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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-11-10 MinutesCITY OF COTTAGE GROVE PUBLIC WORKS COMMISSION November 10, 2008 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a meeting of the Public Works Commission of Cottage Grove was duly held at Cottage Grove Public Works, 8635 West Point Douglas Road, Cottage Grove, Minnesota on Monday, November 10, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Robert Dornsbach called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Members Present: Ken Boyden, Robert Dornsbach Gary Kjellberg, Christopher Lethgo, William Royce Staff Present: Les Burshten, Public Works Director Jennifer Levitt, City Engineer Also Present: Fred Luden, City Council Member 3. APPROVE MINUTES Upon a motion by Christopher Lethgo, seconded by Ken Boyden, the October 13, 2008 minutes were unanimously approved. 4. ADDITIONAL AGENDA ITEMS None. 5. NEW BUSINESS A. Ice Arena Grand Opening City Engineer Jennifer Levitt reminded members about the upcoming Ice Arena Grand th Opening on November 18. There will be free admission to the JV and varsity girls hockey games, free skating from 6:30pm to 8:00pm along with a figure skating performance. B. Park Tree Planting Les Burshten stated the community tree planting event is scheduled for Saturday, May 16, 2009 at Hamlet Park from 9am to 12 noon. Approximately 2,400 1¼” diameter trees will be planted in pre-drilled holes. Public Works Commission November 10, 2008 – Page 2 C. Amend City Ordinance Title 8 – Storm Water Illicit Discharge and Illicit Connection Levitt stated the City must develop an ordinance that addresses illicit discharge of storm water as one of the elements of a best management practice. The League of Minnesota Cities model was used as a guide, along with ordinances from other Twin Cities communities. “Good Housekeeping Provision #2” discusses runoff of water from residential properties shall be minimized to the maximum extent possible. Levitt stated, however, most of the time this is already being done in the development grading plan. Levitt explained there are currently no issues with commercial or residential properties experiencing water runoff in extreme measures becoming a health or safety issue pertaining to discharge. This goes along with Item 5a which states: “All motor vehicle parking lots and private streets shall be swept at a minimum of once a year in the spring to remove debris. Such debris shall be collected and property disposed”. Enforcement and monitoring of this may be difficult considering all the private entities to keep track of. Some other cities have dropped this provision and the City is leaning towards this route as well. Commission Member Ken Boyden asked about the cities that still enforce this rule – does anyone know why they keep this in effect. Levitt responded that perhaps those cities have a larger staff to track this or are not actually enforcing it. Commission Member Gary Kjellberg suggested the clause be left in so the issue can be addressed if need be. Commission Chair Bob Dornsbach inquired if a motion from the commission is desired, to which Levitt responded that since the City is required to adopt an ordinance, she’s looking for a motion. The information will need to be published for public comment and a public hearing to amend the ordinance in the city code. Publication date will likely be in mid-January with adoption of the resolution in February. Kjellberg had a question regarding illicit discharge inquiring why pool discharge was not included. It was noted that residents must wait 7 days before discharging water that has been treated with chlorine. There was also a question regarding illegal disposal and dumping and how these are enforced.Levitt stated some residents are dumping yard waste in ravines and onto property that backs up to their lot noting leaves and grass travel down the pipes creating problems. Kjellberg stated he has a concern on one of the exemptions (irrigating lawns) and the large amount of fertilizer that residents place on their lawns noting that excess is going down the sewer untreated. How can this be addressed? Levitt responded that this is perhaps more of an educational component that can be addressed in the Cottage Grove Reports. Enforcement of violations was discussed as well. Kjellberg asked how much time is allowed for an entity to apply once a violation has been made. He doesn’t see anything that indicates how much time a person is given to comply, noting the sooner Public Works Commission November 10, 2008 – Page 3 the City can act, the better. Levitt explained that in some cases there’s a certain time frame, however, 30 days may not be appropriate for every violation and should be kept flexible. Community Development will be responsible for enforcing code. MOTION MADE BY KEN BOYDEN, SECONDED BY GARY KJELLBERG, TO APPROVE THE AMENDED CITY ORDINANCE TITLE 8 BY ADDING SECTION 8-4 MOTION WAS STORM WATER ILLICIT DISCHARGE AND ILLICIT CONNECTION. UNANIMOUSLY CARRIED. D. Pavement Management: Resident Communication Options Jennifer Levitt reported that as part of this year’s pavement management project there were concerns expressed about how information was communicated to residents. A number of methods were utilized including two neighborhood meetings held in order to talk with the residents. Door hangers were used on an as-needed basis, for example, when project work would affect a resident’s driveway. The City’s website was also maintained with updated maps and detailed information on what streets would be worked on each week. There were very few hits on the website, however. Levitt also reported a project phone number and e-mail system were established adding the project phone number worked well. She did note one problem was that the project phone was a message system not allowing residents to speak with a live person. The e-mail system, for those people that took advantage of it, it worked well because when a message was typed, the concern was quite detailed enabling staff to respond quickly because the problem had already been articulated. Mass mailings were utilized when there were restoration issues. Door hangers were also used for times when water would be shut off or perhaps when tree planting was going to take place. Despite the efforts for thorough communication throughout the project, one of the issues expressed was that residents were not necessarily seeing the notices. Since notices cannot be placed inside mailboxes, they were placed in the front door. This communication method has been used for City projects since 1994. Staff had a brainstorming session to come up with new and different options to use in communicating with residents during these projects. Some examples are: Place project newsletters inside tubes affixed to mailboxes. Automated dialing systems E-mail distribution lists Website notices A neighborhood kiosk Assembling a pavement management handbook A neighborhood liaison – a citizen advocate. Precautions for this option would have to be made to avoid promises being made by the liaison that staff cannot fulfill. Bi-monthly meetings held on site with staff available to answer questions. Postcards would be sent as reminders of these on-site meetings. There was a Public Works Commission November 10,2008 – Page 4 concern residents may not take advantage of this option based on low attendance at the initial neighborhood meetings. But having not tried this, that’s just an assumption Public Works Commission Member Gary Kjellberg commented that residents need to be responsible and take advantage of the opportunities given them to attend meetings and/or be aware of notices delivered. Commission Member Ken Boyden commented this can be a delicate issue due to assumptions being made by staff that the information is being communicated. Some residents don’t own computers or use e-mail. Other residents are busy young families and lose track of notices. He feels there will always be complaints by some and not everyone will be satisfied. Boyden inquired how much it would cost to install the tubes on the mailboxes. Levitt responded it would be costly. Boyden responded that if residents don’t pay attention to notices in their door, they may miss notices in these tubes as well. Levitt added there may be a maintenance issue for those tubes also. Kjellberg suggested the mailbox tubes be taken off the table because of the cost – it’s too much. Levitt explained a positive aspect of the mailbox tubes is the fact they would serve as a consistent place for residents to find newsletter updates and for the City to provide communication. Commission Chair Bob Dornsbach suggested updates be placed in the water bills for residents in the pavement management area. Levitt explained that this may not be advisable in that the message would be sent to everyone who receives a water bill which would spread the message too far and may cause confusion. Boyden commented that with all the technology out there, the information could just be sent to the residents that are affected by the project. Levitt explained that the water billing is outsourced so she’s not sure of the parameters on that. The other problem is that the bills only come out once per month and information has to be given to the billing company two weeks in advance. The information may be weeks old before being received by residents. One interesting thing, noted Levitt, was the automated dialing system which was thought to be astronomically expensive. It’s less expensive than once thought. The only problem is that if the resident isn’t home or doesn’t answer the phone, they won’t get the message if they don’t have an answering machine or voice mail. Another positive aspect of this option is that messages can be sent to everyone within an hour. Residents must give permission for their homes to be called, however because of ‘Do Not Call’ list regulations. Commission Member Chris Lethgo asked since this involves City business perhaps it would not apply.Levitt responded that since the City would be outsourcing the job to a company that likely uses solicitors, permission would need to be granted. Levitt explained she lives in Woodbury adjacent to the Hudson Road Project between County Roads 13 and 19 and received weekly construction update newsletters. The notices were in color, double sided with pictures and graphics and were very detailed. The newsletters were very well done, however, may not be worth the cost. Some residents may prefer this form of communication while others will not take advantage of the information. Public Works Commission November 10, 2008 – Page 5 Dornsbach also commented that if residents receive the automated phone message, they may check their caller ID, not recognize the number, and not pick up the phone. Kjellberg added that notices in the local paper may not be effective since all residents don’t subscribe to the Bulletin. Additionally, a pavement management handbook may be too expensive and most people may not read it. During the course of the project, Levitt noted that many residents had very specific questions and concerns, such as: “We are having a garage sale the second week of June. Are you going to be on my street? Or, “We are having a graduation party, will the roads be all full of dust?”. For cases like that, measures were taken to have a water truck out there to make sure dust was controlled. Staff kept on top of those requests and concerns to provide a high level of service for residents. Public Works Director Les Burshten felt that the concern for lack of communication may be blown out of proportion. Weekly notices were provided and if there happened to be a change, a notice was also given out for that. In addition, residents could call the construction hotline. Not much more could be done to get the word out. Some folks just didn’t check their front door. Not everyone will answer their telephone. The only option that may work is the automated calling service, however, he added many people now utilize cell phones only. Door hangers can continue to be used, which are, for the most part, fairly obvious. If homeowners are told from the start to watch for these hangers, they may look for them. rd A Council workshop regarding this communication issue will take place December 3. Levitt asked if the Commission had any recommendations she could carry forward to the Council or are there any suggestions?Dornsbach feels that most agree with the automated phone messaging that Les Burshten spoke of. Door hangers in a bright color are also something to try. Levitt also suggested the on-site meeting idea be explored, perhaps held mid-construction. Council Member Fred Luden explained another source of confusion involved contractor, paving or Xcel Energy employees that residents believed to be City employees. There were multiple people giving multiple answers which likely aggravated residents. Burshten agreed there should be a central source of information. He added there were two restoration companies which added to the confusion. Kjellberg stated when the curbing was being done, dirt was dug out, concrete was placed back in, however, the dirt piles remained for nearly two months. It may be a better idea to bring fresh dirt when restoration is being done so the old dirt isn’t left sitting there. He also asked why the grass seed was sprayed on in the middle of July when it likely would die due to lack of water so perhaps that step could wait till fall. Levitt responded the difficult part with waiting is that the City will be criticized for not seeding by those residents who do take good care of their lawns. The problem is, you get it from both sides – you can try to please one group and the other group will be mad. A positive thing is that hydro seed is relatively inexpensive so if it doesn’t survive, the cost is not great. Public Works Commission November 10, 2008 – Page 6 6. OLD BUSINESS None 7. PUBLIC WORKS UPDATE Les Burshten reported the Water Department is working on turning off water in foreclosed homes or unoccupied residences. City staff is aggressively pursuing this because of the upcoming winter and the possibility of freeze-ups. Notices are also going to the 41 homeowners who have been contacted numerous times for meter installations/repairs. Boulevard trees for new developments and replacement trees have been planted. Street sweeping is continuing and is just about wrapped up for the year. Wellhouse maintenance is taking place. Fire hydrant maintenance is going on right now. The Street Department has completed street patching Some trail work will be started with completion set for next year The annual Snowplow Meeting has taken place - four more salt-only routes have been included Litter lifting is taking place; parks are being cleaned up Hockey rink maintenance is being completed Trees with oak wilt were removed from Woodridge Park The City is looking to purchase a utility tractor and tandem dump replacement in 2009, which may go on the December Council Meeting. Other equipment to be purchased in 2009 includes a chipper and a bucket truck. 8. ENGINEER’S REPORT Jennifer Levitt reported that an expansion of the Allina Clinic is taking place. A sidewalk will be installed as part of the permit process. The BP Station down at Jamaica and E. Pt. Douglas will be torn down. The City has just received the plans and specs for the new gas station and car wash. The water main project at South Point has now been completed. Public Works Commission November 10, 2008 – Page 7 9. CITY COUNCIL UPDATE Fred Luden reported a resolution was adopted to authorize settlement agreements with CG MarketPlace, Goodhue Adams, Bailey Nursery and WAG Farms. There are three left: 3M, Up North Plastics and Cub/SuperValu. 10. COMMISSION COMMENTS AND REQUESTS Gary Kjellberg wished to publicly thank Jennifer Levitt for the job she did on the pavement management project this past summer. Chris Lethgo noted the website is now updated with minutes from previous Public Works Commission meetings. He expressed his thanks. 11. ADJOURNMENT Motion for adjournment was made by Gary Kjellberg, seconded by Bill Royce. Motion was unanimously carried. Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm. Respectfully submitted, íÜÉËÔÚÔÜêÉÎËÛÄ