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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJuly Storm Water Utility Minutes revised 07-15-2021_v2 July Storm Water Utiltiy Minutes revised 07-15-2021_v2 Page 1 of 4 STORM WATER UTILITY APPEALS BOARD Minutes July 15, 2021 7:30 am (Via Webex) Present: John Kiefer, Kyle Clark, Kristopher Ulrich Absent: Cheryl Hentz Also Present: Justin Gierach, Engineering Division Manager / City Engineer; Dan Gabrilska, Civil Engineering Supervisor; Mike Wegner, Brown and Caldwell; Chuck Boehm, Brown and Caldwell I. Call to Order. A. Mr. Kiefer called the meeting to order at 7:35 am. II. Approval of June 17, 2021 Meeting Minutes A. Motion to approve June 17, 2021 minutes (Mr. Clark / Mr. Ullrich). Approved 3-0. III. Election of Vice Chair. A. Mr. Kiefer asked if this topic should be held until all members were present. Other members indicated they were comfortable proceeding and didn’t expect concerns from Ms. Hentz. B. Mr. Clark indicated he was willing and interested in serving as the Vice Chair. C. Mr. Kiefer moved to nominate Mr. Clark as Vice Chair. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ulrich. Approved (3-0). IV. Storm Water Utility Appeals Board overview (Power Point presentation by Brown & Caldwell). A. A presentation providing an overview of the City’s Stormwater Management Program was given to the board by Mike Wegner, Brown and Caldwell. The presentation summarized various activities related to storm water management that are conducted by the City and provided links to the City website where additional information can be found. A copy of the presentation was provided to the board members in advance of the meeting. B. The presentation covered the following topics. Comments/questions during the discussion topics that were made are summarized below. 1. Municipal Code Chapter 14 – No Comments. 2. MS4 Permit a Mr. Gierach said that as part of the illicit discharge detection program, storm sewer televising has identified a couple of sanitary sewer connections in the last 10-years. 3. Flood Control a Mr. Gierach commented that yesterday/overnight the City had received 3.34 inches of rain over an 18-hour period and 2.61 inches in a 6-hour period. Both of these equate to about a 10-year storm event over the given time period. b Mr. Clark asked about whether there were any recent changes that were not reflected in the City’s watershed study progress map. Mr. Gierach indicated there were some changes regarding watersheds on the south-side. Mr. Wegner indicated there were also some additional studies in the area near the Fox River/Lake Winnebago. 4. Operations & Maintenance – No Comments. C. Mr. Clark said that in recent years there have been a number of projects implemented. The implementation is a good opportunity for outreach about the benefits provided by the storm water utility. He suggested it might be a good time to update the prior progress maps. a. Mr. Gierach said this has been discussed by City staff and they are looking into it. They do not want to update the maps annually due to the time/cost required, but now may be a good time for an update. July Storm Water Utiltiy Minutes revised 07-15-2021_v2 Page 2 of 4 D. Mr. Kiefer said the comparison of storm water utility rates to other communities that is on the City website is outdated and asked about having that updated. Mr. Wegner indicated that APWA is currently working on an update and after that is completed it may be a good time to update the City comparison. E. Mr. Kiefer asked if the presentation could be put on the website as it provided a good overview of the City’s program. Mr. Gierach agreed it is a good overview and expects it to be put on the website. F. Mr. Ulrich said the presentation was a good overview and that with the rainfall the preceding day that now was a good time to remind folks of what has been done to improve stormwater management. Mr. Clark agreed, but said that there is still more work to do. V. Program and Project Updates (J. Gierach and Dan Gabrilska). A. 20-02 Southwest Industrial Park 1. Mr. Gabrilska said that Transit Way is paved and the contractor is starting landscaping of the street this week. The paving of Compass Way will also begin this week and will be done in various stages to maintain access to the Transload facility. The last phase of the project is the reconstruction of Clairville Road. This road will be rebuilt as a 2-lane rural roadway with turn lanes added. The project is partially funded by a Federal EDA grant. B. 21-03 Oregon Street and Fond du Lac Road Sanitary Sewer Interceptor 1. Mr. Gabrilska indicated that this project includes lots of rock blasting which is resulting in slow progress of sanitary sewer on Fond du Lac Road. The Fond du Lac Road work will be completed in the next couple of weeks. The work will then continue onto Waukau Avenue with new sanitary sewer to eliminate a lift station. This project is a continuation of last year’s pump station and sanitary sewer improvements to the north. 2. Mr. Clark asked about whether there would be a closure of the intersection of Fond du lac Road and Waukau Avenue. Mr. Gabrilska said there will be a partial closure for the sanitary sewer work. Mr. Gierach said there will be a 1 or 2 day closure for the paving of the intersection. 3. Mr. Gabrilska continued to say that currently Fond du Lac Road is closed north of Waukau Avenue. The project will continue north on Oregon Street from Waukau Avenue to 28th Avenue including reconstruction of the bridge on Oregon Street north of Waukau Avenue. This will take place after work is completed on Fond du Lac Road and then Oregon Street will be closed for construction. C. 21-04 W. 9th Avenue Reconstruction 1. Mr. Gabrilska said that this project is an expansion of 9th Avenue and a conversion from a rural to urban cross-section. There are challenges with going from rural to urban section with management of stormwater during the construction. City staff was already on-site this morning inspecting the project after last night’s storm event. The project is from Oakwood Road to Linden Oaks Road with storm sewer upgrades also from Oakwood Road to Sawyer Creek. The project includes a full reconstruction of the intersection of Oakwood Road and 9th Avenue. This intersection is currently closed and will remain closed for about 3 weeks. 2. Mr. Kiefer said that he lives off Oakwood Road and indicated that road closure signage is lacking. Mr. Clark said his wife works at the hospital on 9th Avenue and she has heard complaints from patients about road closure signage and trouble accessing the hospital. Mr. Clark indicated he drove down 9th Avenue and also thought that signage is lacking, the last detour sign on 9th Avenue is at Washburn Street. a Mr. Gabrilska indicated he would have staff follow-up regarding the signage and determine if more is needed. He said the detour is intended for truck traffic, and local traffic is required to find their own way. There is some signage for hospital detour/entrances. b Mr. Kiefer asked about at least having road closed ahead signage on 9th Avenue. Mr. Gabrilska said it is supposed to be there and will get inspected. c Mr. Clark indicated it is a regional hospital and there is more traffic than just local residents. The city should consider this as well. July Storm Water Utiltiy Minutes revised 07-15-2021_v2 Page 3 of 4 3. Mr. Clark said he is also concerned about the signage and road closures related to the Oregon Street and Fond du Lac Road sanitary sewer interceptor project. There are lane closures on Oregon Street from K&S Energy and this is creating problems. It is especially challenging for larger vehicles to make turns. a Mr. Gabrilska said this is a result of K&S Energy moving their facilities in advance of the current city project and the City has less control over these contractors. The City has requirements for their contractors to notify nearby residents of road closures and upcoming work. But this doesn’t extend too far away from project limits. He indicated the city will check on both situations. D. 21-05 Ceape Avenue Reconstruction 1. This project includes storm sewer reconstruction. The sizing was a result of one of the studies discussed as part of the earlier presentation by Brown and Caldwell. The project also includes full utility, roadway and sidewalk construction. E. 21-20 Mini Storm Contract 1. Mr. Gabrilska reviewed that this project gives residents connections to the storm sewer system at a reduced cost in the form of either a lateral or a lateral/inlet combination. This allows residents to connect sump pump discharges. 2. The City cost per lateral is typically in excess of $2,000. Residents pay either $400 or $750 for their share of the project cost. 3. This project hasn’t started. The contractor is planning for an August/September start and completion this year. F. Parkway Basin 1. Mr. Gierach said that there is no significant update since the last meeting. The land acquisition has gone through Plan Commission and Common Council. The City also has a draft agreement from railroad and it is being reviewed. G. Westowne Basin 1. Mr. Gierach stated the City has started working with the land acquisition consultant who previously worked on the project. H. Rural II 1. Mr. Gierach said additional groundwater readings are scheduled to occur and then the geotechnical report will be finalized. Early results indicate no groundwater concerns and that the project will proceed. I. Mr. Kiefer said he saw on the morning news that there was flooding problems at the intersection of Ohio Street and 8th Avenue. He asked about plans for this area as it is a recurring problem. 1. Mr. Gierach said a new outfall was completed in 2019/2020 through the Jeld-Wen property. There are plans in the CIP to continue the box culvert upstream to connection to the existing box culvert near South Park. VI. Discussion of virtual vs. in-person meetings going forward. D. Mr. Gierach provided an update to the committee regarding current status of meetings. A draft resolution is being circulated by the Attorney’s office, which would bring all public meetings back to in-person. The original schedule was to have the resolution brought to Common Council in July, however, nothing has been on the Council agenda and it is expected that the August Board meeting would remain virtual. It is possible that the resolution would go through Council during the next meeting. If that is the case, the August meeting would be in-person. The current expectation is that after August all meetings will be in-person. E. Mr. Gierach also indicated that the resolution does not include an option for in-person/virtual hybrid meetings. Mr. Gierach said that he understands that this board, and others, have voiced opinion about having an option for virtual meetings, but that is not in the current resolution. VII. Review Discussion of Future Meeting Agenda Items. July Storm Water Utiltiy Minutes revised 07-15-2021_v2 Page 4 of 4 A. 2022 Budget (summer topic) B. Review public information through Oshkosh Media Department – staff to be present at future board meetings 1. Mr. Gierach stated that engineering staff has been discussing future meeting attendance with the new staff in the Media Department. C. 2022 CIP, 5 Year CIP 1. Mr. Gierach said the City Manager’s recommendations for the CIP is posted on the City website. The projects have gone through internal review/discussion and there have been Common Council workshops regarding the CIP projects. The topic will likely be brought to the committee at the August meeting. The timing of the topic is challenging as it is a fluid document, one example is that the Council has proposed to increase borrowing which would change/add projects. D. Tour of Storm Water facilities (tentative for September 16th meeting) E. Mr. Ulrich asked for an update about the current status of ARPA funds after the discussion at the last board meeting. 1. Mr. Gierach indicated that an online form is still available to residents to submit requests for City spending of ARPA funds. The Common Council is still debating about how funds will be used. Staff is waiting on direction from the Common Council about ARPA spending. If is uncertain if the Common Council will identify specific projects/activities for spending or if general allocations of funds will be made. Mr. Gierach discussed the Board’s past suggestions, from the June meeting, with the Director of Public Works who is more involved in discussions and decision-making with how funds will be spent. VIII. Adjournment. Motion to adjourn: Mr. Clark/Mr. Ulrich (Approved 3-0). Adjournment at 8:51 am. Respectfully Submitted Dan Gabrilska; Civil Engineering Supervisor