City Council Worksession

Watertown City Council Work Session Mayor Mike Walters Kay Thul Adam Pawelk Fred McGuire Dan Schuette 4/25/2023 - Minutes 1. Call To Order And Roll Call Mayor Walters called the Watertown City Council work session to order at 5:30 p.m. on April 25, 2023, in the council chambers of City Hall. Council Members Present: Michael Walters, Adam Pawelk, Kay Thul, Dan Schuette, and Fred McGuire. Council Members Absent: None. Staff Present: City Administrator Jake Foster, Public Services Superintendent Mike Dressel, and Administrative Services Director Maggie Reisdorf. Others Present: Jerry Van Dyke, Bargen, Inc. 2. New Business 2.I. Work Session Memo 4-25-23 2.I. Replay Presentation – Bio-Based Pavement Sealer. Mayor Walters introduced this item to the City Council and introduced Bargen Inc., representative Jerry Van Dyke to speak on the topic of Replay. Van Dyke explained that RePlay is an agricultural oil seal and pavement preservation agent that extends the life of asphalt surfaces and restores the pavement pinder up to 1 1/4 inches deep. He provided more in-depth information about what RePlay is made of and how it works. He stated that when applied to an asphalt surface, the process includes introducing nine new biobased polymers to the surface that reverses weak conditions within the asphalt surface resulting in a stronger surface after application. Van Dyke said that when used every three to five years, it maintains the surface enough to reduce to need to go through the pavement process more often. Van Dyke provided case study information from the City of Hutchinson which is a “test site” for studying and understanding the performance of RePlay. He reviewed data on untreated, chip seal and RePlay treated roads over a period of time. He informed that the data showed (for Hutchinson) that repeated use of RePlay extends the life of good roads and delays more costly maintenance work. Van Dyke provided case study information from the City of Hutchinson which is a “test site” for studying and understanding the performance of RePlay. He reviewed data on untreated, chip seal and RePlay treated roads over a period of time. He informed that the data showed (for Hutchinson) that repeated use of RePlay extends the life of good roads and delays more costly maintenance work. McGuire asked if Bargen Inc. performs the application of RePlay or if public works employees are trained to do it. Van Dyke informed that at this time, the company performs that application process due to the current and particular application process needed. He stated that the company has been working towards creating training programs that would teach city staff to do the application process. Walters asked staff how the city determines where to apply the RePlay. Dressel informed that RePlay is applied after a specific period (usually two years) after a Mill and Overlay project. He informed that the best roads to apply RePlay to are those that have been got through the Mill and Overlay process. Pawelk asked how the use of RePlay will start to change the road maintenance process for the City of Watertown since historically the city had heavily incorporated chip sealing in as an important maintenance technique. Dressel informed that the city has eliminated chip sealing as part of the city’s current maintenance plan. He said that with “delamination issues” caused by chip sealing and other issues, that he felt the city wasn’t currently getting its moneys worth for what it spends on chip sealing projects. He explained that RePlay will be the method used moving forward after Mill and Overlay projects and on newly developed streets. He said that staff continues to monitor streets treated for RePlay and that currently it is working very well in areas that have been treated. Pawelk explained that it is good to see the positive data and results from the use of RePlay. He informed that it is important to keep gathering data as the city continues to use the product as a way to review and incorporate the data into a long-term pavement maintenance plan. Walters stated that the street maintenance plan seems to be going well and that roads continue to be in good shape. 2.II. Compost Site Foster introduced this item to the City Council. He informed that the City usually budgets $3,000 - $5,000 per year for compost site management and maintenance. He said, however, that in the recent couple years the cost has jumped significantly due to illegal dumping. Dressel informed that in 2022, the cost of maintaining the compost site went up to $18,000 and as a result staff has been trying to determine how to fund the increase in costs. Councilmember Schuette entered the meeting at 5:56PM Foster mentioned several ideas that staff has been considering. He stated that one idea was to include a compost site fee on the utility bill to generate revenue for the site maintenance. He stated that the city attorney informed against this option as not everyone uses the compost site. Foster said that the city could charge a user fee at the site, but that to do that would require staffing the site. Foster informed that the significant increase in site maintenance has come from private companies and contractors dumping debris there illegally. Foster stated that another strategy could be to limit the hours of when people could access the site to monitor dumping. Foster stated that the compost site is a valuable and appreciated resource for residents and staff does  contractors dumping debris there illegally. Foster stated that another strategy could be to limit the hours of when people could access the site to monitor dumping. Foster stated that the compost site is a valuable and appreciated resource for residents and staff does not want to see it go away. He informed that staff is looking for guidance and general direction on how to navigate illegal dumping and the increased maintenance fees. McGuire asked if the city could burn the debris. Dressel informed that is was no longer legal for some cities to burn debris. Dressel informed that in 2023 (compared to 2022), that illegal dumping has gone down a little bit as residents have been self- policing more and the world has gotten out on social media not to do it. Pawelk asked about installing a camera to monitor who comes and goes from the site. He said that he would not like to see hours reduced and would prefer not to have to lock the site. He explained that this causes a lot of inconvenience for people. He said that he understood trying to curb the illegal dumping but preferred to keep the site open without a fee to use it. Thul asked about what signed was currently on the site. Dressel said that there are signs that explain that users need to be residents of the City of Watertown, that they cannot be commercial haulers or private companies, and that types of items that can be placed within the site. Thul asked about installing a motion camera with a sign that said that the site is under surveillance. Dressel informed that he could investigate the cost of that idea. Dressel said that some cities are installing timed gates but explained that it is expensive. Foster summarized the discussion stating that the goal of the City Council is to not reduce service and as part of the 2024 budget process, plan for budgeting that would continue to provide the current services, but still researching ways to curb illegal dumping. 3. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 6:09 pm. 309 Lewis Avenue South; P.O. Box 279, Watertown, MN 55388 _________________________________________________________ Mike Walters, Mayor ATTEST:__________________________________________ Margaret Reisdorf, Admin. Services Director