Municipal Infrastructure Commission

I. Call to Order F T 2/27/2020 - Minutes Members Present: Laura Dlugolecki, Timur Tsutsuk, Peter Wernsdorfer, Michael Myers, Cory Mack City Staff Present: Jonathan Rauscher Guests Present: A Call to Order by: Laura Meeting Start Time: 6:33 PM Minutes Recorded by: Timur Tsutsuk II. Public Comment R None III. Approve Previous Meeting Minutes Decision: Approved Motion by: Cory Mack D Second: Timur Tsutsuk IV. Department and City Updates l New sanitation ordinance went to council for introduction, including language to strengthen the industrial water regulations. Presented a draft rate structure that would be approved through a resolution for industrial water. Public hearings planned for April 6th. Four Quarters was notified. After the hearing, it will go to vote for approval. l Impact fee ordinance – consultant will be coming to the March council meeting to provide an overview introduction presentation to the council. The ordinance language will be shared with the commission at the next meeting. The Commission will review and then push it to council. l Water main break on pine street – third time this month. Pine street had another break earlier this year. We have had four since January. Led to a localized water boil notice. l Myers pool is on schedule, looking at a mid-June opening. Construction to be completed in early June. l All bond vote construction projects are on track and under budget. l Next council meeting, DPW will provide an update on Main Street Development. 60% design right now. Significant coordination with the utility companies behind the scene. Projecting next spring construction. Good news – BUILD Grant – we submitted two rounds, in the last round we were not selected, but contacted them to do a post grant review, and found out that the project made it all the way to the final phase, got to the Dept of Transportation board review. 666 projects submitted, out of those 200 go to the board review, and 55 get awarded. One of the criteria was readiness for being built. Feedback was to improve our cost benefit outlook for the project – additional background data will be needed for the next round. We have a good shot for next year. l We applied and received the tree canopy grant. Fast turnaround – only a month. Received $3,800. Record number of applicants, so we received a smaller amount than usual. l Jon submitted the application for Tree City USA. V. Sidewalk Maintenance Prioritization l Currently, there is no prioritization or major funding plan for sidewalk maintenance. There is $25K for FY2020, but impact fee will allocate some additional funding as well. l Sidewalks in the area feeding to East Allen currently prioritized in the transportation master plan. But many of those streets have maple trees that would make it challenging. l Need to think holistically – if sidewalk is terrible and so is the road and water main, this is a full reconstruction project rather than a simple sidewalk project. - VTTrans cost estimates - $184/linear foot for 5ft sidewalk, $277 with a concrete curb. l 42% of our sidewalks are considered “good”, 46% are “fair”, and 10% are “poor” (red lines). l The city has approximately 100,000 feet of sidewalks, assuming 50 year use, replacing 2,000 feet per year, that would be $400K/year. l Council wants a sidewalk priority list, but there is no deadline set. Potential criteria for prioritization discussed:  l Currently, there is no prioritization or major funding plan for sidewalk maintenance. There is $25K for FY2020, but impact fee will allocate some additional funding as well. l Sidewalks in the area feeding to East Allen currently prioritized in the transportation master plan. But many of those streets have maple trees that would make it challenging. l Need to think holistically – if sidewalk is terrible and so is the road and water main, this is a full reconstruction project rather than a simple sidewalk project. - VTTrans cost estimates - $184/linear foot for 5ft sidewalk, $277 with a concrete curb. l 42% of our sidewalks are considered “good”, 46% are “fair”, and 10% are “poor” (red lines). l The city has approximately 100,000 feet of sidewalks, assuming 50 year use, replacing 2,000 feet per year, that would be $400K/year. l Council wants a sidewalk priority list, but there is no deadline set. Potential criteria for prioritization discussed: 1. Road repairs or water replacement on the street make it easier to do sidewalk improvements. 2. Lack of site constraints, such as maple trees. 3. Areas with safety issues for pedestrians. 4. Streets without sidewalks. 5. Streets near senior or disability housing. 6. School routes for kids. There was a study done years ago with the most common routes kids took to school. Jon will look it up. VTrans Safe Routes Program. 7. Proximity to daycares. T 8. Strava heatmap / State has access to a more detailed database that can show a GPS breakdown of # and location of walks. 9. Residents’ need and desire for sidewalks. If residents push back against sidewalks, consider changing plans. 10.Sidewalk plow routes. Difficulty to plow could be a factor. 11.Consistent complaints from residents. 12.Funding – new sidewalks are easier to fund than repairs. 13.Prioritize lumpy sidewalks over those that just don’t look cosmetically pleasing. F l Winooski needs to put together an ADA transition plan, legal requirement. Its on the list of things for DPW to do. A similar project is ongoing in Burlington – ADA review of the sidewalks. l Council would like to see a real infrastructure budget, so we may want to present them with a figure - $400k/year. l Jim will come to the March meeting to talk about Tree City USA. l Hickock Streetscape will be available for next meeting as well. A VI. Impact Fee Ordinances Ordinance for our review is not available yet, will be at the next meeting. VII. Adjourn Motion by: Cory Second: Peter R Meeting End Time: D