Public Works, Sewer and Water

CITY OF VERONA MINUTES PUBLIC WORKS/SEWER & WATER COMMITTEE MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2022 1. The meeting was called to order by Mr. Touchett at 5:01pm. 2. Roll Call: Present: Mara Helmke, Evan Touchett. Rye Kimmett entered at 5:21pm. Also present: Theran Jacobson, Director of Public Works; Carla Fischer, City Engineer, AECOM; Chad DuChateau, Director of Trail Operations, Ice Age Trail Alliance; Chris James, Dane County Parks; members of the public. 3. MOVED by Touchett, seconded by Helmke, to approve the minutes of the September 12, 2022, meeting of the Public Works/Sewer and Water Committee. Motion carried 2-0. 4. DISCUSSION regarding Project ID 2022-117 Badger Mill Creek Asphalt Path Options. Jacobson: MMSD and the City of Verona teamed up for Phase 2 of the Pump Station 17 Force Main Relief Project. MMSD is the lead agency for the project, City is a party to the project to extend the asphalt path of Badger Mill Creek that was originally constructed during Phase 1 in 2021. This is also one of the projects that was originally identified in the PED bike plan that was finalized in the spring of 2017. City staff requests direction of the committee on which option for the path to engineer, permit and ultimately construct. MMSD's route selection has been finalized therefore the City’s design consultant MSA, which is also the same design consultant that MMSD is using, has completed the practical alternatives analysis for the path alignment that is needed to satisfy the permit conditions. There are five options which will be presented tonight. Coordination has completed to date through MMSD's project and has included two public information meetings and a neighborhood meeting that occurred in early August. Information from those meetings regarding the path was included. The inter-governmental communication has been between MMSD, City of Verona, WI Department of Natural Resources, Dane County Parks (who has a representative here tonight) and the Ice Age Trail Alliance (who also has a representative here tonight). As part of the second PIM on August 24, a survey was organized by MMSD that entailed questions regarding project enhancements, with the path being one of those enhancements. A summary of the survey responses was included with the packet. The letter was dated September 13th, 2022, on MMSD letterhead. There were 109 responses to the survey, with 70% of them being within the City of Verona. The two main options for discussion: Option 1 and Option 5. Option 1 is described as a paved path on the north side of Badger Mill Creek and parallels Badger Mill Creek from the termination point near the pine forest and the Arbor Vitae connection to the Military Ridge state trail south of the Little League complex. Option 1 also impacts the Ice Age Trail. Option 5 parallels the Lincoln St channel to the junction at the Military Ridge state trail area south of the ice arena. There would be no impacts to the Ice Age Trail with that option. Option 3, 4 and 5 all share a similar alignment for the paved path being parallel to the Lincoln St channel. In review of the survey results, 59% of the people voted for Option 4 or the write-in Option 5, with an additional 10% voting for Option 3. Without looking into the individual results, the summary can be concluded that 69% of the votes indicate a preference for the Lincoln St path alignment. As identified in the survey results, the Ice Age Trail Alliance is intending on pursuing Option 5, where the Ice Age trail remains in the current location except for realigning south after the easterly bridge where it connects to the Military Ridge reserve, and then it would connect to the Old PB pedestrian bridge that was constructed in 2018 which connects the gardens to the park- and-ride. Option 5 is estimated at around $650,000, Option 1 just under $820,000. Included with the packet are figures for Options 1-5. Kevin Lord is here to present the practical alternatives analysis as needed, the synopsis letter from MMSD regarding the survey results, and City Staff and the design consultant can provide an overview of any of the options. I have spoken With Dane County, and they support Option 5 because it is all their lands that are within that would be impacted. Touchett: From the Public Works perspective do you have a preferred option? Jacobson: Option 1 was preferable looking at all the inputs from engineering. Option 5 is definitely a viable option that would suit the needs of all, minus the utilities, but we can work through those issues. Both Option 1 and 5 are constructable. Touchett: No preference, but both work. Jacobson: Both work. Touchett: There was some concerns around the Ice Age Trail if we were to choose go with Option 1. Can you share those concerns? Jacobson: Yes, Option 1 the concerns regarding the Ice Age Trail was that you're displacing it. Putting it on the south side, you’ve got some adjacencies to the neighborhood. There are some drainage concerns. It's in a natural location where it is now with more scenic views. Those are some of the highlights that I recall from statements from users of the trail and the neighbors. Also, the path is going to be detoured throughout the construction no matter which option is selected because MMSD's route is finalized. Granted, it must go through the permitting process so I don't want to speak for Rachel's project, I know things could change but most likely not. Basically, their project would displace the Ice Age Trail temporarily because just from a safety perspective they'd be right in the work zone. Touchett: I'm hearing temporary displacement of the Ice Age Trail. I believe that there was a desire by the Ice Age organization to have the trail on the other side of the Creek, is that correct? Jacobson: There were conversations with that, but at this point the Ice Age Trail was looking at Option 5, and Chad if you want to add anything to that go to the mic. DuChateau: Good afternoon or evening, my name is Chad DuChateau, the Director of Trail Operations with the Alliance. As far as your question goes, we're trying to have a separate footpath for the trail. The idea was to push it to the south side where you’d follow Option 1, but as Theran said, judging by the public comment period, the idea would be to pursue Option 5 where its existing route has its own footpath. What we're trying to do is separate from bikes and things, Option 5 would be the best route for all user groups. Touchett: That's fair. I'm just clearly trying to explore the pluses and the minuses of all the options. I think for today, for time’s sake, we're going to focus on Option 1 and 5. If we were to decide to go with Option 1, let’s play the game and get all the pros and cons out. I believe that because of the Ice Age Trail’s desire for separation that your organization was pushing for the trail, as you said, to be on the south side of the creek, along with that you guys were asking that the city put in a raised path for that? Is that correct? DuChateau: We weren't asking for that. The idea would be at most a quarter of a mile would be just a mowed path, and if there were wet areas we would look into some sort of boardwalk structure to eliminate the potential for wet ground. Touchett: Was it your desire that the City would put that in? DuChateau: We would do the work with volunteers. We would lay it out and go through the compliance issues. Signage, all that sort of stuff would be done with Dane County volunteers. Touchett: That's great. I just want to make sure that what I'm hearing and what you're saying either align or you correct what I've heard. DuChateau: We would work with Dane County Parks for structures and things like that if we had to look for other funding sources. Touchett: OK great. Maybe the feedback that I heard when it came to structures like the boardwalk came from the County. I had heard there was a desire for the City to finance that portion of the Ice Age Trail if we were to go with Option 1. Jacobson: Nothing had been agreed upon. If there were any conversations, they were nothing official. Touchett: Is there anything else on that Option 1? Jacobson: Let's keep it high level at this point and then ask for questions. Touchett: So let's talk about Option 5. Jacobson: I'll just give an overview of Option 5. This was prepared by residents, so we thank you. The paved path would be along the Lincoln St channel on the east side and then connect into the ice rink. The connection point would be west of the pine forest. The paved connection to Arbor Vitae Place would occur in any option, but then the Ice Age Trail would remain on the north side of Badger Mill Creek until it reaches the Military Ridge Reserve bridge that's currently in existence. Then, we realign to the south side, exact location to be determined, but very close to the edge of the wood line, through the gardens and then connect back into the trail that uses the bridge near Old PB. There would be a small reconstruction area between the pine forest and the paved path for the Ice  Age Trail on the north side, but it would be very easy to complete because they would utilize the new bridge that would be installed as part of our path project. The current bridge that is at the pine forest would be removed. Option 5 is cheaper. It's not in direct alignment to the junction of the Military Ridge state trail on the south side of the Little League complex (that also connects to other paths systems that the county owns) and goes north under E Verona Ave. It still has a connection point, you can still get to the Military state trail, it's just a different alignment. One of the elements between permit applications is temporary versus permanent wetland impact. The paved path in Option 1 creates a permanent impact even though MMSD's project would be creating that temporary impact. Option 5 wetland impacts are very minimal on a permanent basis, so that's an advantage right there from a permitting aspect, which the DNR will like. Costs are estimates obviously from a planning level, and the details will come out as design comes through but I'm confident in the prices that MSA has put together. Touchett: Looking at Option 5, I was on the Ice Age Trail yesterday thinking about the original intentions of the bike PED study of creating more connectivity around the city for people to bike and walk. Frankly, I question even putting in Option 5 because of its proximity to Lincoln St. It parallels Lincoln St, and Lincoln St is already connected via bridge on this trail. I really don't know that it's worth doing this because it is being pushed so far west. Jacobson: You do have neighborhood connectivity though East View in the Military Ridge state trail that provides that connectivity to the E Verona Ave and the downtown area. Touchett: I don't know how that's any different than Lincoln St though, and we’re talking 200 yards parallel. Jacobson: You're off-road versus on-road. Touchett: Right, well the thing is Lincoln St is a very wide road, I walk it frequently with my dogs. Frankly, I'm having a hard time supporting not extending towards the remaining baseball fields that are out here. I saw value in using Option 1 because it got out to the edge of the city where football and lacrosse fields are, where the four diamond baseball fields are. It's also a handy way to get up into the business park that is north of E Verona Ave. I think adding this extra route which is only 200 yards off Lincoln St really doesn't add a whole lot of value to the area. Helmke: I am interested in the public comments. Touchett: OK, I think it's time, please turn yourself up to the podium. I think there's a lot here to think about. Welcome to the journey of trying to decide what's right for the City. It's never easy and I think it's important for everyone to kind of step back and look at the big picture of everything that's here and really decide on our own, or as a community, what we want. So please come on up. If you can just state your name for the record and then sign in. Public Comment: Pat Bergen, Beth Tucker Long, Jed Colquhoun, Liam Long, Amanda Mitchell, Dave Lonsdorf, Tim Rosenfeld, Jocelyn Przywara all gave comments concerning Ice Age Trail placement. Audio/video files are available for review on the City of Verona YouTube channel “VeronaWIMeetings.” MOVED by Helmke, seconded by Touchett, to proceed with Option 5 for the Project ID 2022-117 Badger Mill Creek Asphalt Path Options. Motion carried 3-0. 5. MOVED by Touchett, seconded by Kimmett, to recommend approval of Driveway Easement at 701 S Nine Mound Rd. Motion carried 3-0. 6. MOVED by Touchett, seconded by Kimmett, to recommend approval of Change Order No. 1 and Project Closeout for Project 2018-114 Lincoln Street Stormwater Management Facility. Motion carried 3-0. 7. MOVED by Touchett, seconded by Helmke, to recommend approval of Change Order No. 2 for Project 2022-101, 2022 City of Verona Asphalt Rehabilitation. Motion carried 3-0. 8. MOVED by Touchett, seconded by Helmke, to adjourn at 6:00pm. Motion carried 3-0. Note: These minutes were prepared by Theran Jacobson, Director of Public Works. These minutes are based on the notes of the recorder and are subject to change at a subsequent meeting.