Minutes: Public Works: December 2006 (Met 1/3 because of xmas)

Public Works Committee Meeting Minutes
Regular Meeting
Wednesday, January 3 at 6:30 p.m.
City Hall, 31 S. Madison St., Evansville, WI

1. Call the meeting to order @ 6:00 PM.
2. Roll Call: Ald. Hammann (Chair), Ald. Juergens & Ald. Sornson. Staff: Dave Wartenweiler, Public Works Director, & Dave Sauer, City Engineer. Quorum attained.
3. Minutes of November meeting unanimously approved on a Juergens-Sornson motion.
4. Citizen appearances – NA
5. Discussion with Rock County Regarding County. Highway M
Rock County director of Public Works, Benjamin Coopman reviewed the importance of the proposed enhancements to County Highway M, requesting the city of Evansville & Rock County work cooperate on Hwy. M upgrades.
City Engineer, Dave Sauer, provided an update on the proposed changes to Hwy. M:
1. The city plans to extend water & sewer mains to the Biodiesel plant down Hwy. M.
2. North of the railroad tracks to Hwy. 14, the city plans to reconstruct Hwy. M to city urban standards.
3. South of the railroad tracks Hwy. M will be widened past the Biodiesel plant to account for a drive by lane into the plant.
4. Additional access points to Hwy. M from the proposed Industrial park.
The engineer is 75% complete with the road design.
The county requests the city enter into a formal agreement to facilitate cooperation regarding Hwy. M upgrades.
• Assign the City Administrator and City Engineer to investigate a formal agreement with Rock County regarding County Road M unanimously approved on a Hammann-Sornson motion.
Requested Rock County to contact the WiDOT regarding painting turning lines on Hwy. M intersection with Hwy. 14.
6. Discussion and possible motion to approve Main Street engineering design
A. Review Final Main Street Design
Last month the City Engineer reviewed the Foth & Van Dyke’s Main Street and sidewalk elevation designs. Tonight we complete the evaluation by reviewing utility upgrades and street grades.

The sanitary sewer will be 12” PVC buried at the deepest depth located in the center of the road. The Main Street sewer mains will feed into Maple Street sewer main as it’s carried to the wastewater treatment plant. The storm sewer will be 18”concrete pipe buried at the shallowest depth located on the south side of the road. The water mains will be 10” ductile iron located on the north side of the road. Discussed possible special assessment for utility hookup to properties along Main St.

Examined street engineering construction drawings and grade locations. The design minimizes the steps into businesses by use of ramps into the entrances. Discussed strength on roadbed on withstanding truck traffic. The following is the cross section of the new road:


Cross Section of Brick Paver Section of Main Street
• 3.5” Paving Brick
• ¼” bed of sand (and in between the brick)
• 6” to 8” of reinforced concrete
• 6” to 8” of crushed aggregate

Cross Section of Asphalt Section of Main Street
• 4” Asphalt
• 4” of crushed aggregate
• 8” of gravel

Reviewed public comment from the December 21 Main Street Design Open House at Haugan Insurance. Each business owner had individual time with the engineers to discuss exactly how the construction will effect their operation.
• Project timeline is critical for the operation of each business.
• Communication between contractors and businesses critical.
• Each business can expect 6 days of closure do to construction.
• Feedback on the location of light fixtures.
• Night Owl issues. Reconstruct Maple Street to the alley. This change will increase project cost 7%.
• Improved and safe temporary sidewalk into businesses.
• Road signage issues.
• Foth & Van Dyke’s Main Street design unanimously approved on a Hammann-Juergens motion.
B. Discussion on downtown side street parking, municipal lot and off-site parking.
In March 2006 we took an inventory of existing off-site parking, municipal lot parking & side street parking in downtown Evansville:
Location Number of Stalls
Main Street 111
Madison Street 33
Maple Street 22
North Municipal Lot (off Montgomery Ct.) 38
Municipal Lot off Maple Street 55
Municipal Lot behind Grange Mall 14 (32 private lots)
• 273 Total Available Downtown Parking Stalls

Our survey found city’s the North Municipal Lot (off Montgomery Ct.) at 65% capacity and Municipal Lot off Maple Street at 50% capacity during peak business activity.

Business leaders in attendance unanimously agree that current number of parking stalls is insufficient to support current business activities.

Main Street parking will be unavailable during construction (111 parking stalls) and 10 stalls will be occupied for Old Ace Hardware renovation. An estimate 150 – 170 parking stalls are required during peak business activity. Contractors will require parking for vehicles, equipment & staging materials. The downtown will have approximately 150 available parking stalls during Main St. construction.

We need to locate 50 – 75 additional parking spots.

We reviewed the motions from the March meeting with the newly appointed City Administrator.
• Request city administrator to contact the State employee commuters and ask them to relocate away from North Municipal Lot (off Montgomery Ct.) during Main Street reconstruction.
• Request city administrator to investigate parking availability for the following locations: 1) old union Co-op location for contractor staging area & equipment parking; 2) Roller rink parking lot, 3) Fire district parking lot, 4) Dean community center & adjacent church parking lot.
• Requested these issues be given top priority by the City Administrator.

7. North Prairie Productions Biodiesel Facility
Foth & Van Dyke and Strand engineering firms are cooperating in the design of the storm water and erosion control. Improvements in the design occurred as a result of Strand’s recommendations. Additional storm water modeling required as a part of the design changes. Final storm water design by next public works meeting.
8. Lake Leota Reclamation Update
The V-notch seems to be working properly, but it will take time (months) for the lake to completely drain.
SOLE new web site: lakeleota.org
9. Communications from City Engineer
Combined new Intra-city and future bike path route plans. Made minor adjustments.
• Request Foth & Van Dyke’s to draw up the new Bike Path Route plan unanimously approved on a Hammann- Juergens motion.
Noticed that the most recent changes to the City’s Transportation Plan via the Smart Growth Plan have not been incorporated into the City’s Smart Growth Transportation Map.
• Request Foth & Van Dyke’s to update the City’s Smart Growth Transportation Map unanimously approved on a Hammann- Juergens motion.
Discussed the time line for awarding bids so the Main Street construction will start in middle of April.

10. Communications of Public Works Director
Current Public Works projects include:
• Plowing City Streets
• Sign Replacing
• Constructing new bathrooms in Countryside Park. Building is almost erected.
• Cutting down & trimming trees.
• Street sweeping.
• Clean out Dean Center.
• Moving into new Public Works garage.
11. Interior remodeling of City Hall
On January 1, the city staff will move into the Dean Center while City Hall is remodeled. Public Works has been getting the Dean Center ready for the move. Organizing phone and Internet hookups, clean up Dean Center.
The City Engineer submitted City Hall remodeling plans for contractors to bid on January 9. Projected remodeling start date is the last week of January. The project should take 8 weeks with a projected start date of April 2.
12. Review of 2006 Smart Growth Action Items
• Transportation #1.1 - PASER rating for road quality will be reported in March.
• Transportation #1.2 – Review Transportation Network Map every 2 years – Updated in 2006 – Complete.
• Transportation #3 – Sidewalk Plan – Completed in 2006.
• Transportation #5.1 – Design road network according to traffic patterns – continuous
• Transportation #5.2 – Adopt a Class B Highway Ordinance – Not Applicable – Complete
• Transportation #6.1 – Reduced speed on USH 14 between Elmer Road & city limits – Complete
• Transportation #9.1 – Downtown parking – part of Main St. reconstruction in 2007 – Complete
• Transportation #9.2 – Replace downtown sidewalks & curbing – Main St. reconstruction in 2007.
• Utilities & Community Facilities #4.1 – Develop a regional storm water management plan with Union township – Not Complete – Part of the Evansville-Union Boundary & Extraterritorial agreements
• Agricultural, Natural & Resources #1 – Require analysis for soils with engineering limitations –Part of public works site plan checklists – complete.
• Agricultural, Natural & Resources #4.1 - Wellhead Protection ordinance enacted in January 2006.
• Economic Development #3.1 – Downtown streetscape plan – Complete
• Economic Development #3.2 – Support the historic design/character by investing in needed lighting, signage, pedestrian amenities, plantings and other improvements identified in the streetscape plan part of Main St. reconstruction in 2007 – Complete.
• Economic Development #3.3 - Complete an evaluation of parking availability and consider opportunities to establish parking on vacant lots, as well as shared parking areas along Union Street - Complete.
• Land Use #3.1 – Expand identification, directional, and historic street signage – Not Complete.

Next month we’ll look into 2007 Smart Growth Action Items

13. New Business
A. Motion to recommend to Council approval of Resolution #2006-52, authorize the representative to file the Recycling Grants to Responsible Units and Recycling Efficiency Incentive grant applications

This motion transfers the Authority for the Recycling grants from Public Works director to City Clerk.

• Recommend to Council approval of Resolution #2006-52, authorizing the City Clerk as representative to file the Recycling Grants to Responsible Units and Recycling Efficiency Incentive grant applications unanimously approved on a Hammann- Juergens motion.

14. Unfinished Business
A. Exchange Street Name Change
Reviewed City Resolution required to change the name of Exchange Street to Union Street. No changes made to the resolution going to council.

B. Citizens Concerns - Reviewed Citizens concerns received during the past month:
• New stop signs on 5th St. – Randy Carlson, 101 N. 5th St. complained that there is already to many stop signs in Evansville and adding more signs were unneccessary.
The city received a request from citizen Joseph Vaughn to add stop signs at the intersections of Lincoln Court and Lincoln Street, Lincoln Street and Higgins Drive, Badger Drive and Higgins Drive, Abbey Drive or Higgins Drive and 5th Street, Meadow Lane or West Main Street and 5th Street, and speed bumps on the 400 block of Badger Drive, 400 block of Lincoln Street, 300 block of Higgins Drive, and Higgins and Fowler Circles.
Public Works reviewed traffic violations in that area. City engineer drew up a traffic count plan. The Police radar speed trailer was used to measure traffic count and speed. The city engineer reviewed the traffic for the 5th Ave. area and recommended adding stop signs at 5th Ave. and Badger & Main St. intersections. This will divert traffic to 6th St. (new West Side collector road expected completion in 2006.)
The City has also received compliments from citizens such as Ron & Ann Marie Bennett 31 N. 5th St. on how the new stop signs are reducing speeds on 5th St. and how much safer the intersection of 5th & Badger is for children walking to school.
15. Meeting adjourned @ 9:07 p.m. on a Hammann-Juergens motion
Next Meeting: Monday, January 22 at 6:00 p.m.
February’s Meeting: Wednesday, February 28 at 6:00 p.m.
Bill Hammann Chair, Public Works Committee