Minutes: Public Works: October 2006

Public Works Committee Meeting Minutes
Regular Meeting
Monday, October 23, 2006, 6:00 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 & Bruce Woods, Street Architect. Quorum attained.
3. Minutes of September meeting unanimously approved on a Hammann-Juergens motion.
4. Citizen appearances –
• Ray Nipple, 525 S. 5th street countered the claims made by his neighbor Diana Neunenschwander, 525 S. 5th street regarding the storm water problem and fencing issues. Ray showed pictures of other noncompliant fences located with the city of Evansville. Discussed the storm water problem with the city engineer and determined the storm water problems occurs in the spring when the frozen ground is not allowing the storm water time to seep into the ground. Suggest the property owner at 525 S. 5th street to raise the shed base height.
• Roger Neil, 345 S. Madison Street expressed concern that no change in the appearance of the residence located at 337 S. Madison Street. Well-Fargo bank reviewing bids to clean it up and repair the building prior to selling the property.
5. Downtown Streetscape Plan
A. Review preliminary Main Street design
Driving lane width – The road width will be a consistent 57 feet. The troublesome driving lane width between Madison & Maple Streets would increase from 18½ ft. to 20 ft.
Parking – This design adds about 28 additional angle-parking stalls. Maximum parking option.
Sidewalk – width would be 8’ to 10’ except in front of the bowling alley (4.5’) and roller rink (7’). A standard sidewalk is 5’ wide. Narrow sidewalk areas force removal of streetlights.
• Paver Bricks will be used on Main St. from Maple to 1st
• Request City Attorney to grant Evansville Bowl an encroachment of 1.5’ into the right a way.
• A two-foot wide bump out would increase sidewalk in front of Evansville bowl to 6.5 feet, exceeding the ADA requirement. The bump out will created 3 – 4 compact car parking spaces in front of Evansville bowl.
• City Engineer will review proposed bump out with owners of Night Owl.
• West Main St. midblock crosswalk should line up with the crosswalk between Luchinge Realty and possibly the Westside of the alley by the Grange Mall. Discuss a bumpout at the crosswalk location.
• The street drawing should more accurately reflect the locations of the businesses on Main Street.
• The city engineers will adjust the sidewalk grade to allow for ADA access for businesses.
• The city engineers leave in the plans Roth Accounting driveway access onto Main St.
• Change Railroad Street to one way going north & Mill Street to a one-way going west after Main Street reconstruction. Change Montgomery Court to a temporary two-way street designation during Main St. construction in 2007.
• Installing new light fixtures from the bridge over Allen Creek to 1st Street. The city engineer will draw up a relocation plan for the existing light fixtures on west Main St. to the historic district.
• Place new donation plaques on new west Main St. light fixtures.
• Coordinate location of street light in front of old Ace hardware building with building owners.
• Allen creek bridge replacement will be pushed back to 2008 due to Rock county budget constraints.
• Placing 8 benches/trash receptacles as the following locations: State Farm Insurance or El Burrito Loco, Grange building, Old Ace Hardware, near Real Coffee, Library (2x) & on bridge (2x). Identified exact locations.
• Request combining planters with benches.
• Discussed number of trees and locations. Try to keep as many existing trees as possible and add 11 additional trees. The exact tree locations will be done after final street design is complete.
• Added number and locations of bike hitches directly to the Main Street design drawing.
Other Main Street Reconstruction Issues
• Discussed pedestrian access & delivery access behind buildings during construction.

Main Street Reconstruction Implementation Timeline
Sept. - Review preliminary street design itemized budget.
Oct. - Review preliminary street design
Nov. - Final Main Street renovation budget & design approval.
Dec. - City Engineer present final Main Street engineering drawings and rendering (Public Comment)
Jan. - Main Street Streetscape plan open house

6. Lake Leota Reclamation Plan
Bids for cutting a V-notch and constructing a cofferdam due in 2 weeks.
• Grant authority to City Engineer to select contractor if bid for cutting a V-notch and constructing a cofferdam in Lake Leota dam is under the budgeted $35,000 unanimously approved on a Juergens-Sornson motion.
7. Preliminary Site Plan Review
A. North Prairie Productions Biodiesel Facility
• Sanitary Sewer – A 611’ sanitary sewer line 8 inches in diameter will run down County Road M connecting the Biodiesel plant to the WWTP. Discussed the potential concentration levels of Methanol in sanitary sewer and determine the levels to be safe and not harmful to the WWTP. Discussed sanitary sewer hook up fee.
• Storm Sewer – Several on site storage ponds eventually flowing toward 24” storm sewer under County Road M. Process area contained.
• Water Main – A 10” main required for fire suppression, only require a 2” service.
• Street & Sidewalks – Improvements along County Road M built to urban street standards. Sidewalk to the industrial area not required. Two driveway access into site. Reviewed R/R crossing. Gravel road adjacent to R/R for track maintenance and fire protection access.
• Housing – not required for an industrial site.
• Environmental- Discussed products produced in the manufacturing process, including waste products. Reviewed how the manufactured products are stored on site and shipped off site. Reviewed potential emissions resulting from the manufacturing process.
8. Communications from City Engineer
Communicated to City Engineer citizen concerns regarding the Main/Madison streets intersection construction:

• Closure of Main/Madison intersection. Complete closure of the intersection, and failure to provide suitable temporary pedestrian crossing areas are a major inconvenience. Intersection was closed for over 2 weeks, including 2 weekends. In future, clear contractual requirements as to street closures and other access issues should be incorporated into the Contract Documents put out for bids, and be enforced by City.
• Temporary detour and signage issues. The detour route signage was been confusing. Visitors traveling through Evansville have been confused and irritated. This is bad for City's image and for downtown businesses district has suffered. The detour route signage just did not work. Expect the city engineer to come up with a better signage plan.
• Repaving Madison Street – Madison Street will be repaved with a 2” matte asphalt including butt joints to existing concrete.
• Notice of service interruptions - Interruptions of utility services to business need to be better then a note left overnight on front doors. Engineer and contractors need to be aware that many downtown businesses have a critical need for water supply.
9. Communications of Public Works Director
A. Discussion and possible motion regarding the turn lanes on HWY 14 and CTY M
A year after requesting identification of turning lanes on Hwy. 14 and County road M intersection, WiDOT placed small signs identifying the turn lanes on the side of Hwy. 14. The DOT does not have money in their budget for painting turning lane identification, but will allow the Evansville to paint turning lanes. Wrong time of the year for road painting (drying of paint issue).
• Instruct Public Works director to paint left-hand turn only on Hwy. 14 at Hwy. 14 and County road M intersection unanimously approved on a Hammann-Juergens motion.
B. Discussion on commencement for the interior remodeling of City Hall
On January 1, the city staff will move into the Dean Center while City Hall is remodeled. Selected project champions assigned to plan and complete the transition and remodeling of City Hall.
Public Works Director – Construction Supervisor
City Engineer – Construction timeline and planning coordinator.
Current Public Works projects include:
• Completed turning the former Farnsworth Ceramic Shop into a youth community center.
• Sign Replacing
• ¼ completed constructing new bathrooms in Countryside Park.
• Mowing at cemetery & city parks.
• Cutting down & removing storm damaged trees.
• Street sweeping.
• Painting traffic signage
• Completed Sewer cleaning
• Brush pickup 1st week of each month.
• Leaf pickup.
• Water street paving.
10. Volunteer Mowers for City Parks – No volunteers to mow in city parks.

11. New Business - NA
12. Meeting adjourned @ 9:55 p.m. on a Hammann-Juergens motion
Next Meeting: Monday, November 27 at 6:00 p.m.
Bill Hammann Chair, Public Works Committee