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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Works Committee Minutes 05.09.2011 MINUTES PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MAY 9, 2011 5:30 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Mark Mace Norman Orr Chuck Rodgers Dan Koch Tom Nelson OTHERS PRESENT: Kurt Markegard Public Input: There was no public input. Southeast 4 Street Paving (Tom) Kurt talked to Dean Rankin recently, and Dean informed him that a price has been negotiated for the connections to the storm sewer system. Dean is trying to get the businesses to agree to the price and to sign an agreement form. Kurt stated that Mayor Olson has directed him to go forward with an SID for the paving and a five -year moratorium on cutting the asphalt in the road. There was discussion regarding the need for a storm water inlet in the street right -of -way or abandoned alley behind IGA. Pizza Hut owns the abandoned alley and needs to deal with the water issues, which were obvious during the recent rains. Dan asked why the connections were not done when the street was torn up. Kurt explained that the connections are private. If the city got involved in private service connections, the city could be liable if parking lots flooded. Also, engineering is needed for each of the parcels to make sure the elevations are correct for the parking lots, and the city does not get involved with that. Businesses do not have to connect to the storm water system, but they can connect in and pay for the connection to the system. There was further discussion regarding a possible new business and some lots by Wal -Mart that do not have any utility services. Kurt mentioned that East Railroad Street will be repaved. Hardrives Construction got the award to repave Railroad Street from First Avenue to the Big Sky Nursery. He nominated the street for urban funds two years ago for a State pavement preservation project of a mill and overlay. The State had done chip sealing and crack sealing on every urban route except East Railroad Street. The other urban route that needs work is West Railroad Street, but it is too far gone and did not meet the criteria for pavement preservation and needs to be reconstructed. When East Railroad Street has been paved, Laurel will be done with the urban pavement program for preventive maintenance for four or five years, or until a chip seal or crack seal is needed again. There was further discussion regarding West Railroad Street and urban routes and funding. Angled parking on Montana and Colorado (Tom) Tom stated that the committee put a six-month hold on the angled parking issue in January for public works to consider signage and striping costs. There was discussion regarding the need for council approval of angled parking and whether an ordinance is needed. Kurt stated that angled parking on Montana, Colorado and Second Avenue was approved via resolution, even though Second Avenue was never striped. Resolutions are legal, but they are not included in Laurel Municipal Code. Mark stated that the only other issue would be if the owners of Emma's want to pursue angled parking. He thinks the owners want to drop it because it might cost them, and because of the handicapped parking, they might lose one or two parking spots so it would not be worth it. Mark mentioned that someone asked him about two water and drainage reservoirs in town. There is one by Rock Church, and Kurt stated that one is at The Crossings. Roundhouse Drive drains into a storm inlet and goes onto private property at St. John's. If the pond is full of water, it is pumped into the ditch, which is CHS's irrigation ditch. Dan brought up the subject of charging for fire sprinklers, which he had mentioned at a previous meeting. Since the issue did not continue, he asked regarding the process. Kurt stated that the mayor forwarded the issue to Great West Engineering for review. There was further discussion regarding the process, the council's direction to prepare an in -depth water rate analysis, and fire hydrants. Dan did some investigating and found that the hydrants are actually owned by the city and rented to the fire department, and the fire department's budget pays the city to have access to the hydrants. Kurt explained that the enterprise utility owns the hydrants and the fire department rents them. The General Fund rents the fire hydrants back for fire suppression. There was a lengthy discussion regarding flushing and testing fire hydrants, the schedule and process for flushing and maintaining fire hydrants, and ISO ratings. Kurt stated that the city is working on a database for the fire hydrants and fire maintenance. The city does not have software to track the data. The handwritten information needs to be put on an Excel spreadsheet so each fire hydrant has its own history. The city has information back to 1993 when the hydrants were being flushed by the fire department. The utility crew currently adds to the information when they flush the hydrants. Kurt explained that fire hydrant districts go to the vote of the people. If voters approved a fire hydrant district, property owners would be assessed a tax to provide revenue to flush, maintain and record the pressures of the hydrants annually. The revenues would pay for software and personnel to input the data. Information regarding fire hydrant districts has been forwarded to the Emergency Services Committee. The meeting adjourned at 6:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Cindy Allen Council Secretary