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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPWC Minutes 2003-01-28 TOWN OF ITHACA HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT 106 SEVEN MILE DRIVE, ITHACA, N.Y. 14850 PHONE(607)273-1656 Roads,Parks,Trails,Sewer,and Water FAX(607)272-6076 PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE January 28, 2003, 8:00 a.m. Public Works Facility 1. Approval of Minutes David Klein October 1, 2002 October 29, 2002 December 3, 2002 2. Update on Public Works Facility Fred Noteboom 3. Review and Discuss Highway's Emergency Call-in Policy Fred Noteboom 4. Review and Discuss Correspondence from Town of Fred Noteboom Dryden—Game Farm Road Jurisdiction 5. Update of Current Water Projects Dan Walker Hospital Water and Sewer Burns Road Water ghk pc: Tee-Ann Hunter, Town Clerk Andrew Frost, Director of Zoning/Building Jonathan Kanter, Director of Planning ' CI d) DISPOSITION DATE P/4/ TOWN OF ITHACA Public Works Committee January 28, 2003 Public Works Facility 106 Seven Mile Drive Ithaca, NY 14850 Present: David Klein, Chairperson;Tom Neiderkorn; Dan Walker;Fred Noteboom; Gene Redman; Rich Schoch; Mike Smith Public Works Facility Update David Klein asked how the budget is going for this project. Fred Noteboom said that we have had several minor change orders. We are still waiting for the change order for the window between the vestibule and the office. The original window was not fire rated and according to code, it must be. We have received a credit from the siding company because there was a minor flaw in the rolling process, but you cannot see it enough to change it. This credit will be$3,000. Overall,we are staying very close to budget. Fred explained that we are talking about going to an electric hot water heater. The Committee would rather have a more energy-efficient, gas-powered heater. There was a discussion regarding the circulation of the hot water to the rest of the building. The staff who have been working with the contractors have been very pleased with the plumbing contractor,but not the HVAC contractor. Streeter, Associates, who is the general contractor, says they are still on target for completion February 14, 2003. The furniture is scheduled to be delivered February 19, 2003. We are going to wait until March to set up the network system, as Lisa Carrier- Titti, Network Specialist,will be back from vacation then. The Town will have some landscaping and the paving to do in the spring. The March meeting for Public Works Committee should be in the new building's conference room. Public Works Committee Minutes,January 28,2003 Page 2 Emergency Call-in Policy and Level of Services Fred said that he would like to have the Town Board set the level of services for snow removal in the Town of Ithaca. He handed out a guideline the Highway Department has been using for calling in employees for emergencies such as snow removal and water breaks. We continue to use salt(mixed with Majic -0) on the roads, trails, walkways, and at Town Hall. This will continue in the future. We have not used sand for roads in several years. Currently, each snowplow runs take less than a truckload of salt. It appears that we are using more salt (since starting to use the salt mixed with Majic-0). The reason we use more now is because we have more miles of road to treat. Fred showed the Committee the map with the plow routes on it. The Town does plow and salt certain County roads; some of those roads are outside of the Town. We are reimbursed for this, although the amount is based on the previous year's usage. The Town plows approximately 48 miles of Town roads, and approximately 20 miles of County roads. It takes approximately 4 hours to complete each run. One run's mileage may be more than another, while the time to complete each runs is about the same. Tom Neiderkorn felt that if the level of services needs to be improved,it should be up to the Highway Superintendent. Presently, the Highway Department does not receive many complaints about the roads and how they are plowed/salted. Fred explained that we have been utilizing four plow trucks and two 1-ton trucks. Because of the high maintenance on the 1-ton trucks,we are going to start using five snowplow trucks and one 1-ton truck, which will do the dead ends and fire station parking lots within the Town. There was a discussion regarding the cul-de-sacs within the Town and that they are hard to plow. It is better now that the Town requires them to be a single-lane with an island in the middle. • David felt that we should get feedback from the residents. We will make a survey and put it in the newsletter and on the Town's web site. Fred said that some Town's have approved level of services,which could help the Town with liability issues. The Committee liked the guidelines and would like to have a presentation on it. This will be reviewed at the next meeting again. Public Works Committee Minutes,January 28,2003 Page 3 Fred said that another potential safety hazard for the snowplow trucks is at intersections. Sometimes the trucks have to go way out in the intersection to see if anything is coming, and then,when turning, have to make very wide turns with all the snowplow equipment in front. The Committee discussed that this year we have had to have several cars towed from roadsides that were hindering snow removal operations. Changing Road Jurisdictions Fred received a copy of a letter from the Town of Dryden(addressed to Tompkins County) regarding jurisdiction of several roads. The only road it affects in the Town is Game Farm Road. Fred would be interested in pursuing this further. Currently, Game Farm Road has three separate entities that own a section of the road—Tompkins County, Town of Ithaca, and Town of Dryden. Fred said that one concern he has about this,is that he feels Tompkins County would want the Town to take over roads like Warren Road or Pleasant Grove Road in exchange. The cost to fix these roads would be very high. The Committee suggested this be reviewed at the Transportation Committee. Fred will have this put on the agenda. Water Projects The Burns Road water main service project has been completed. There will be some clean up in the spring though. At present, two residents have hooked up to the Towri s water. The hospital water and sewer projects have started,but because of the weather,have not gotten far. They started at Candlewyck Apartments and are now up behind Lakeside Nursing Home. They are working on the sewer first. They have 120 days to finish the work, although we are not concerned with this as the weather has been so bad this winter causing some delays. Miscellaneous Tom asked about the process to get the water project connecting the south hill water to the west hill water. Dan Walker said that first a model was made to see what size piping would be needed. A design has to be laid out, and then it has to go to the Public Works Committee Minutes,January 28,2003 Page 4 Capital Projects Committee. The Town Board must approve it, and then the Town can start acquiring land (easements) to put the lines on. For this project we will need to talk to the New York State Parks,Emerson Power Trans., and Ithaca College. To get the easements we first have to survey the land, develop maps, meet with the owners, and then have the Town s attorney complete the deal. There was a discussion regarding the benefits to present landowners. Bolton Point does not have problems with this project, as it would produce more revenues for them. The Town will still use the City of Ithaca for emergency water services. Some of the benefits to the City of Ithaca would be: They would have emergency connections; it would reduce the load on their services; and the City's water quality would be better due to mixing with Bolton Point's water. David said that he received a phone call from an employee from Lucente's complaining about water pressure on Briarwood Drive. Dan explained why they had problems— Cornell University has used a lot of water to irrigate their fields. We have reconfigured the water lines and pumps in that area in an effort to maintain a higher level of water in the water tank there. The Town may want to talk to the Lucente's to have them help build a water tank because they are proposing more subdivisions in that area. Dan said that the Town has talked to the Town of Dryden regarding getting water from one of their tanks near NYSEG. We do provide water to Cardinal Drive. The Town of Dryden is considering extending their water lines towards Cardinal Drive. If we were able to hook up to this, we would be able to provide more water pressure. Dan said that we do provide adequate water pressure now—the solution for the resident's on Briarwood Drive would be to have booster pumps put in their homes. Dan said that rebuilding the current water tank would not be cost effective;we need to build a new one that is 40 to 50 feet higher. The close proximity to Tompkins County Airport could be a problem due to height restrictions. It would be more beneficial to hook up to the Town of Dryden s water. Fred said that New York State has approved the William and Hannah Pew Trail design. The Town can now move ahead with land acquisition. The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 a.m. ghk DISPOSITION DATE ‘,44r OFIT TOWN OF ITHACA er HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT 106 SEVEN MILE DRIVE, ITHACA, N.Y. 14850 tithaca@twcny.rr.com PHONE(607)273-1656 Roads,Parks,Trails.Sewer,and Water FAX(607)272-6076 TOWN OF ITHACA PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE March 4, 2003, 8:00 a.m. Public Works Facility 1. Approval of Minutes David a. October 1, 2002 b. October 29, 2002 c. January 28, 2003 2. Discuss bid specifications for a Used Roller Fred 3. Review Level of Services and Emergency Call In Fred 4. Review West Hill Water System Dan 5. Review Public Works Facility Project and Tour Fred ghk