Public Works Committee
Minutes
7:00 P.M.; January 24, 2011
Minutes of a meeting of the City of O’Fallon’s Public Works Committee, held in the Mayor’s Conference Room, City Hall, 255 S. Lincoln, O'Fallon, Illinois on January 24, 2011.
CALL TO ORDER: Time: 7:00 P.M.
ROLL CALL: MEMBERS: Reckamp, J. Drolet, Snyder, N. Drolet, Engler
NON-COMMITTEE ALDERMEN: Cozad, True, Polites, Albrecht, Mouser
STAFF LIAISON: Bell, Sullivan, Rich, Cole, Bowman, Funk, Shekell
GUESTS: Herb Roach, Kyle Shirley, Kelley Shirley, Karen Pfeifer, Dave Pfeifer,
Dan Kelley, Kevin Hagarty
Minutes from November 22, 2010 were approved.
Item 1. POI: Water Service Charges – No Action. (Open)
Item 2. POI: 6300 N Illinois Fire Hydrant – Fairview Heights – No Action. (Open)
Item 3. AI: Water Leak, 206 W. 4th Street – Alderman John Drolet addressed the committee. He had requested additional information from Utility Billing. Based on that information, he calculated the bills using only the 2009 water rates. Utility Billing had calculated the bill using both the 2009 & 2010 water rates. The leak happened during the rate change in October 2010. Alderman Drolet mentioned that on the City website there is policy information regarding leak adjustments. Alderman Reckamp interjected that recalculating bills is problematic at best and everyone should rely on staff to handle it. Mr. Shirley was not appreciative of comments by Alderman Reckamp, and the conversation went to an elevated tone. Mr. Shirley’s language
was not appropriate for a public meeting and was on the verge of being asked to leave the meeting if he continued in the same manner. After a lengthy discussion on the merits of the appeal for a further reduction in the bill for the leak, Alderman Drolet motioned that the homeowner be required to pay the amount that he calculated $301.62 instead of the staff recommendation of $341.04. Motion passed, 3 Yes (J.Drolet, N. Drolet & Engler) to 2 No (Reckamp & Snyder). (Closed)
Item 4. POI: Sewer Backup, 157 Knob Creek Lane – The homeowners were not present, despite their request to be put on the Committee agenda. The issue will be continued on the next Committee agenda. (Open)
Item 5. AI: Augusta/Hilgard Sewer Main Replacement Design Proposal – Staff presented a design proposal from Sherbut-Carson-Claxton, LLC for the sanitary sewer main replacement. This is a problematic area of sewer main. The sewer main is located in backyard easements. Homeowners will be responsible for changing out their sewer lateral when construction occurs. To ease that, the City will offer a loan payback program similar to the one offered last year with the Anne/Alma/Edward replacement. The Augusta/Hilgard sewer main due to the many structural problems is not a good candidate for lining.
Motion: Committee recommended approval of the Sherbut-Carson-Claxton, LLC agreement in the amount of $48,000.00.
Item 6. AI: Jurisdictional Transfer, Old Vincennes Road – Staff has received a jurisdictional transfer agreement from St. Clair County Department of Roads and Bridges. There is an agreement to support submission of IDOT paperwork needed to memorialize the transfer. Council has already passed a 1997 resolution to accept the roadway if and when the City annexes property along any part of Old Vincennes Road. The City has annexed properties at 966 and 970 Old Vincennes. After some discussion about the condition of the roadway and the prior agreement, the committee’s recommendation was for staff to send a rejection letter to the County inquiring about jurisdiction of the portion of Old Vincennes west of the intersection of Seven Hills Road which according to an IDOT
database belongs to the County as well, and find the 1997 Council resolution. NOTE: On January 25th, staff was informed by the County that the section of Old Vincennes west of Seven Hills Road is in fact the City of O’Fallon’s jurisdiction by past action. Thus, the letter to the County on that point is now mute. (Open)
Item 7. POI: 900 Holliday Drive, High Water Bill Complaint – The homeowner was not present. Mrs. Isom is upset over the rates and their usage for one past month. The committee’s consensus was to leave the item open for another meeting to allow the homeowner to be heard. (Open)
Item 8: POI: MFT General Maintenance Resolution – Staff informed the Committee that every year IDOT requires the Council to pass a resolution to support the use of MFT for maintenance of streets and highways by the municipality. The CY2011 resolution is very similar to the ones passed by the Council in the past. It allows use of MFT funds by in-house personnel for the maintenance of city streets. Salt purchasing is currently over the budget for CY2010 due to the early snow events we had. After a brief discussion, Committee requested staff increase the amount of money requested for the salt item to $90,000.00. Committee motioned to move the item forward with the amended amount for salt. (Closed)
Motion: Committee recommends approval of the MFT General Maintenance IDOT resolution paperwork.
Item 9: POI: Greystone Place & Oxford Hill Road Snow Route Designation – Ald. Reckamp received a request from Elizabeth Boulter to be on the agenda. In 2010, this item was previously reviewed by Committee sent to Council and back to Committee to be denied. Resident is not present. (Open)
Item 10. POI: 109 Lee Dr. Apt. 3 ERT Damage – Mrs. Luster, the occupant of Apartment #3, called staff to state that she was unable to make it to the meeting tonight. She requested to be placed on the next committee agenda. (Open)
Item 11: POI: Snow & Ice Control Issues – Staff provided information on the recent snow plowing events. Staff confirmed that the existing snow removal policy had been followed. Alderman John Drolet inquired why certain streets were plowed versus others and the route that was taken. Staff explained there are several circumstances that affect how the plowing or salting progresses and why a plow might leave an area before all streets are addressed. Some areas, subdivisions require multiple loads of salt due to the size of the roadway system in them. Staff reported that we have had 6 events to date. The 3 times we did only snow routes it was at a cost of $34,000.00 per event versus when we went into the subdivisions
at a cost of $95,000.00. We currently have 46 miles of snow routes and nearly 180 miles of roadway in the City. It takes a minimum of 24 hours to get through all of the streets when a decision is made to go into the subdivisions, if no additional snow fall occurs or there is blowing snow. After a lengthy discussion, Committee asked staff to review the snow route list. Committee also requested a list of streets not under our jurisdiction that we regularly plow. (Open)
Item 12. POI: Floodplain Issues – Resident Dave Pfeifer addressed the Committee. He received a call from his lender saying he now needs floodplain insurance. In August 2010 a new Letter of Map Revision was issued by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) for the floodplain adjacent to Engle Creek and Rock Spring reaches. He stated it raised the base flood elevation in his neighborhood as much as 8 feet. Mr. Pfeifer said the floodplain maps are indicative of the increased amount of stormwater generated upstream from his residence by local development. He wants the City to reduce the stormwater discharge into Engle Creek. He feels the City is responsible for all of the stormwater in Engle Creek. He asked who
handles stormwater and the floodplain maps. Staff responded that Public Works handles stormwater and Planning & Zoning handles the inquiries on the flood plain maps. FEMA actually issues the flood plain maps. There was some discussion amongst Committee members as to how stormwater issues were handled within the City and what could be done to focus the effort. (Closed)
ADJOURNMENT: 8:35 P.M. PREPARED BY: Heide Bell
Next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, February 28, 2011 at 7:00 P.M., to be held in the Mayor’s Conference Room or Council Chambers at City Hall dependent upon the number of visitors at the meeting.
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