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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch Minutes 03-11-2021 March Storm Water Utility Board Minutes 03-11-2021 Page 1 of 4 STORM WATER UTILITY APPEALS BOARD Minutes March 11, 2021 7:30 am (Via Webex) Present: John Kiefer, Paul Janty, Kyle Clark, Maureen Muldoon Absent: Mike Norton Also Present: Justin Gierach, Engineering Division Manager / City Engineer; Dan Gabrilska, Civil Engineering Supervisor; Mike Wegner, Brown and Caldwell I. Call to Order. A. Mr. Kiefer called the meeting to order at 7:31 am. II. Approval of February 18, 2021 Meeting Minutes A. Motion to approve February 18, 2021 minutes. (Mr. Clark / Mr. Kiefer). Approved 3-0 (Mr. Janty abstained). III. Update and Discussion of City’s MS4 2020 Annual Report Submittal to DNR (D. Gabrilska). Recommend approval to Common Council. A. Mr. Gabrilska provided an overview of the annual report. The MS4 permit was issued in 2019 and this year’s report is similar to the 2019 annual report, however, there were added reporting requirements. The 2020 report includes information about how the City will comply with the permit over the 5-year permit cycle. A significant change is the inclusion of standard operating procedures for how the City will meet the requirements. The City consulted with Brown and Caldwell for three of the standard operating procedures. The City prepared standard operating procedures for public education and outreach and public involvement. B. Mr. Gabrilska provided the annual report itself, which he stated is relatively short, and is a fill in the blank format document required by the WDNR. There were also supporting attachments provided via the large file transfer system. C. Mr. Janty asked about the illicit discharge inspections conducted by OMNNI. Mr. Janty asked if the number of outfalls inspected could be reduced such that they would be inspected on a 7-10 year cycle. Mr. Gabrilska indicated there are permit requirements and the City is generally exceeding these requirements. One requirement is that every major outfall needs to be inspected within the term of the permit. Other outfalls need to be inspected based on past history or other requirements. The summary report included in the annual report includes information on the requirements and inspection frequency. OMNNI will be presenting information on the IDDE program at the April meeting and would be able to provide more information. D. Mr. Kiefer asked about number of construction site pollutant control inspections and the number of warnings/violations that were issued. The number of warnings/inspections seemed high and he wondered if this was typical. Mr. Gabrilska indicated that the City inspects private projects periodically and City projects weekly. Warnings are often issued for minor items such as inlet protection needing to be cleaned. The verbal and written warnings were down slightly from last year. E. Mr. Kiefer asked if there would be future reporting and tracking requirements as a result of the TMDL. Mr. Wegner said that a lot of the changes to this year’s annual report were a result of the new permit issued in 2019 and that the changes resulted in reporting changes this year, as the WDNR gave time to implement changes from the new permit. As a result of when the Upper Fox/Wolf River TMDL was approved, the City has not been required to provide additional TMDL reporting yet. Additional information will be required in future years. It will be similar to what is required to be reported for post-construction stormwater pollution control currently. March Storm Water Utility Board Minutes 03-11-2021 Page 2 of 4 F. A motion was made to recommend approval of the MS4 2020 Annual Report to the Common Council. (Mr. Clark/Mr. Janty). Approved 4-0. G. Ms. Muldoon requested additional time for review of the annual report in future years. Mr. Gabrilska indicated that the changes required resulted in additional work on preparing this plan, specifically preparation of the public education and outreach and public involvement and participation standard operating procedures. The City has developed a tracking spreadsheet for use throughout the year to assist in preparation of future reports. In future years the expectation is that there will be minor updates to the compliance plans and report preparation will be targeted for earlier in the year. IV. Program and Project Updates (J. Gierach and D. Gabrilska). A. 20-02 Southwest Industrial Park 1. Mr. Gierach stated that this project was bid in late 2020. The contractor has done clearing and installed perimeter erosion control measures. 2. A formal schedule for work in 2021 had not been submitted yet, but it is expected that the contractor will resume work soon. 3. Mr. Kiefer asked where this project is located. Mr. Gierach explained that it is near the intersection of Clairville Road and STH 91. The project includes paving of Compass Way, improvements to Clairville Road, and construction of Transit Way, a new road. B. 20-15 Mini Storm #2 1. Mr. Gierach said that this is a project started in 2020 that will finish in 2021. There has not been an official schedule submitted, but it is anticipated that the contractor will be starting soon. 2. The project includes storm sewer work in within Ceape Avenue. The WPS easements to allow this work are finalized by the City, including Plan Commission and Common Council approval. The City is waiting for signature from WPS. WPS will then need to move their duct bank. 3. The remaining work for 2021 include about half of the storm laterals and the Ceape Avenue storm sewer. The Ceape Avenue work will be done first to allow it to finish prior to festivals starting at the Leach Amphitheater this year. 4. Mr. Kiefer asked about how Ceape Avenue will be repaired. Mr. Gabrilska indicated that it will be an asphalt patch in the middle two lanes of the road. C. 21-03 Oregon Street and Fond du Lac Road Sanitary Sewer Interceptor 1. Mr. Gierach indicated that the contractor will start work by closing Fond du Lac Road the week of March 22. There is a lot of prep work to be done prior to utility construction. The contractor will be installing 58 dewatering wells along corridor. There is lots of dewatering required and also rock removal for installation of the sewer. 2. The project also includes reconstruction of the Oregon Street bridge over Gallups/Merritts Creek. The bridge work will be done in coordination with Oregon Street improvements. The contractor is not allowed to close Oregon Street and Fond du Lac Road at the same time. The contractors schedule has Oregon Street work starting in late-August. D. 21-04 W. 9th Avenue Reconstruction 1. Mr. Gierach said that there is a residential development that is proposed near the intersection of Clairville Road and W 9th Avenue. This development is west of the current project limits. As a result of the development, a change order was executed to extend sanitary sewer and water main approximately 750-feet to the west of the road reconstruction limits. The sanitary sewer and water main extension will be started next week. 2. Road reconstruction work will begin in early April. 3. Mr. Kiefer asked if the sewer and water extension will result in an extension of the road expansion. Mr. Gierach stated that the road will get restored to its current condition which is a 22-ft wide asphalt road. E. 21-05 Ceape Avenue Reconstruction 1. Mr. Gierach stated that the City opened bids for the project on Monday. Award of the contract will be on March 23. The City received 5 bids. This was a favorable number of bids and the prices were also favorable. March Storm Water Utility Board Minutes 03-11-2021 Page 3 of 4 2. The City does not have a schedule at this time. They expect the contractor to start ASAP. 3. Mr. Kiefer asked if the bids were within budget. Mr. Gierach indicated that the bid prices came in under budget for each of the funding accounts that were used in the project. F. 21-20 Mini Storm Contract 1. Mr. Gierach said that plans are close to being finalized and the project will be bid in a couple of weeks. 2. The project will eliminate the current backlog list, with the exception of recent additions. 3. Mr. Kiefer asked whether the project could be expanded if the lateral request list grows in Spring and early summer. Mr. Gierach indicated that project is close to final and they are working within budget constraints and expanding the project would be difficult. The inclusion of a second project in 2020 was an exception. At that time there was a larger backlog, the City had a favorable budget position, and Contractors were looking for work. V. Review Discussion of Future Meeting Agenda Items. A. 2022 Budget (summer topic) B. Review public information through Oshkosh Media Department C. 2020 IDDE Presentation by OMNNI (April 15, 2021) D. NEWSC News E. Mr. Janty asked about if there could be information provided on whether other storm water utilities (in other City’s) purchase and install terrace trees as a program that provides multiple benefits, including stormwater, birds, cooling, etc. 1. Mr. Wegner stated that he was not aware of any municipalities that use storm water utility funds to purchase trees as a stand-alone program. Municipalities do plant trees as part of stormwater projects such as storm sewer replacements or detention basin construction. 2. Mr. Wegner also said that there is research on-going about the phosphorus loading impact that urban trees have on runoff and that this is a potential negative aspect of terrace trees. 3. Additional research and information could be provided at a future meeting. F. Mr. Janty asked about if the City was in a position where they could accomplish projects quickly if additional funding, such as federal stimulus funding, became available. 1. Mr. Gierach indicated that there were several projects he anticipated that could be funded by additional funding. He indicated the first projects that would be looked at were the Parkway Detention Basin, Westowne Detention Basin, Rural Detention Basin #2 in the Sawyer Creek watershed. Each of these projects are in the design, land acquisition, or data collection process. 2. Mr. Gierach said that the next projects they would look like would likely be projects identified for future CIP years that are within land already owned by the City. This would eliminate one hurdle to implementation and design could be accelerated. An example was the City owns property on the south side of the City within Gallups/Merritts Creek watershed. A floodplain storage project is in later years of CIP, but the design and construction could move up if funding were available. G. Mr. Janty ask about whether the City has reviewed all projects in the pipeline, and whether they have been accomplished. Or if there are projects that have been proposed but not yet implements. Are there projects that need to be done, are in flood-prone areas, but have not got high enough on the list to be funded? 1. Mr. Gierach stated that there are projects in this category. All major watersheds in the City have been studied or are in final study stages. There are projects identified as part of these studies. Further review would be needed to develop a list of projects in this category. H. Mr. Kiefer provided an example of the Oshkosh Avenue / Oshkosh Corporation area as an example of how quickly staff could react if needed to develop a project if future funding became available. Mr. Janty replied that he was not being critical, he just wanted the City to look ahead and be prepared for potential extra funding. March Storm Water Utility Board Minutes 03-11-2021 Page 4 of 4 I. Mr. Kiefer said that the board used to get a one-page 5-year list of future projects. The board hasn’t received a list of this nature recently. The board seems to be looking at the one-year CIP, but not as far into the future. He indicated he understood the CIP development process has changed, and this may have resulted in how projects are presented. 1. Mr. Gierach asked is the committee is looking past the 5-year CIP planning cycle. 2. Mr. Kiefer indicated the board used to get a 1-page summary of the 5-year CIP. Mr. Clark said that it used to lay out the acquisitions, design, and construction stages of projects in a shorter format than the CIP. Ms. Muldoon said that it was a 1-page spreadsheet document that summarized all projects with stormwater aspects and why the project was being done. 3. Mr. Kiefer indicated he understood the role of the board has changed and they are not approving the CIP, but he would like more information on projects in future year. 4. Mr. Janty said that he would like to have the City prepared for changes to the City’s funding situation. 5. Mr. Gierach showed an example of a page from the current CIP that summarized a single project including the funding in future years. Mr. Kiefer said the format was good and provided more information. But previously all projects in the 5-year CIP were summarized on a 1-page spreadsheet format. Mr. Gierach asked if an example of the format could be provided by the Board so that staff could understand what was being requested. 6. Mr. Kiefer and Mr. Janty said that the current stimulus bill has funding for municipalities, and they would like the City to be prepared if there are future infrastructure/stimulus funding. VI. Adjournment. Motion to adjourn: Mr. Janty/ Mr. Kiefer (Approved 4-0). Adjournment at 8:14 am. Respectfully Submitted Dan Gabrilska; Civil Engineering Supervisor