Milwaukee Avenue Corridor Committee

MILWAUKEE AVENUE CORRIDOR COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 27, 2019 - MEETING SUMMARY CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Co-Chair McCreery at 9:00 a.m. ATTENDANCE The following Committee members were in attendance:  Denise McCreery, Village Trustee  Ross Klicker, Economic Development Coordinator  Bob Pilat, Asst. to the Director of Public Works  Tom Powers, Village Engineer Others in attendance were:  George Alpogianis, Village Trustee  Steve Vinezeano, Village Manager  Fred Braun, Director of Public Works APPROVAL OF MEETING SUMMARY A motion was made by Ross Klicker, seconded by Bob Pilat, to approve the August 30, 2019 meeting summary notes. The motion carried unanimously. SELECTION OF STREET LIGHT OPTIONS Bob Pilat stated the Village Board provided direction to use the Omega fixture, and requested the inclusion of alternate options for smooth or fluted poles when the Milwaukee/Waukegan project is bid. However, the Howard Street improvement project will occur prior to the Milwaukee/Waukegan project, and federal funding being used to pay for the majority of the Howard Street project does not allow the inclusion of alternate options during the bidding process. To keep the project on schedule and not jeopardize the federal funding, the Village must select the type and color of pole to be used on Howard Street. The Milwaukee/Waukegan project is intertwined with this project due to its proximity, therefore this selection would also become the selection for Milwaukee/Waukegan project. A detail of the cost difference between a smooth and fluted pole was distributed and discussed. At this time the final design has not been completed for Milwaukee/Waukegan, however depending upon the number of poles used, fluted poles Page 1 of 4 would cost between $579,600 to $658,000 additional for all the projects. A breakdown is as follows: Assuming Waukegan is a "single side" arrangement and Milwaukee is a mixture of "single side" and "opposite side" arrangements. Total Fluted Project # of Streetlights Fluted Upgrade Upgrade Cost Howard Street 37 $1,400 $51,800 Milwaukee/Waukegan 377 $1,400 $527,800 Total Cost $579,600 Assuming Waukegan is a "single side" arrangement and Milwaukee is an all "opposite side" arrangement. Total Fluted Project # of Streetlights Fluted Upgrade Upgrade Cost Howard Street 37 $1,400 $51,800 Milwaukee/Waukegan 433 $1,400 $606,200 Total Cost $658,000 There was general discussion about the whether the difference in pole type was worth the large price difference. Trustee McCreery felt it was nice to have the decorative base, but having a decorative base and pole was not a necessity. Trustee Alpogianis stated motorists would probably not notice the difference while driving down the street. Ross Klicker said you would notice the difference of the pole type when walking, however Milwaukee Avenue is still many years away from being a high pedestrian use street There was a question raised about how the pole choices would relate to other elements. It was stated the pedestrian lights, traffic signals and decorative fencing are all black. Trustee McCreery stated there was good to having some uniformity to the elements. Page 2 of 4 Steve Vinezeano mentioned there is a substantial savings using the smooth pole, and mentioned the positive impact on the financing of other projects. Tom Powers raised the possibility of using a different fixture on the Milwaukee/Waukegan project from the Howard project. After discussion there was consensus to maintain the same fixture for both projects for equipment standardization, consistent look of fixtures and maintenance issues. Additionally if there were different manufacturers, this may require multiple decoration options being purchased due to electrical configurations, and also require the need to keep more stock on hand to support the different fixtures. The color of the fixture was discussed next. Bob Pilat mentioned that black is a color often used for streetlights, however the urban bronze color was discussed with the Solana fixture. After a brief discussion the consensus was to utilize black as the color of the pole to match other streetscape elements. Bob Pilat then mentioned Sternberg offers a black matte and black textured color, with the textured color being the one recommended by Sternberg, as it shows less wear and tear (hand prints, dirt, scratches, dings, etc.) than the matte finish. Color swatches were viewed and the consensus was to utilize the textured finish. Fred Braun stated Trustee Matayas could not be here today, however he did discuss the selections of the pole and colors with her, and she was in favor of a smooth pole with the black textured color. A motion was made by Bob Pilat, seconded by Ross Klicker, to use a smooth pole with black textured color scheme. The motion carried unanimously. OLD BUSINESS At the last meeting of the Committee, potential projects were discussed to determine projects that would have an application submitted to IDOT for ITEP funding. At that time applications were due in December, 2019. However IDOT recently released a statement stating the next grant cycle will be delayed until late summer/ early fall of 2020. Per IDOT: IDOT has postponed the Cycle 14 call for projects until late summer/early fall of 2020 to allow time to thoroughly develop a program that incorporates both the federal funds and the recent supplemental state funding being set aside from the Road Fund. Page 3 of 4  Previous Cycle 14 guidance stated that Phase I engineering must be complete in order to apply for an ITEP grant. With the additional state funds, this criteria will not be required. Other changes to the program include at least 25% of funding being directed toward projects in high-need communities, based on community median income and total property tax base. As well as local match funds being determined on a sliding scale based on community size, median income, and total property tax base. ITEP guidelines will be updated and made available as soon as possible. IDOT is working to ensure our ability to fully utilize federal funds in a timely manner as well as implement the requirements of the additional state funds. Bob Pilat said he felt these changes would probably hurt the Village’s chance to obtain funding with the removal of the Phase I engineering requirement. While many communities may not be able to meet this requirement, Niles had been proceeding with this requirement in mind and had several projects with Phase I engineering completed. It was also discussed funding will also be set aside for high-need communities which may also decrease the available funding further. Once the final guidelines have been released in 2020 the Committee will meet to discuss application submittals again. NEW BUSINESS There was no new business. No date was set for the next meeting. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Ross Klicker made a motion, seconded by Bob Pilat to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 9:44 a.m. Handouts provided at the meeting are attached as part of the meeting minutes. Page 4 of 4