Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPWC Minutes 2010-03-22 TOWN OF ITHACA Public Works Committee March 22,2010 Present: Rich DePaolo,Chair; Bill Goodman; Susan Riha;Jim Weber;Mike Smith; and Gene Redman The meeting began at 10:35 a.m. The minutes from the March 4,2010,meeting were approved with corrections. Set Meeting Schedule for 2010 The Committee discussed the best times for the meetings. We will meet on the 4th Tuesday of the month at 10:30 a.m. in the Public Work Facility Conference Room. April's meeting will be on the 19th. Member Comments/Concerns and Any Modifications to Agenda Jim Weber informed the Committee he had a few updates he would like to share with the Committee. They include: Bridge Replacement,Ulysses Meter Building,and Project Timing. Rich DePaolo asked what was going on with the roof at Town Hall. Jim explained that he and Al Carvil are working on a maintenance program and setting up reserves. Jim would like to put together a maintenance program for all our infrastructures. Susan Riha liked the idea of putting together program for all the infrastructures. Jim felt that we should continue to fix the roof until we get a program put together. Rich would like to get the cost of replacing the roof. Jim said that he is working on getting some costs. The cost estimates will include things like putting solar panels,etc. Solar panels will change the cost estimates because there are other aspects (electric,etc.) that will have to be factored in. He did say the tin section of the roof will need to be replaced soon. Susan said that Cornell University did a study and the pay back for putting in solar panels is not worth it. The Committee agreed that we need to get all the estimates before prioritizing. Swallowwort: The Town Board has decided to have staff certified to apply herbicides. Jim has be in contact with Cornell University,and they agree that the best way to get rid of the swallowwort is by including herbicides in the maintenance program. 44,Pu(51, orks Committee Minutes,March 22,2010 Page 2 i Forest Home Traffic Calming,Phase I: The Brittens have concerns that their suggestions have not been implemented in design changes. Jim informed the Committee that they have been addressed. He said there may be some issues with the time management of the project. Ditching and Shoulder Maintenance The Town needs to comply with the local law for storm water management. Jim explained that piping is not always the answer. Rich D. asked if there is a big difference in maintenance costs of ditching versus piping. Jim said he thought it would be about the same. Jim explained that swales are different from ditches. Ditches are in the front of houses next to the roadway and are excavated. Swales are on the sides and/or back of houses and tend to be gentle,nondescript. Susan said that some property owners like to mow the ditches in from of their houses. Jim explained that as ditches age, the slopes will erode, so we have to clean out the ditches to help re-establish the ditch cross-section. We do try to reseed ditches,but sometimes the seed doesn't stay in place long enough to grow on the sides of the ditches. Susan said that if there is no re-vegetation,than open ditches are not better the culverts. Jim said that if there is high flow,vegetation will not grow. Jim said there are other materials that can be put in the ditches. Rip Rap and/or jute mesh can be used as armor protection. Rich D. asked Gene Redman if hydroseeding works. Gene said it wasn't great. If ditching in the summer,hydroseeding has to be watered. Jim said that tackafiers can be applied to help seeds stay in place. Rich wondered how much more expensive it would be to use them. Rich asked if we have a preventive maintenance program. Gene explained that we do not. We keep track of the ditches and clean them when needed. We have to clean out the ditches on Elm Street Ext. every year. When we redo a road surface,we will clean out the ditches then. He said that some ditches are hard to clean out because the ditch is shallow to begin with. Susan felt that the drainage system in the Northeast was better before Briarwood, Phase I was put in. Jim explained that if you put in closed ditches, the pipes need to have catch basins to collect the water. r- --1 t " Public Works Committee Minutes,March 22,2010 Page 3 Rich wondered if the same procedure for ditching can be applied across the board. No it can't. Jim explained that drainage systems have to be calculated using velocity, slope, and flow. • Susan said that the problem in the Northeast is that the upper section is piped, then there is a section that is not piped, and then it goes back to piping. She felt that pipes in the upper section should be taken out.•The soils in the Northeast hold water. Susan said the area is very flat. The Town's storm water regulations have help change the designs of drainage ways in new subdivisions. Rich asked if the Town has a policy when deciding to put in an open or closed ditch and which was preferred over the other. We do not have a policy. We can-put one together, but it will not be specific. Rich asked about the criteria for picking one over the other. We do have criteria for new development: Jim explained that the size of a pipe is dependant on the type of storm, e.i. 5 year, 10 year, 100 year storm. Jim said that when deciding to either have open ditches or piping, we have to factor in how much and how fast water flows in the creeks to the lake. Soils also affect the design and drainage system. Susan said that we need to keep the Planning Board and staff involved in the process. Susan talked about the overflows at Hanshaw Road and that the overflow goes to Cornell University's fields. Susan felt we should.look into having a long-term plan. Jim said we could make it more like the Comprehensive Plan. Jim explained that a retention pond has water in it all the time, and in a detention pond the water is there for a period of time. - The Committee asked if we need or can improve on our operations. Gene said that he felt things were working well. He said the drainage in the Northeast is good,but driveway pipes need to be replaced. A lot of the head walls have collapsed. Susan said there are a variety of headwalls. Jim explained that headwalls protect the driveway. Rich D. asked what types of materials should we use when hydroseeding. Gene explained thaf the Town's hydroseeding machine is old,but we are getting a new one this year. We can,and some times do,use jute mesh. It is more expensive. It gets laid down on the bottom and-angled up. Public Works Committee Minutes,March 22,2010 Page 4 The Committee decided that ditching plan,storm water plan, and a water and sewer comp. plan need to be in one place. Public Works Facility Master Plan Jim informed the Committee that we have been working on a 10 year Public Works Facility Master Plan that will be moved through the Town's planning process. This plan includes: Adding on to the annex so all the water and sewer parts, etc. can be stored in one place. We would like to add on to the cold storage barn for the equipment that does not need to be in the garage year around. We would like to add a wash bay outside of the building. Presently,we wash the vehicles in the garage. This causes rusting of vehicles faster and run off issues. The Committee asked where the run off is taken. Jim said we pump it out with our sewer vacuum and take it to the landfill. We need a taller salt storage shed. Our shed can hold approximately 800 tons of salt,but it is not tall enough for a dump truck to dump inside the building. This means that it is dumped outside and then we have to move it. We use approximately 2,000 tons a year. The Committee talked about the state bid process for getting salt. Currently we tell the State how much salt to "reserve" for the Town. We have to take delivery of at least 80 percent, and if we go over 120 percent, the price per ton is raised. We get our salt from Cargill,Inc. Jim explained that we need to make the office space larger. We need more space for files, etc. The original design had the office and break room larger,but due to money constraints, it was made smaller. Road Excavation Law Rich asked if this was a boiler plate and how this came about. Jim explained that the Tompkins Council of Open Government (TCOG) made the boiler plate after all the Marcellus Shale drilling came into play. Jim said he is reviewing it and will make changes to suit the Town. He said that one of the changes he made was no digging during winter work. Jim explained that he has information for Delta Engineers, and they are proposing to complete studies for any entity that would like it completed. The study would include road preservation, rating the road, testing the road,build to the standard, and costs. Jim did not think the Town of Ithaca was endangered of the drilling as most of the gas is west of Ithaca. The Committee decided that the Town Board should see this information. Rich asked about rating the roads due to fracking. Jim said that TCOG is looking at this project as a community project. Jim said that most the traffic in the Town would be on State or County roads. Jim said there is software that will rate roads, and pubworks is • Public Works Committee Minutes,March 22,2010 Page 5 one of them. The rating would include how it was constructed, types of cracks, frequency of the cracks, dips in the road, etc. The Committee agreed that we should defer this until next meeting,as Jim still has some tweaking. Gene informed the committee that the last time this was reviewed with 1965. Updates • Ulysses Water Meter: The Town of Ulysses had a Town Board meeting. Some questions and concerns arose from that meeting. Jim informed the Committee that the water enters the meter building at 45 PSI and goes out at 135 PSI. • Jim explained that the Town of Ulysses has approximately 45,000 feet.of water line in the Town of Ulysses; we have approximately 9,100. He also explained that when a new line is put in,you can lose up to 11.5 gallons a day per inch per mile. That equates to approximately a 91,000 gallon loss per quarter for Ulysses, and 18,000 loss per quarter for Ithaca. The Town of Ulysses built the pump station and gave it to the Town of Ithaca. They built the tank and agreed to supply us with water. There are other charges that the Town of Ulysses may not have been aware of. If a meter building is constructed,there will be no more,questions. Jim said another issue is that water quality has to be maintained—chlorinate it. Because it is a Town building, we don't want people who are not Town employees in it all the time. Game Farm Road Bridge: Jim has been informed that Tompkins County is going to replace the bridge on Game Farm Road. This will impede into the parking lot that is next to the bridge. At this point, there is no permit or design. We will recommend maintaining parking and reconfigure the lot to maximize the use. Project Timing: Jim explained that a couple of the projects there were slated for 2010 may be held off. The Town has to bond those projects and that can take up to 90 days. The Ridgecrest Road Tank has to be done in warm weather. We believe we can do the Hungerford Hills Pump Station this year. The meeting was adjourned at 12:30 p.m. ghk REVISED, March 22, 2010 F/NA L Public Works Committee Meeting Dates and Time Meetings will be held at the Public Work Facility at 10:30 a.m. on the fourth Tuesday of the month. April 19, 2010 May 25, 2010 June 22, 2010 July 27, 2010 August 24, 2010 September 28, 2010 October 26, 2010 November 23, 2010 December 28, 2010