this position is located in the following budgets: Department: 160-Admin/Engineering; Fund: General Fund; Account Classification: Wages Full Time; Department: 168- Solid Waste; Fund: Solid Waste; Account Classification: Wages Full Time; Department: 169-Wastewater; Fund: Wastewater, Fund; Account Classification: Wages Full Time. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty DISCUSSION: Commissioner Bergeron Engineer Dookran was talking about this person who has worked for the city for 14 years and that position has been eliminated but she is staying with the city and moving into another position and they are getting institutional knowledge. I like your plan. Commissioner Pappas I know when we do our budget you guys do a good job. When people do their hours during the day and when we spread the money across several different departments do you keep track of what departments they are working for? Just to be fair about which department gets billed for the services or do we not do that? Director Fauteux We don’t really do that. Mr. Dookran Not to that detail. I do have my staff fill out, on a weekly basis which programs they are working on but we don’t track the exact hour. There is so much cross working from one thing to the other and it’s probably not that practical but we do have a sense. If someone is 100% paid for out of wastewater then you want to make sure that person isn’t spending an unproportioned amount of time doing something that is not wastewater. Likewise, if someone is being paid 100% out of the general fund. Commissioner Pappas The only reason I ask is that I am sure with budget crunches sometimes it’s tempting to…it’s easier when the money comes from a user fee fund and I just want to make sure we are being fair about not overbilling the user fee fund. Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 17  Director Fauteux I think we are cognizant of that. MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously L. Motion: Commissioner Pappas to approve Change Order #2 for the Construction of Broad Street Parkway South with Continental Paving of Londonderry, NH in the amount of $51,219.85. Funding will be through Department 160 Admin/Engineering; Fund: Bond; Activity: Broad Street Parkway. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty DISCUSSION: Commissioner Pappas When are we going to start wrapping this up and do we have meetings with the state about the bond money and that kind of thing? Mayor Donchess There is information; the question is there any problem with discussing this in a public situation before… Alderman Deane Is this in litigation, Mr. Mayor? Mayor Donchess You are asking about the issues with Federal Highway, right? Commissioner Pappas Just to get a sense with; obviously I know that we had an issue but just to get a sense of as to when we are going to sit down with the state and hash it out or whether we have to wait for the other issue. Mayor Donchess Do you think there are any issues with… Commissioner Pappas I am not asking about the litigation. Alderman Siegel But you don’t know where the discussion will go. Director Fauteux Well I think the Mayor can decide that. Mayor Donchess Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 18  Federal Highway has taken a position that certain acquisition expenses including the acquisition of the parcels which were taken for the original route for the Broad Street Parkway south of the river; Federal Highway has taken the position that those acquisitions are not eligible expenses and that number is about $5 million. They have also disputed some other smaller issues. If those items are not allowed the city would end up short, meaning we would not get $2 or $3 million of the earmarked funds that have been approved by Congress. They are very adamant about the disqualification of the expenses for what they consider to be unnecessary or unused property. What’s being explored is the possibility that they will allow there to be a repurpose; that the earmarked funds which may exceed the amount of eligible expenses remaining on the parkway; that these earmarked funds could be repurposed for other eligible projects. One of the eligible projects is, and this is being explored, would be the paving of certain state roads. There are quite a few of eligible roads so as we look at our situation and we hear that there are $50 million of paving projects that we could do we believe we will be able to easily, if the repurposing idea is approved, we will be able to easily come up with enough paving to be done in very short order so that any unused earmarked funds can be repurposed into paving. Therefore we solve the problem in that way but we can’t take this to the bank but this is what we are exploring. I would say that I am optimistic. Commissioner Pappas So I guess that means we don’t know when that chapter is ended. It sounds like there are a number of issues that we can’t discuss. Mayor Donchess Mr. Vancor is saying that the substantial completion stage will be reached in another month or two with respect to the work south of the river. There is the outstanding issue with E.D. Swett concerning the bridge and there is nothing to discuss because it’s not in litigation yet. You read it all in the paper. They are claiming that they are due $1.4 million as a result of the fact that they encountered unanticipated conditions in the river and this cost them more money. The city’s position is that those conditions were not unexpected and they should have understood that those conditions could exist in the river and number two that they were late so they owe the city late fees. Both sides have their claims and nothing is in litigation at this time. I think the situation is complicated by the fact that as you hear it you think well it’s a pretty easy resolution but everybody just gives up and walks away but Federal Highway, because federal funds were used here, has some policies regarding not settling claims for late fees. If this thing reaches litigation at some point the city’s hands may be…we may not have complete freedom to do what we want with respect to resolving it. Director Fauteux, would you agree? Director Fauteux I would agree. Commissioner Moriarty Mr. Dookran, can you speak to the motion, the rationale behind this current motion? Mr. Dookran Yes, first it’s about two lanes on Central Street that turn right when you approach the Pine Street intersection and we’ve had a lot of complaints ever since it was put in service and it’s a bit confusing, it’s overbuilt. There are two lanes when cars are pretty much going straight onto Ledge Street and hardly cars going onto the parkway so just one is necessary. We spoke with the consultant who designed it and he said when you design a roadway like this you design it with a 20 year traffic forecast and that you would need two lanes. The idea here is until we need two lanes let’s just use the one. The thing about traffic models is that it’s easier to make a model of a street that’s already exists, for instance Canal Street. You know where the trouble spots are so you model it if you put more development and get more traffic. What you need to mitigate that increased traffic and a reduction in the Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 19  (inaudible). It is easier to do that than to model a whole new road. If you are not seeing the traffic in a year then it really shouldn’t come as a surprise so we will have to make adjustments in whatever fashion over time as the road starts being used, not just one lane or two lanes or less parking or more parking but also how you process traffic through the intersection. That’s what this is about. We’ve heard from a lot of people that one lane turning right is going to reduce the confusion and until that second lane is needed we should take it away temporarily. Commissioner Moriarty I guess my concern would be that the road has only been open for six months so is it not premature to change it already after six months or do you really anticipate it not going to change in the next couple of years. Mr. Dookran Not being the designer and being a user of the road I could say let’s give it some more time but the designer is saying you probably won’t need that second lane for many years to come. Mayor Donchess I think to give you some perspective on the numbers, I think the projections are 20,000 cars per day and the estimate is 6,000. At least 20 years out the estimate was 20,000 per year but I think right now it is around 6,000 so it’s not going to happen overnight. Commissioner Bergeron I couldn’t agree with you more, I think we talked about waiting a year to do some traffic changes in that area, however, this is an intersection that...I live off of the parkway so I take it at least once a day and that intersection has been; I’ve heard a lot of feedback not only from residents but even from some of the Aldermen as well that it was definitely overbuilt and there was too many lights there and it was very confusing if you coming from Central Street. Is this also going to provide some relief to the market, Sally’s Market as well? Mayor Donchess It’s going to be re-striped. That’s a separate issue. Commissioner Bergeron This is something that at first glance I would agree but where I do use it, I also recognize that it’s not working and it needs to change even though I don’t want to spend the money. Mayor Donchess Does anyone have an objection to Alderman Deane asking a question? Director Fauteux I have no objection. Alderman Deane What happens if you do nothing? Why are we doing this? We just spent millions of dollars on this roadway and six months later everyone wants…a few squeaky wheels of complaining. Just leave it along and let people get used to it. I didn’t support the parkway so can we bring legislation in to start taking it apart. Are you going to Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 20  pay money to do that, I mean come on. I understand the parking issue but six months in you want to spend $50,000 because you have a couple of people complaining to make them happy. Commissioner Bergeron It is overbuilt at the end of the day. Alderman Deane Yes, but it was designed for future expansion. Commissioner Bergeron Yes, I understand that but I think it’s overbuilt for the neighborhood and I don’t think we are going to be at 20,000 cars for 20 years. Alderman Deane How does it hurt to leave it alone? Commissioner Pappas I was also against the parkway. I think the Board of Aldermen overrode the Board of Public Works and I don’t disagree, I hate the project but at the end of the day there is one neighborhood that has to deal with this and I think to eliminate that might calm the traffic a little bit so for that reason I think it’s about being a good neighbor. Commissioner Bergeron That was the whole point of relocating the fence. The people at the Housing Authority want that fence ASAP given all of the children out there. It is kind of overbuilt. I’m not saying its right but if it was overbuilt and it was a mistake then let’s make it right. Commissioner Ackerman I’m not sure I understand the term overbuilt but is there a fundamental safety issue for the residents or citizens that are using it now to suggest that maybe we hold off? Mr. Dookran I haven’t seen any myself. I think it’s more of…two things I believe, one is a sense that it’s not needed so there is an extra lane and two it leads to confusion because of the two lanes in addition to the lights. The consultant has developed this plan and he also has intentions of moving some of the lights so they align better with the lanes to reduce some of the confusion. Commissioner Ackerman Would it be possible to eliminate the confusion by re-striping the street in some way at a much lesser cost to the residents of Nashua? Mr. Dookran Striping could be tried but you can’t rely on striping all together. When you get into wintertime there is snow on the ground and it’s not visible. Striping also wears. You can use it as a trial, however, if you wanted to go back to this you would be cutting into new pavement because it’s curb work and moving one of the pedestrian signals Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 21  and there is some drainage as well. If you wanted to build this then later on you probably would be undoing some of the pavement that we plan in the next couple of weeks. That could be an approach, maybe the traffic pattern would change a little bit; I don’t know as it’s hard to predict. Commissioner Moriarty I was just thinking that part of the purpose of the parkway was also to get rid of the congestion on Main Street in case of one, an emergency, like a tractor trailer tipping over on Main Street like what happened on Riverside. Those two lanes would be used pretty quick to get people in and out of the city. Commissioner Bergeron It is a neighborhood at the end of the day and we’ve put the parkway through it and it just seems to be overbuilt for the neighborhood. Also, we really cut into that business’ store and I guess that’s going to be helped by striping it but it is still part of that area and there are 100+ kids at the Bronstein Apartments as well and it is there neighborhood. I drive it all of the time and it doesn’t seem right. It’s not a handful of people; it’s a lot of people that don’t think it is right. Commissioner Ackerman One of the things that we ought to think about is the development of the housing in the downtown area in the next couple of years. Are we making a near term decision that’s going to be a long-term bad one? They might be using the parkway more and may benefit from having two lanes. Mayor Donchess Is there any other discussion? MOTION CARRIED: Majority. Pappas, Bergeron, Mayor Donchess – Yay; Moriarty, Ackerman – Nay. Solid Waste Department A. MOTION: Commissioner Pappas to award a one year contract for the transportation and processing of the City’s single stream recyclables in the amount of $249,925.00 to Casella Recycling LLC of Charlestown, MA pending approval of the FY17 operating budget. Funding through Department 168 Solid Waste; Fund: Solid Waste; Account Classification: 55 Other Contracted Services. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty DISCUSSION: Commissioner Bergeron So we are not expecting recycling maybe what the price of oil going up people will be going back but this number, although we don’t like it, is actually lower than what we had initially. Director Fauteux It is lower than what we originally anticipated. It’s still not as good as we got (inaudible). Mr. Lafleur That’s the reason we went with the one-year contract instead of going for a multiple year so I’ll be going back out in January of 2017 trying to get them to submit a price on that also. Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 22  Commissioner Moriarty Is Casella our present vendor? Mr. Lafleur Yes, they are. Mayor Donchess Is there any other discussion? MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously Parks & Recreation Department A. MOTION: Commissioner Pappas to award the Legacy Playground at Labine Park contract to the lowest qualifying bidder, D.L. King Associates of Nashua, NH, in the amount of $233,803.40. Funding will be through Department 177 Park & Recreation; Funds: Contribution, Prior Year Escrows, Trust and General; Activity: Labine Park. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty DISCUSSION Commissioner Moriarty Superintendent Caggiano, how much of the price for that is coming from the Legacy Group? Mr. Caggiano That’s an active number so it’s going to be approximately between $150,000 and $155,000. Commissioner Moriarty So the city is putting more into this game than we had initially anticipated? Mr. Caggiano Yes. Commissioner Moriarty This does not include the equipment either, is that right, it’s just the landscaping and the gravel? Mr. Caggiano It’s the site work to prepare the site for the equipment which the Board approved two weeks ago. Commissioner Bergeron I would agree that it’s obviously more but that whole project of Legacy has changed so much. The city was going to spend; we had our own plan to do something with Labine Park as well so I am happy to see it finally Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 23  get done. I was hoping to see more money from Legacy but as far as cleaning up that park, the fact that we are getting $155,000 is good. We had a number as well about what we would have liked to have done there. Mr. Caggiano Yes and I will say in my conversations with Mr. Brand that the contribution vessel is still active and open so as work gets started and groups see there may be additional contributions. Commissioner Pappas I don’t disagree that was more money than we expected but that park was just an embarrassment to the city. A lot of folks who live within walking distance hopefully will be able to use it and it won’t have a lot of vandalism. I’m glad they are getting an upgrade. Commissioner Moriarty Have we received the money from the Legacy Group? Mr. Caggiano The check was supposedly cut today but I haven’t physically seen it. We won’t be able to issue a P.O. until all of the funding is proper and there has to be a contract. Mayor Donchess We won’t proceed unless we have the money in the bank. Commissioner Ackerman The net cost to the City of Nashua would be the difference of what the donation is versus the $233,000; is that correct? Mr. Caggiano No. Commissioner Ackerman Is it the $233,000 plus whatever they donate? Mayor Donchess What was the amount of the equipment contract? Mr. Caggiano It was roughly $64,000, so if you add the $64,000 to the $233,000 you’ll get a total cost of $300,000 roughly and then you back off the $150,000 so it’s pretty much a 50/50 split. Mayor Donchess Although to complete the picture the equipment contract did not include the carousel which is a $60,000 item. The budget is about to be proposed and you will see in the budget there is a $60,000 proposed Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 24  appropriation to buy the carousel to make the park complete. That would be an actual total cost of about $360,000, assuming that were approved. Commissioner Ackerman So when we get to the city it would be the difference between $360,000 and whatever the Legacy Group donates? Mayor Donchess Exactly. Mr. Caggiano Speaking of Commissioner Pappas’ point, this was an eye sore for a long time and we went through the Renaissance so to speak of all the parks of the early 2000’s and before 9/11 and Katrina hit we were on a roll re-doing all of the parks and this one was the next one on the list and then things changed, the economy changed and so it’s been sitting in the background for quite a long time and unusable. Mayor Donchess I think to give a complete perspective the permit had set aside money for Labine before the decision was even made to switch the Legacy Playground to this site and I think it was close to $100,000. Mr. Caggiano Let’s say it was about $76,000. Commissioner Ackerman Assuming this does get passed today when do you anticipate it to be complete less the carousel? Mr. Caggiano Due to the time constraints this was approved at the Finance Committee on Tuesday with the condition that it would be passed here as well. That would give us three weeks to get the contract in place and then we are anticipating construction to start right around mid-June. We would start with the easy stuff; I really would not want heavy construction there while the kids are still in school. Then the construction will pick up and we are anticipation that we are going to have substantial completion by the end of August. MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously B. Informational: Commissioner Pappas to accept and place on file the information from the Transit Department regarding the purchase of discounted summer bus passes for students. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty DISCUSSION: Commissioner Bergeron How many youths took advantage of that last year? Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 25  Mr. Caggiano Approximately 220; it’s a great deal. Street Department A. Motion: Commissioner Pappas to approve the hiring of Derek Messier, Nashua, NH to the position of Truck Driver, Street Department. Starting salary for this position will be $21.97 per hour for a yearly salary of $45,697.60. Funding will be through: Department: 161-Street Department; Fund: General; Account Classification: 51-Salaries & Wages. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty DISCUSSION: Commissioner Bergeron Derek has always wanted to work for the city and I think it’s a good thing. Commissioner Moriarty The on-line applications are not specific to this division. It doesn’t ask about licensure and questions like have you ever been convicted of a criminal offense other than a minor traffic violation? If these folks are driving for the city, plows and trucks, we should know about any kind of traffic violation. A case in point is what happened in Boston with the Duck Boat; the guy had seven speeding tickets and they didn’t know about any. Director Fauteux We actually do driving record checks on them as well as background checks through human resources prior to hiring them. Commissioner Moriarty I did not know that. Director Fauteux You are right, these are generic; we use what is called “AppliTrack.” We have talked to HR a couple of times and I think HR has just been totally rebuilt and I think they are still trying to get their arms around processes and the Director is doing a really great job and I think this is probably one of the things that has just been lower on his list because he has a completely new staff within the last 4 to 6 months but we have mentioned that to him. Commissioner Bergeron Is there any way you can add that the applicant passed on the record? Director Fauteux Yes. Commissioner Ackerman Is this new position or did somebody leave? Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 26  Director Fauteux This is Ryan Lones’ position; he transferred over to Parks & Recreation. MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously B. Motion: Commissioner Pappas to approve the selection of Philip Fote, Nashua, NH to the position of Wastewater Collections Systems Technician, Street Department. Starting salary for this position will be $25.77 per hour for a yearly salary of $53,601.60. Funding will be through: Department: 169 Wastewater; Fund: Wastewater; Account Classification: 51 Salaries & Wages. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty DISCUSSION: Commissioner Moriarty So tell me what happened with this situation. It appears that he was a foreman? Mr. Ibarra No, a collections operator and Dave Essensa retired. So, he wants to make a move over to the camera tech position. Director Fauteux They are both in collections systems but just a different position with the collections systems. MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously C. Motion: Commissioner Pappas to approve the selection of David Kirby, Milford, NH to the position of Traffic Foreman, Street Department. Starting salary for this position will be $31.46 per hour for a yearly salary of $65,436.80. Funding will be through: Department: 161- Street Department; Fund: General; Account Classification: 51-Salaries & Wages. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty DISCUSSION: Director Fauteux I don’t often speak on these but I think we are very fortunate to have somebody like Dave on the staff. He has a great traffic background, he worked for DOT and he’s a great candidate for this position and really brings a lot to the city and I am very happy to have him in this position. MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously D. Motion: Commissioner Pappas to approve the selection of Henry Boucher of Nashua, NH for the position of Street Foreman, Street Department. Starting salary for this position will be $30.24 per hour for a yearly salary of $62,908. Funding will be through: Department: 161-Street Department; Fund: General; Account Classification: 51-Salaries & Wages. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty DISCUSSION: Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 27  Director Fauteux Henry has been with the city for a long time and he’s been an example of the best of public works. He has been a fill-in foreman many times and he has led by example and has been a good role model. There are a lot of times I am concerned about promoting someone that has been with the city that long; it’s very difficult to rise above your peers and then all of a sudden be a leader but he has shown us repeatedly that he can do that. He has a lot of respect within the department and I appreciate the knowledge that he has of street construction. Commissioner Moriarty I would also like to commend you for all of your certifications. Thank you for taking the time to do all of that for the city. MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously Wastewater Department A. Motion: Commissioner Pappas to approve the User Warrants as presented. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously B. Motion: Commissioner Pappas to approve the selection of Ms. Heather Larocque of Nashua, NH to the position of Laboratory Supervisor at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Starting salary for this position will be $62,898 per year. Funding will be through: Department: 169 Wastewater; Fund: Wastewater; Account Classification: 51 Salaries & Wages. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously C. Motion: Commissioner Pappas to approve the second phase of the Design Phase Services to Woodard & Curran of Portland, ME in amount not to exceed $554,853. Funding will be through: Department: 169 - Wastewater; Fund: Wastewater; Activity: Pump Station Upgrades. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty DISCUSSION: Commissioner Bergeron Can the superintendent just walk us through the project that is going on? Mr. Simmons Prior to performing a preliminary evaluation and provided recommendation for the upgrade in all 13 pump stations they completed this evaluation so they are ready to proceed to the 30% design phase and this is going to be done between now and the end of October. Then we will be back and request funding for the final design which will take us through to February of 2017. Bidding is projected for March of 2017 and shoveling the ground a year from now. Commissioner Bergeron What will be the total cost to have the job completed with all 13? Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 28  Mr. Simmons I want to say between around $2.5 million I think. We will know that once the final design is complete. There was a question of whether or not any of the pump stations could be eliminated and that’s what this preliminary design was all about. Commissioner Bergeron Would there be anywhere that we would need to add a pumping station at this point? What is the life expectancy? Mr. Simmons 20 years. Mayor Donchess One of the pump stations is near the bridge to Hudson which I think is used in part to empty the… Mr. Simmons That’s on East Hollis and it’s for emergency only. It might have 10 hours run on those pumps. It is basically for when the Merrimack gets up to above the discharge of the CSO’s. That pump provides sewer overflow out into the river, otherwise it would back up into the city. Mayor Donchess Is that part of this project at all? Mr. Simmons Not at this time. We are looking at possibly upgrading the electrical because the outside transformers are in dire need of upgrade from the 1950’s technology. MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously D. Informational: Commissioner Pappas to accept and place on file the purchase of Access Control and Camera System for Wastewater Treatment Plant funded by a Department of Homeland Security Grant. SECONDED: Commissioner Moriarty DISCUSSION: Commissioner Pappas I told the last Chair that sometimes I think it’s good to mix up because it seems like the superintendent; just because his department starts with “W” he is always stuck to the end of the money. Director Fauteux We do that. MOTION CARRIED: Unanimously Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 29 Administration A. Discussion: Public Art Mayor Donchess Since the last meeting we have given this quite a bit of thought and the issue of public art is a broader issue than just public works because there are sculptures and many other things on non-right-of-way sites. Director Fauteux The Director of Community Development, Sarah Marchant, Kim Kleiner from the Mayor’s office and I; along with input from other staff in the Mayor’s office, looked at possibilities of where it might make some sense to put public art. We had identified originally six spots on Main Street. We really didn’t want to add anything more on Main Street because we were concerned about the maintenance of the sidewalks, both sealing the sidewalks, cleaning and sweeping the sidewalks. We looked at some of the side streets and this is what we came up with; you can all of the yellow arrows which identify places where public art could be placed. There are also a couple of other spots the City Arts Nashua had requested. Two of the sites that are not on here; one is in front of City Hall where currently the bird is located and also in front of Enterprise Bank which is 146 Main Street which I believe is where the dragon is right now and then in front of Jordan’s Luggage which is where the boat is and that’s what you had approved for a couple of weeks. We were going to ask the Board of Public Works for approval for City Arts Nashua to place art at these locations. Commissioner Pappas First off before City Arts does each location I would like to take a peek at that and I wanted to thank Commissioner Ackerman for sending out the information of what other cities do for arts. My personal opinion is that some of the art at City Hall, I think it takes away from the dignity of the Kennedy Bust and that kind of thing. I feel pretty strongly about it and I would hope we wouldn’t take this whole thing up tonight. I think just to have this map and have time to digest it would be great. I think the City Arts should give us plenty of heads up notice before they place anything. I don’t think City Hall is the place to have art and again, it’s my personal opinion. Director Fauteux I don’t want to be in the position of picking art and where it goes so we were hoping to have locations that we thought made sense so we could give City Arts Nashua the places where we thought it would be safe to put public art. Commissioner Bergeron Are you talking about the temporary public art? Director Fauteux Yes. So some of this, I know that the piano’s we had asked to be approved through October 31, 2016; I think they should ask us for a certain timeframe but I would say that timeframe could be anywhere from March 15 th and November 15th; the same that we use for outdoor dining so we wouldn’t have to worry about plowing sidewalks. If there were other opportunities that they wanted to put out art, for instance the Stroll, maybe we could approve it on a one-time basis. City Arts was hoping they wouldn’t have to come back every time they had art that they wanted to place so they were hoping to have locations that we would approve. Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 30  Mayor Donchess City Arts is a non-profit organization that promotes arts in the city and the way that they got involved in this is that the Board of Aldermen’s Finance Committee…in the budget last year the city appropriated to the City Arts $25,000 and then the Art’s Commission recommended that we, the city, award part or most of that money in the form of a contract with the City Art’s or is the contract with artist, I forget? Director Fauteux It’s with City Art’s. Mayor Donchess So there is a contract with City Art’s that was approved by the Finance Committee last year to enable them to do this public art’s project. Based upon that contract, that’s where the public art came from. Since we discussed this last time, obviously it generated quite a lot of thought and discussion. The City Art’s project; the public art and we can get Kathy to show a presentation from City Art’s but these are very collaborative pieces that they have. The artist, Jerry Beck, is an artist who enjoys working with kids so the dragon and the bird were really built by school kids from various schools here in Nashua. They come up with the designs. The point has been made that there should be some city body other than a private organization that should be approving these contracts and the artists. I think you have circulated some of these rather complex policies. The public art policy from Portland, ME is 35-pages long. We need to come up with something and we will do but City Art’s needs to be the one I think in recognition of the point that there should be some city body that’s doing that. The Art’s Commission should be the one to decide or recommend what artists; to vet the artists and decide how these public arts projects should proceed given that the location is approved by the Board of Public Works. Commissioner Moriarty So the City Art’s Commission is appointed by the Mayor? Mayor Donchess Appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Aldermen. It’s a group of 12 to 15 people. Commissioner Moriarty Does the Board of Aldermen have a liaison to that commission? Mayor Donchess Yes, it’s Alderman Lopez but I don’t know who the alternate is Commissioner Bergeron So for tonight there are three pieces of art currently out there and we’ve approved that for what, two weeks? Director Fauteux Yes, technically the City Hall Plaza doesn’t fall under the purview of this Board. The Board of Public Works would have jurisdiction over parks, sidewalks, alleys and streets with the exception of Greeley Park when there would be new construction. The maintenance of the park is the parks department and therefore under the Board of Public Works. Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 31  Commissioner Pappas It seems to me that either we get the art locations or we don’t. If you are asking us where to put art and they want to put it at City Hall, it seems to me that we would be able to give a thumbs up or thumbs down. I might be the only one curmudgeon that doesn’t think the art belongs on the City Hall Plaza. Commissioner Ackerman If you look at the map of City Hall it’s earmarked that City Hall is owned by the City of Nashua but they are not putting a yellow arrow next to recommending anything next to City Hall. Director Fauteux You are right that isn’t on here but it should be. I think there is no arrow there because it doesn’t fall under the purview of public works; City Hall Plaza. Commissioner Bergeron I like the art, I think we could maybe; because they are not looking to do more than the three right now or are they looking to do more than the three right now? Director Fauteux They are looking to do more but I’m not sure what the timing is but I think in the next couple of months. Commissioner Bergeron I do like the idea and there was a buzz downtown. I think it was helpful when Kathy Hersh gave a presentation to us on the sculptures which I found interesting. Maybe we could extend the period of time for them to keep the art that they have out there now and then maybe ask that she come in and get some more information and maybe do a brief presentation. Maybe have the Art’s Commission come; it’ll be people that we know. Director Fauteux I don’t think Kathy could present on the Art’s Commission because she’s not on it. Commissioner Bergeron Just some representative, it doesn’t have to be Kathy. Commissioner Moriarty Moving forward with this, I’d be much more comfortable with Mayor, you as Mayor, having the final say on these approvals. This commission might say I want it there but I think somebody who is elected should have a final say as a policy. Mayor Donchess I think the next project that is coming is a different one. They are talking about in concept is kind of collaborative with the kids so you don’t know specifically what’s coming out of it but they are talking about a tables project where they set up tables of some kind of concept with some seeding to make the point that we should get together and share a meal. They were talking about 10 sites and as we were discussing this it just Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 32  seemed that 10 sites on Main Street is just too much for the Department of Public Works to deal with. We came up with the idea of scattering these sites around the downtown as well as Main Street both because of the public works issues but also because we want to bring people not just to Main Street; there are a lot of other places where these things could work. Commissioner Pappas So who is going to get to vote on City Hall? Alderman Siegel The Board of Aldermen controls City Hall. Alderman Deane The Infrastructure Committee. Commissioner Bergeron I agree that there should be an elected Board that does this; I just think it would be helpful to have information, like when the art first goes up. I mean it was like you see the bird and think I don’t know but then you find out the kids did it and you look at it differently. Mayor Donchess We can get a presentation, no problem but these are for temporary art locations. Most of the permitted ones are not in public works spaces. Director Fauteux Some of them are. Mayor Donchess What are we doing on that? Director Fauteux We had approval for some sites. I think they are coming in for approvals for a few more sites but some are not in the Board of Public Works jurisdiction. In the past the Board of Public Works has approved the sites without seeing what the art is going to be. Commissioner Bergeron I think we approved 5 or 6 sites and they put three sculptures. That to me is different than this because that to me was a little bit like I just felt like we should approve the site and not… Mayor Donchess The reason I think that was done was because it was for the Sculpture Symposium and they wanted to allow the artist to go around and tour a bunch of sites and pick one that would work. Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 33  Commissioner Bergeron Back to the educational piece, they have put in these permanent sculptures but there is nothing that says who the artist is or what it is and I think that would be helpful. Director Fauteux That’s a good point. Mayor Donchess I’ve been looking at the permanent stuff and there’s quite a bit and some of it is pretty interesting. Alderman Siegel The temporary art, we talked about that last term and part of the contract terms were we were allowing them to identify themselves. Jerry’s identification is somewhere on the art if he so desired. Mayor Donchess What you see now in the three pieces there is a little yard sign type of thing which says who made it and what school made it. Alderman Siegel The permanent pieces do too. Commissioner Bergeron Mine Falls one doesn’t unless it’s so small that I don’t see it. Mayor Donchess What is the Board’s pleasure with this? Director Fauteux The only thing that I am going to go out on a limb for the City Art’s Nashua because I know Kathy Hersh is ringing her hands right now. If we hold this for another month, can we at least approve the current sites that they are using, the 97 Main Street, Jordan’s Luggage; and the 146 Main Street, Enterprise Bank where the dragon and the ship are? Commissioner Pappas My fear is that we would put this in front of a business that wouldn’t want it. Director Fauteux I’ve spoken to Kathy and before they put up any art she does speak to the businesses to make sure that they are okay. MOTION: Alderman Moriarty to approve the site locations that were presented here tonight from City Art’s Nashua. Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 34  SECONDED: Commissioner Ackerman DISCUSSION: Commissioner Bergeron I’m not opposed to approving it tonight I mean did people feel like they needed more information because we could have had someone come in. Even if we approve it tonight I’d still like to have someone come in. Commissioner Pappas Or maybe have a special meeting because sometimes I feel like our meetings are so long with presentations that you never get to make comments. Commissioner Bergeron Or maybe it could be just sent through e-mail, who is on the Art’s Commission, just for informational purposes. Commissioner Pappas Maybe we could get a link…if she has given public presentations. Mayor Donchess We can send it to you. A couple of members were just recommended, one was Mitzi Barrett and I forget the name of the other one but she is a young musician. The chair of the commission is Tracy Hatch. Commissioner Ackerman Director, you indicated that the Art’s Commission comes here for approval. Director Fauteux No, they do not. This approval would be… Commissioner Ackerman So you are referring to the location and not actually what the art is. Director Fauteux Correct and they would probably come to me just to make sure that however we are securing it was safe but not the type of artwork. Commissioner Bergeron Just to back up to that, like the pianos they are installing the art. Director Fauteux Correct. Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 35  Commissioner Bergeron So who… Director Fauteux But they did consult us to make sure that we were comfortable with the way they were securing the pianos. Mayor Donchess And that would have come to you before except for the rescheduling of the meeting. We didn’t anticipate that the rescheduling of this meeting would result in this problem. We would be approving locations here that we would give to the Art’s Commission and the City Arts to say okay here are the locations that public works has approved. Director Fauteux That’s correct and I’d like to point out that there is an arrow where Enterprise Bank is, it’s highlighted but there is an arrow missing so I want to make clear that is where the dragon is now. Commissioner Moriarty And as well as City Hall, is that the other arrow that is missing? Director Fauteux City Hall isn’t under the purview of the Board of Public Works so I’m not as worried about that, I just wanted to make sure that you knew that Enterprise Bank is one of the locations. MOTION CARRIED: Majority; Pappas – Nay B. Informational: Budget Transfers Director Fauteux We don’t have any to report. C. Informational: Update on Burke Street Building Director Fauteux I don’t have a lot to report on that, we are still working negotiating with the architect. We are looking at space needs for both the DPW and the school department and we are also looking at the garage space and what the best thing to do with that space would be. I may have more to report at our next meeting. Commissioner Moriarty It seems ambitious that that building will be ready for the school department to get in there in a year. Do you have any feedback on that? Director Fauteux Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 36  We are going to try but you are right it is aggressive. That’s the critical path. I don’t think it’s impossible; the office space is in pretty good condition. It’s the garage and other space that is going to be more of a challenge. The office space was built in 1996 and it’s in pretty decent shape. That would be the first thing that we would focus on if that’s the path moving forward. Mayor Donchess There is an estimate that the project is going to cost and it’s around $34 million which is a bit of a surprise. What’s happening is the committee that has been working with the architect is going to look for a second opinion on that issue and also going to price the prospect of demolishing the garage and building a new structure on the theory that it may ultimately be cheaper and more effective. One big problem is that the floor in the existing garage doesn’t have drainage and it’s necessary for a public works garage because of the activity of washing. And now we hear that it is $50 million for paving so… D. Informational: Director’s Report Director Fauteux We won an Outstanding Engineer Excellence Achievement Award for the Manchester Street Bridge which is pretty cool. We had a quick ribbon cutting ceremony to open the Mill Pond Boardwalk. It’s pretty outstanding and the Mine Falls Advisory Committee was there along with a walking group. It’s right across from our office at Riverside. The return of the swans at the Mill Pond in Mine Falls Park, it’s a sign of spring. This is a picture of some Rivier University students at Mine Falls; they participated in our community clean-up day on April 16th – we’ve had a tremendous amount of volunteers helping around the city. This is the installation of the liner system at the Centennial Pool that was completed on April 22nd. It’s going to save a tremendous amount of time and we are very excited about that. We had an Arbor Day Celebration at the Dr. Crisp Elementary School on April 21st and that was a great event and the kids were very well behaved. This is some sewer and lawn repair on Echo Avenue; we replaced a sewer main. Mayor Donchess Is Echo Avenue the one with a dead end on both ends? Director Fauteux Yes. Director Fauteux This is a catch basin repair at 10 Bradford Street and a catch basin repair on Berwick Street. We re-graded the boat ramp at Hills Ferry. We did a sewer repair on Gillis Street. The mechanics did a transmission replacement and grater repairs. They are saving the city a lot of money and doing a lot of great work. Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 37  I wanted to clarify; Commissioner Pappas had sent an e-mail that…we started soft yard waste collections and it’s only grass and leaves and not sticks. It can be put in paper bags or 32 gallon barrels but not weighing more than 60 lbs. and it should be placed 3 feet away from your normal trash cart. If people have sticks, we do have oversized item pick up and I have hand-outs for oversized items that the solid waste department puts out. Brush can be picked up as an oversized item. The brush can be no longer than 4 feet and no wider than 3” in diameter and a bundle should be no heavier than 60 lbs. There are a number of other oversized items that we do pick up; metal, furniture, mattresses, etc. Brush should not be in with soft yard waste and you can schedule your pick up through the website or you can call the solid waste department directly to schedule a pick up. E. Commissioner’s Comments Commissioner Pappas For next month, our meetings do kind of last a long time but I know there is some issue about the stick issue and the brush. I know we have always done it that way but that isn’t necessarily the best way to do. A lot of people don’t think about picking up sticks until after the soft yard waste are put out. Then I think people will put the sticks in the middle of barrels and that’s not good for our trucks. If we could do that as a discussion item next month that would be great. Director Fauteux You just want me to bring that up again; the difference between soft yard waste and sticks? Commissioner Pappas I am wondering if we might rethink the way we are doing our stick pick up. I think people see it as a very arduous task to have to bundle things up and they forget to call it in. People aren’t thinking about stick pick up a few weeks before the soft yard waste starts and then I think people try to hide them in between. I’ve seen people plop it in their garbage pail. I think we might want to think about relax or change the way we do it a little bit to kind of get back to basics. I think we might be able to make the system a little bit more user-friendly. I’ve been hearing this for almost 10 years that I have been on the Board. Director Fauteux I would be really interested to hear what your thoughts are about that. Commissioner Pappas I know everything costs money but if we can afford to send overtime for Brew Fest...like we are always adding something into what we do and I think this is very basic. People don’t manufacture sticks. It’s not a criticism I’m just saying when we are used to doing things a certain way… Director Fauteux One of the reasons we do it as early as we do is that is before we start our construction work. The street department does the spring clean-up. Solid Waste doesn’t have the time to do that at any time of year. Residents are also welcome to bring any brush to the landfill at any time. Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 38  Commissioner Pappas A lot of people don’t have vehicles where they can throw this stuff in the back. I’m just saying let’s talk about it. Director Fauteux Okay. Commissioner Ackerman On page 15 of the meeting minutes from last month we had an in-depth conversation about the FY budget and one of the things that I had anticipated being on the agenda and haven’t seen it yet is an estimate of anticipated surpluses in the budget. Director Fauteux That will be provided at our next meeting at the end of May. The financial manager was a little bit uncomfortable with reporting surpluses at this time; she wanted to wait another month because there are a lot of expenses that come into play at this time of year. We didn’t want to report something to you that was inaccurate. Commissioner Ackerman Is there an update on the activity with the skate park? Director Fauteux We don’t have an update on that yet, we are still working on the design and I am hopeful that we will have a design somewhere in the near future. Commissioner Ackerman I did go back there twice and I counted the cars that do park in that area and there are 21 cars that park in that little cul-de-sac. Director Fauteux We will be replacing all of that, we will relocate the parking. Commissioner Moriarty Do we have a date for the budget hearing? Alderman Deane The 21st of May; that’s the tentative date. Director Fauteux I think it is May 31st at 7:00 p.m. is the public works budget presentation to the Board of Aldermen. The public hearing is on June 9th at Nashua North High School at 7:00 p.m. Commissioner Moriarty Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 39  I just want to mention that I am in favor of your initiative for the Riverwalk development. I am very happy to see that. Commissioner Pappas It said something in the paper that our budget surplus might be used for the lighting on the rail trail and I was really hoping that money could be aside for either paving or mill and fill. Mayor Donchess The rail trail lighting money is in the proposed budget and is a separate item. I’ve gone to a few events that have either sponsored or participated in by the public works; one was the rail trail clean-up. The parks department did a really good job of engaging the public and getting everyone excited. The Arbor Day Celebration was really good. The quality of the employees is really just so high. The project at the Mill Pond was really nice. A bald eagle came down and picked up a fish. I ran into Nick at the Hunt Building and the Cooperative Extension from UNH is sending down a landscape designer to help develop a landscape plan for around the Hunt Building. Mayor Donchess motioned to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 8:07 p.m. Board of Public Works Minutes – May 5, 2016 Page 40