Committee of the Whole

Committee-Of-The-Whole Meeting Minutes March 5, 2019 Mayor Nold called the Committee-of-the-Whole meeting to order at 7:15 PM. Members Present: Aldermen Zwart, Strey, Kowieski, Miller, Rosek, Shaw, Ellis and Spiegelberg Staff Present: Mayor Nold, Kitsembel, Freber, Osborn, Pickart, Frye, Sullivan, Gallo, Buerger, Duffy, Bleck and Coenen Others Present: Atty. Riffle 2. Discussion on Options for North Lapham Street Bridge: Frye gave a PowerPoint presentation on the North Lapham Street bridge stating it was built in 1950 and is a single span steel deck girder bridge (one lane) over the Oconomowoc River. From the north, the bridge services Oerding Park, nine homes and three vacant lots on E. Juneau Ave in the Town of Oconomowoc. Next, he displayed area maps from 1941, 1963, 2005 and 2010 showing development over the years. With the construction of Thurow Golden View Estates (113 lot subdivision) in 2004 and a traffic signal-controlled intersection at E. Wisconsin Ave the City felt it wasn’t necessary to have a dedicated second access and agreed to install a gate on Lapham St to close the bridge for 10 years. With the closure, the City anticipated the Sufficiency Rating (SR) would decrease over those ten years so a new two-lane bridge could be constructed. The SR is factored on a 100 based scale, and the rating must be below 50 to get Federal funding (80%.) Today the bridge is at an SR of 50.8. Bridges are to be inspected biennially on even years and the City has $13.4K in maintenance plus $4K in deck welding assigned to the bridge but prior to moving forward we are looking for direction from the Committee to determine how the bridge will be used in the future. Frye went over the options which included keeping the bridge the same meaning the gates would remain closed until a two lane bridge is constructed but it would be open to pedestrian & emergency vehicle traffic only; moving the gates and closing the bridge on north side but allowing pedestrian and emergency vehicle traffic only; open the gate/bridge and modify approach for vehicle stacking and adding signage for a one lane bridge; or fund the entire project for a two lane bridge including design of the structure, bid project and construction with a cost estimated at $700K ($500K structure, $130K approach work and $70K design engineering.) The Committee consensus was to keep the condition of the structure safe for travel by fire trucks, keep the bridge closed as it is and do nothing else at this time. Motion by Rosek to adjourn the Committee-of-the-Whole meeting; second by Miller. Motion carried 8-0. The meeting adjourned at 7:31 PM. Minutes taken by Diane Coenen, City Clerk S:\Committees - Commissions\Committee-of-the-Whole\Minutes\2019\C-O-T-W Min 3-5-19.doc