Public Works Committee Minutes 3/19

Here are the Minutes of our Committee Meeting held on 3/19/2012

Cortney
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Cortney called the meeting to order 6:00PM 3/19/2012 to discuss 2 topics: bids for Miami Rd resurfacing, and assessment of sidewalk repiar (Albert Pl non standard surfaces, do we assess Residents like in other Municipalities).

Cortney said Chris presented us with 6 bids. Queen City, a reputable Company, was the low bid ($121,840). Cortney thought it was reasonable and low risk. Chris estimated $130K, and bid came in $8200 below Engineer's Estimate. $60K comes in from Ohio Public Works Committee, $20K from Hamilton County Municipal Road fund (Mar 8 letter). Village pays $41,840. Cortney said previous meeting we expected to pay$40K, now $41K. Denise asked if they did work last year. Chris confirmed they did Plainville Rd. Also work in 2010 and before. Denise asked if issues. Chris said no except for a traffic complaint which was resolved in a day. Cortney recommends the Committee accept the bid of Queen City Blacktop. Jeff and Denise were aligned.

Cortney said at the last meeting, we learned that Village position is owner is responsible for sidewalks. If Public trees affect sidewalk, it's not the homeowners responsibility. Conversely, if no public property cause for damage, it's on the homeowner. Jeff said he didn't understand the inconsistency of who's responsible, sometimes homeowner, sometimes Village. Why not more consistent? Denise said our Code is same across many communities. This inconsistency is common. Cortney asked Chris about City of Cincinnati program. Chris said Urban Forestry takes care of their own trees. If trees cause damage, Urban Forestry confirms and then condemns the tree. Cortney said he's concerned about precedent of removal. Cortney asked if the Village should start assessing homeowners. Is effort worth the revenue stream? Cortney said it's an opportunity to clarify or change our position. Denise said if assess, we'll make it prohibitive for homeowners in Hist District. Already an issue with Properties being maintained. Denise suggested pay for all repairs out of same fund, no Assessments. Cortney agreed and said if 100% assessment, it's a big burden on the homeowner. Option is to assess a more reasonable fee. But still we have to manage policing sidewalks. Becomes a logistical difficulty. Jeff said assume we don't go down the assessment path, how will we react to a homeowner complaining about the first small crack. Cortney said we'd expand the road grading system to sidewalks. But do we want the overhead. Jeff asked Chris if we wanted to pursue a more aggressive program, how much would it cost? Chris said $10-$20K for a sidewalk fund. Jeff said he was concerned about overhead. Jeff asked what do we do about the Contractor who smashes the sidewalk during a homeowner project. Cortney asked if the group was supportive of maintaining the current system: Village pays for all sidewalk repair even though the Code doesn't require us to. Jeff and Denise were in alignment.

Albert Place discussion. Cortney asked if the Committee was supportive of a letter to the affected homes on Albert Place. Denise asked if the sidewalks are original. Cortney said 2 experts don't believe they are. Burden is then on the Residents to prove otherwise. Jeff asked if Albert Pl was in the historic district. Cortney said he thought it was, like Sheldon Close and Denny Place. Jeff said we need to be careful of setting precedent of replacing at any cost. This issue is not worth entering the argument at $17,000. Cortney asked what action should the Committee take. Albert Pl is in a holding pattern, no money has been appropriated. Repair is a very interesting option vs replace. Concrete base repair will be deep and will slice many roots that keep the trees healthy. So repair may be a desirable option for the residents. Could the residents repair the sidewalk areas themselves with help/instruction. We need to address the safety concern brought to us. We need to do something, just not sure what that something is. Jeff asked if there is any precedent of replacement. Cortney said Indianview had brick sidewalks. Might have been Petoskey or Pocahontas, but Dave Zack confirmed they had them at one point. Village obviously chose a cheaper, maybe safer option. Jeff added concrete is longer lasting. Denise asked about damage to trees if concrete only. Cortney said would be little damage since no additional depth needed. Chris confirmed 5" concrete vs 3" bricks. Cortney said concrete could be no damage option. Jeff said $17K is not insignificant. Denise said Employees taking pay freezes, for instance. Jeff said we've made big changes for less money saved. Cortney said Grasscorp losing the contract is an example. Jeff said this is sensitive. He was told that Dan went door to door after our first committee meeting telling residents we were going to remove their brick sidewalks. Cortney said an outreach letter would be good to counter this. Cortney asked Chris if repair was viable. With selective root pruning could we get 5-10 years out of repair. Chris said probably yes. Cortney said we have 2 bad, 1 good option. Could we ask residents to engage with us in repair (vs replace). Jeff said a letter won't be well received. Why not door to door. Denise said why not invite them to a meeting. Cortney said he was supportive. Jeff suggested meeting outside of Council chambers. Cortney asked if we could ask a resident host a Committee Meeting. Jeff suggested having Chris play an active role since his demeanor is so calming. All agreed to include Chris. It was decided to send a simple letter to residents informing them of a meeting held on Albert Place to discuss sidewalks, knowing the sensitivity of the subject and the importance of enrolling the residents. All agreed. Jeff said the meeting will be good since we don't truly know what the residents want. We shouldn't assume. Cortney agreed to put a letter together. Jeff suggested we have it on the sidewalks out front vs at a home. All agreed.

Cortney asked if the Committee believed the best option is repair (ahead of the meeting) Denise agreed, but was concerned about "pushing off" the pain until later. Cortney said restoration is not a forever thing. A cynic would say we're kicking the can down the road, a more sensitive historically minded person would say
this repair/restoration will get us 10 years. We'll need to be careful of the words we use.

Cortney asked if the Committee was supportive of the idea of a 50/50 split. Cost is higher than it should be and as stewards and as Council we can't support paying for it all. If you can raise the remainder, we can do this project. Denise asked about possibility of a grant. Chris said yes possible but unlikely since needs to bundled with a road. Cortney said we have a bit of credibility walking into a meeting since we've reco'd repaving of their alley. Cortney asked if Committeed was supportive of cost sharing. Jeff said we have 2 assumptions: 1) not historic and 2)concrete is the standard choice. We need to weigh life expectancy vs cost. if break even, less of a concern. If 3x cost per year, we're not comfortable recoing to Council that choice. Cortney asked Chris to provide a reasonable life expectancy. Chris said 5" will last 30-40 years. Denise said without tree root issues. Cortney suggested using 10 years for repair, 30 years for concrete replacement. Cortney asked Chris to come up with an estimate for spot repair. Also cost for brick replacement and concrete. Will be good to compare. Chris confirmed $17,000 for brick includes concrete base. Cortney asked Chris to confirm 1/2 this cost for concrete alone. Cortney said repair est would be 2 sections. This allows us to come into the meeting with data. Cortney asked if we talk about historic and burden of proof. Jeff said we've done some research and experts tell us they're not historic. However we're open to other evidence. Cortney and Jeff agreed if historic we would support brick as final surface. Chris said he would estimate repair at no more than $6K; 35%-45% of area would have to be touched. Jeff said we need to accurately portray the budget situation we're in-many people don't have an understanding of the challenges. Don't scare but state we need to conscious now to avoid tax increases later.

Cortney agreed to setup a meeting with the Committee + Chris + residents on the Albert Place horseshoe.

Meeting adjorned 6:45PM.


to be continued