HomeMy WebLinkAbout26. 18-429 AUGUST 15, 2018 18-429 RESOLUTION
(CARRIED 4-0 LOST LAID OVER WITHDRAWN )
PURPOSE: GRANT NOISE VARIANCE REQUEST TO AT&T FOR
CONSTRUCTION WORK AT NORTH MAIN STREET AND
WASHINGTON AVENUE/AUGUST 18th-19th OR AUGUST 25th-26th
INITATED BY: AT&T
WHEREAS, the City of Oshkosh has adopted a noise ordinance limiting the
amount of noise within the City limits; and
WHEREAS, the regulation of noise is generally more stringent during the hours
from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.; and
WHEREAS, the ordinance provides that the Common Council may waive the
requirements of the ordinance if the Council determines that circumstances exist that
would make compliance with the noise limitations an unnecessary hardship to the
applicant; and
WHEREAS, in making this determination the Council is to consider:
(1) the hardship to the applicant, the community, and other persons of not
granting the variance;
(2) the adverse impact on health, safety, and welfare of persons owning,
residing, or occupying property in the surrounding area and the public in
general;
(3) the adverse effect on surrounding property;
(4) whether the circumstance, hardship, or situation to be addressed by the
proposed variance is unique, and not applicable generally to other
circumstances;
(5) whether the person or entity seeking the variance is otherwise in
compliance with all applicable ordinances, regulations and statutes; and
AUGUST 15, 2018 18-429 RESOLUTION
CONT'D
(6) any other adverse impacts of granting the variance.
WHEREAS,AT&T has submitted the attached letter requesting a variance to allow
construction work at the intersection of North Main Street and Washington Avenue to
begin at 6:00 a.m. on the weekend of either August 181h to 191h or August 251h to 261h as
permitted by weather and construction progress.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Common Council for the City of
Oshkosh has considered the criteria pertaining to the granting of a variance to the City's
noise ordinance and hereby grants such variance to allow construction work at the
intersection of North Main Street and Washington Avenue to begin at 6:00 a.m. on the
weekend of either August 181h to 191h or August 251h to 261h as permitted by weather and
construction progress.
AUGUST 15, 2018 18-429 RESOLUTION
(CARRIED LOST LAID OVER WITHDRAWN )
PURPOSE: GRANT NOISE VARIANCE REQUEST TO AT&T FOR
CONSTRUCTION WORK AT NORTH MAIN STREET AND
WASHINGTON AVENUE/AUGUST 18th -19th OR AUGUST 25th -26th
INITATED BY: AT&T
WHEREAS, the City of Oshkosh has adopted a noise ordinance limiting the
amount of noise within the City limits; and
WHEREAS, the regulation of noise is generally more stringent during the hours
from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.; and
WHEREAS, the ordinance provides that the Common Council may waive the
requirements of the ordinance if the Council determines that circumstances exist that
would make compliance with the noise limitations an unnecessary hardship to the
applicant; and
WHEREAS, in making this determination the Council is to consider:
(1) the hardship to the applicant, the community, and other persons of not
granting the variance;
(2) the adverse impact on health, safety, and welfare of persons owning,
residing, or occupying property in the surrounding area and the public in
general;
(3) the adverse effect on surrounding property;
(4) whether the circumstance, hardship, or situation to be addressed by the
proposed variance is unique, and not applicable generally to other
circumstances;
(5) whether the person or entity seeking the variance is otherwise in
compliance with all applicable ordinances, regulations and statutes; and
AUGUST 15, 2018
18-429 RESOLUTION
CONT'D
(6) any other adverse impacts of granting the variance.
WHEREAS, AT&T has submitted the attached letter requesting a variance to allow
construction work at the intersection of North Main Street and Washington Avenue to
begin at 6:00 a.m. on the weekend of either August 181h to 191h or August 251h to 261h as
permitted by weather and construction progress.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Common Council for the City of
Oshkosh has considered the criteria pertaining to the granting of a variance to the City's
noise ordinance and hereby grants such variance to allow construction work at the
intersection of North Main Street and Washington Avenue to begin at 6:00 a.m. on the
weekend of either August 181h to 191h or August 251h to 261h as permitted by weather and
construction progress.
City fW�
Oshkosh
MEMORANDUM
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the Common Council
FROM: Steven M. Gohde, Assistant Director of Public Works sp
DATE: August 9, 2018
RE: Approve Closure of North Main Street at Washington Avenue and Grant Variance to
Noise Ordinance
BACKGROUND
Washington Avenue from North Main Street to Broad St is currently being reconstructed by the City.
AT&T has an existing duct bank system under Washington Avenue and is performing work to relocate
portions of the system to facilitate the City's infrastructure and to improve their fiber system. During
this work, it was discovered that the existing duct bank under North Main Street in the intersection with
Washington Avenue has partially collapsed, thus not allowing cables to be pulled through. The collapse
is located under the eastern half of North Main Street.
Multiple options were reviewed to restore a conduit connection under North Main Street. Based on the
location of the existing duct bank and the limited available right-of-way and the number of other utilities
installed within that right-of-way, it was determined repairing the existing duct bank is a best option.
AT&T believes the duct bank repair work can be completed in approximately two (2) days, allowing
North Main Street to be opened to traffic on a temporary pavement surface. AT&T is proposing to
complete the work on a Saturday and a Sunday for several reasons. The City's Contractor is working on
Washington Avenue in the same general location during the week. Allowing AT&T to work on Saturday
and Sunday to complete this repair will allow them to complete the work in a timelier manner. This will
reduce conflicts with the City's Contractor, and reduces the likelihood of the City's Contractor asking for
a Change Order due to a change in conditions for having to work around another contractor that was
not anticipated during bidding. In addition to reducing the conflicts of multiple contractors working
around each other, allowing AT&T to complete this work on a Saturday and Sunday will minimize traffic
impacts to the community as a whole. North Main Street is already closed north of Washington Avenue
on Saturdays for the Farmer's Market. Utilizing time when the street is already closed reduces the
impacts to the traffic flow for the community as a whole.
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AT&T's Contractor would like to start at 6:00 a.m. to allow additional time to complete the work. The
City's noise ordinance is in effect from 10:00 pm to 7:00 a.m. Additionally, the noise level exception for
construction activity does not apply on Sundays. The work is located within a commercial district,
reducing the impact of noise on residential properties. Work to sawcut the concrete pavement will be
done during normal daytime hours in advance of the repair work to further minimize the impact to the
general public and community as a whole.
This fiber topic route is a critical piece of infrastructure for AT&T to service their customers, the
businesses and residents in the City of Oshkosh.
A detour route will be required to be posted during the construction.
ANALYSIS
City Ordinance Section 25-23 requires North Main Street to remain open to traffic at all times. Based on
the impact to the downtown area of having North Main Street closed at Washington Avenue during the
week, the work is proposed to begin on the weekend while North Main Street is already closed for the
Farmers Market and reopened to traffic for the work week. The permanent concrete restoration will be
completed while maintaining north/south traffic on North Main Street. Two (2) weekends are included
in the request to allow for postponement of the work, if weather becomes an issue.
City Ordinance Section 17-42(3) establishes noise limits and Section 17-42(6) establishes an exception for
construction activities. The noise limits are in effect from 10:00 pm to 7:00 a.m. and the exception for
construction noise is only Monday through Saturday. The Contractor is proposing to start at 6:00 a.m.
to allow extra time for the work that is needed and to complete the concrete breaking prior to the start of
the Farmers Market. The Sunday construction work time is needed to temporarily restore North Main
Street's pavement after the duct bank has reached sufficient strength to allow for backfilling.
FISCAL IMPACT
There are no fiscal impacts to approving the resolution granting the variance to the Noise Ordinance and
the ordinance allowing North Main Street to be closed. Approving these requests will reduce the
likelihood of a future request from the City's Contractor.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
I recommend approval of the request to close North Main Street at Washington Avenue for a period of
two (2) days, either August 1811, and 19th, or August 241h and 25th, and the variance to the noise ordinance
with the following conditions:
All concrete restoration work must be done while North Main Street is open to traffic. Turns onto
Algoma Boulevard may be restricted during this time.
AT&T shall post a detour route, approved by the Department of Public Works, and post warning.
signs at least seven (7) days prior to the closure.
No work shall be performed between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
Approved:
Mark A. Rohloff
City Manager
SMG/tlt
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a}t& p_� AT&T Wisconsin T: 920.929.1001
70 E. Division St. R 920.929.1064
Fond du Lac, Wi 54935
August 8, 2018
Steve Gohde, Assistant Director of Public Works
City of Oshkosh
215 Church Avenue
Oshkosh, Wt, 54901
RE: Request to Close North Main Street at Washington Avenue for Duct Repairs — AT&T
Wisconsin
Dear Mr. Gohde:
Per our phone and email correspondence, AT&T Wisconsin (AT&T) hereby requests permission
from the City of Oshkosh to close North Main Street at Washington Avenue to facilitate the
repair of an AT&T fiber optic duct package. The duct package in question has collapsed under
North Main Street and recent attempts to repair the ducts without closing the intersection have
proven unsuccessful. The duct package contains major communication infrastructure and is
critical to our ability to provide both current and future copper and fiber based services to the
area businesses and eastern neighborhoods in this part of the City. The details of our request
are summarized herein.
AT&T requests the closure of the intersection for the weekend of August 181h and 19th or August
25th and 26th. Furthermore, AT&T requests a variance to the City's Noise Ordinance to allow
work to commence at 6:00 a.m. and to allow construction work to occur on a Sunday.
AT&T requests this closure and noise ordnance variance in order to reduce the overall impact to
the City of Oshkosh and its residents and property owners. By allowing our contractor to work
on Saturday and Sunday, we can complete our work while the City's contractor is not working,
thereby reducing the potential for conflicts and allowing work for all parties to be completed in
a more expeditious manner. Additionally, the Farmer's Market already closes North Main
Street north of Washington Avenue, so we would be taking advantage of an already dosed
condition for a portion of our working time.
We recognize that North Main Street is an important corridor for the City, but we hope the City
can recognize that allowing us to perform this work on a Saturday and Sunday will reduce the
overall impact to the City. This is a commercial corridor, so the impact to residences will be
minimized by allowing our contractor to start at 6:00 a.m. and work on Sunday.
We will sawcut the pavement during normal work hours earlier in the week to further reduce
the impact of noise on adjacent property owners. We will also conduct the final permanent
CW pmi.l M Inc U 5 D'' €"? rel.
pavement restoration under traffic after the street has reopened and our duct package has been
repaired. We will complete our work in accordance with all other applicable laws and
regulations, including but not limited to our Work in right -of -Way permit issued by the City.
We greatly appreciate your assistance and efforts to date in addressing our request. If you have
any additional questions, please do not hesitate contact me at 920-929-1013 or cbl461@att.com.
Sincerely,
Ii - &��— —
Chuck Bartelt
Manager OSP Planning and Engineer Design
ATO, C&E Legal Mandate WI