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Home My WebLink About2014-05-07 PACKET 04.A.i.REQUES7 OF ClTY COUNCIL ACT[ON COUNCIL AGENDA M��TING ITEM # � DATE 5/7l'[4 ` ` . PREPARED BY Public Works l.es Bursht�n �RIGINATING DEPARTMENT STA�'F AUTHOR ��:��:��:��:��:��:��*:��:�**�:��,�**�*�� C4UNCIL ACTI�N REQUEST Accepfi and place on file fihe minu#es of the March 17, 2014 Public Works Commission meeting. STA�F RECOMM�NDATION Approve the March 17, 2414 minufies of the Public Warks Commission. BUDGET IMPL.ICATfON: $ �UI�G�T�D AMOUNT ADV(SORY COMMISSION AGT10N ❑ PLANNlNG ❑ PUBLfC SAFETY � PUB�.1C UVORKS ❑ PARKS AND RECREATION ❑ HUMAN SERViCES/RIGHTS ❑ ECONOMlC D�V. AUTHORITY ❑ SUPPORT(NG D4CUMENTS �� 4/21l'l4 �( �IEM�/L.ETTER: ❑ R�SUL.UTION: ❑ ORDINANCE: ❑ ENGINEERING RECOMMENDATION: ❑ L.EGAi._. RECUMMENDATlON: � OTHER. ppproved minutes of the March $ ACTUAL AMOUNT FUNDING SOURCE REVlEWED ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ � ❑ APPRC}VED ❑ ❑ � ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ 17, 20�4 PWC Meefing ADMINISTRATORS COMMENTS City Adminisfirator DENIED ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ � Date �*��**�*��**��***:��***��**��*�� COUNC(L ACTI�N TAKEN: [ APPROVED [� DENIED [� OTHER ; ,.: �;� � � _- ,' �; ' �` � _ ' � �` � � _l_ ;, . i Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a meeting af the Public Works Commission af Cotfiage Grove was duly h�ld at Cottage Grove City Hall, in #he Council Chambers, 92800 Ravine Parkway, Cottage Grove, Minnesota on Monday, March 17, 2�'14 af 7p.m. 1. CALN� TO ORDER Commissian Chair Tony Jurgens called #he meeting to order �t 7 p.m. 2. R4LL CALL Members Present: Tony Jurgens, Peter Black, Jeff Podolf, Michael Smifih Members Excused: Michael Edman Staff Present: Harry Tay(or, Public Works Supervisor Rick AI#, Ufility Foreman Gary Orloff, Street �or�man Adam Moshier, ManagementAssistanf Also Present: Council Member Justin O(sen 3. APPROVE NlINUTES Motion to approve the minutes of fhe January 22, 2014 meeting was unanimausly approved, 4, ADD1T10NA� AGENDA 1TEMS None The agenda was approved. Public Works Commission March 17, 2014 -- Page 2 �. NEI�l� �USINESS A. R�port on Water Line S�rvic� Fre�ze ups �Overview and Discussion} "As you are aware", stafed Public Works 5upervisor Harry Taylor, "This has been a brufially col� winter and we've had numerous water service line freeze-ups fio residenc�s. We haven't seen anyfihing like this in 35 years. We'r� going fio give a little presentation to hapefully update you on what's going on with the water services and haw we're hand(ing them in addition to what's going on in the enfiire region. VVe'v� had 50 sub-z�ro days this winter so that has definitely contributed to the frost problem. The frost here is about seven or eight feet de�p at�d our wafer mains �re typically buried about 7% feefi. Sa fiar this winfier we've had a couple water main breaks and abaut 30 wa#er service line freez�-ups. Even though the air temperature isn't as cold as it had b�en far a while, frost is still pushing down and we've seen ifi down fio 'l0 fee# which is a[most unheard of. The lasf time the City experienced this many frozen water lines was in the mid 1970's." Rick added with the freeze-ups that have been experienced this winter, it's more than likely fihe linas were direcfily under fihe dri�eway wher� there's no snQw cover. Who is responsibl� far the sewer and wafer l�nes? Harry expfained the Cottage Grove ordinance is fairfy specific on sewer and water. The own�r is responsible for the sewer line fram ti�e residence ail fihe way to #he sanitary sewer main. Rick Alt explained that three sewer services hav� been frozen, which is very unusual, added Taylor. Genera(Iy sanitary sewers generate heat, but they are still down at #he frost line. A�iagram was supplied illustrating that homeowners are responsible �for a[l maintenanc� and repair af wafier lines betvueen fihe premises and fihe cur� sfiap. The City is responsib�e far all maint�nance and repair of #he water lines from the curb stop to #he water main. Another diagram was supplied showing a water meter alang with the piping in the house, the resident-owned hand valve, water line and shut off valve. Most everything in the house is awned by the �esidenfi, with fihe exception of the wafier meter itself. Ifi fihe w�ter meter is l�aking, the City wifl take care of that, however, the other pi�ing is the responsibility of the homeowner. Sr_qns a Water �.ine Mav Be Frozen � Water pressure in the home has decreas�d • There is no wafier in one or more areas of the home Public Works Commission March 17, 201A� — Page 3 � Water temp�rature is cold�r than normal, around 32 degrees Should any of the above situations occur, residenfis can Ganfiact Public Works at 651- 4�8-2808 seven days per week, 24 hours per day. At fhis time, a video was shown iUustrating a method of how pipes are thawed. The City af Cotfage Grove cantracfs with welders to thaw the lines, One method used is fhe water rnethod, either jetting with water or with a pump. This option is oft�n used by St. Paul Regional Water alang with w�ld�rs to thaw water lines that are under a street. F�oliowing the repair of frazen services, homeowners are insfir��cfied to run a pencil stream of water (generally firom a laundry tub) to k�ep the water f[owing. �inance will credit them for additional water use. The City af Cotfiage Grove Utility Department aims ta pleas� their customers stafi�d Harry. "We know how inconver�ie►7t it is to go without water and sewer service. It's very important we get out to aur cusfiomers as saon as possible and help them ouf. lf the problem is not aur responsibilify, the City can give direction on how to put fihem in touch with the right people to deal wifih it." Harry noted that Utility l=oreman Rick Alt and Lead Vllarker Jae Rhade p�at in a great deal of hours dealing with these issues and hopefiully there wan't be foo much more of this ca(d weafiher. Rick Alt expfained that each fall, affer filushing hydrants, h� contracts with a company to do leak detection so th�y are aware of any prablems that can be repaired priar fia winter. Taylor added the City sends notices to residents who have had frozen water service in the past to start running those small streams af water to prevent freezing again. Adam was thanked for preparing the information for fhis r�port. 6. OLD BUS[NESS Non� 7. PU�LIC WtJRKS UPDAT� Street Foreman Gary OrIofF stated that counting fioday, the �laws hav� beEn out 43 times this ye�r and this winter's plowing season began on November 21, 2013. A�erage salt app[ied �er snawplow event is 67 tons. Even with the cold weafiher, they're staying a little under average 250 fions of fireated salf have been used fhis year because of the extreme temperatures Public Works Cammission March 17, 2014 — Page 4 • 12 dump truGks have driven 54,83� miles, with each truck averaging 4,569 miles. Each tim� th�y go out, a trucK puts on 108 mi(es • Rnad patching started last week when the hot patch pfant opened �or the season. 50 fions o# mix was applied mainly an arterial roads fike 80 Street and Jamaica Avenue. Four crews, with help from the Parks Department, worked a(I week lang and the main roads are ir� pretty gaod shape right naw. • Crews ar� cl�aring out catch basins to prevent streets from fboding � Street sweeping is scheduled to begin April 7 weather permitting. Hydrants wi(! be flushed beginning April 14 Commission M�mber lVlichael Smith commented how welf the roads have been plowed this year. "As afways, it's good to be a resident of Catfiage Gro�e", he sfiated. Spring Clean Up Harry Taylor reported this year's Spring Clean Up will take place on Saturday, May 3 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. at PubEic Works. Along with the typical appliance, trash and hazardous waste items ta be coliect�d, a paper shredding service will be availab[e. 8. ENGtNEER'S REPORT Taylor stated there wasn't an engin�er's re�ort; hawever, he has one minor update. Newland Construction, buiJding nor#h of 70 Str�et, will be having a preconstrucfiion meeting next week 9. CCTY COUNCIL REPt3RT Councif Member Justin Olsen repor�ed that Gary Orloff covered a lat of ground with respect to the efforts of the Public Works Department. "These guys have been doing yeoman's work. It's been a really #ough year and 1 know paor Les has been catching hec{c far a(I the ov�r�ime but ! don'fi really care abauf fhafi. You do what you n�ed to do and lik� M�chael says, i#'s awfully nice iiving in Co#�age Grove because as a person who travels for a living, i can teil you with absolute certainty aur folks jusfi do a magnificen# jab in comparison to a lot of other communifiies in the Midwest, not just the Twin Cities, fhe Midwest." " Qlsen confiinued, "A c�up[e things that prabably should cross yaur radar scre�n: We did have a Cauncil Workshap at aur last meeting with regard to the efforts towards emerald ash borer. I know there's b��n a lot of buzz on the news about the fact fh�t fihe cold weather would reduce the number af emerald ash borer incidents this year and while that anecdotally sounds true, when yau laak at th� evidence as presented by the University of N[innesota and some of the other �Falks who have done some sfiudies, it's really a drop in the bucket compared fio the risk that still exists. The City will continue its Public Works Commission March 17, 2014 -� Page 5 efforts towards battling emerald ash barer and those e�Forfis incfude voluntary tree removal an the part of res�denfis. We are fireating trees and w� are also taking some af �he smaller firees down and replacing our urban farest wifh additional diversity to firy and g�t away from having this many ash trees. What I found really interesfiing is there's now software nut there thafi our fores#er, Sfi�ve Bowe, is using that identifies the actual value of specific trees wifh regard to how much CO2 and water they absorb �nd those sorts of things. There's some science behind what we're doing wifih regard to replacing those trees with other more diverse species and at some point it mighf b� interesting to have Steve come and talk to you about tha#. 1 jusf want you tc� be aware of that. E found it very, very interesting." "We do have same d�velopment things that h�ve been going on. ['m sure you all heard Wal-Mart cut their ribbon iasfi week. V1Ie anticipate we are going to have Gaodwill opening in A�ril at some point. There have been a number of home developers wha have been exploring the possibility af building in Cottage Grove. You've heard about Newland, fihey actually came info town fast year. DR Hot�an already has their spec home up. Ef you haven't been over to see it, it's pretty impressive." "There's some more work being done up on the hil[ an Hardwood Avenue and that's Mike Rygh working on that road with more expansion gaing an there. And then there's also been some property purchased on the ather side of 65�� Street over by Bofihe's property so they'll perhaps be same deve[opment gaing an fihere." "We da have the permit pulled and construction occurring aver in �he OId Hollywood Video site. Nood(es and Campany is at work there; my understanding is Chipotl� wil) be afi work very soon". "V1Ie continue to have conversations on the Home Depofi Site. There are a number of developers who are infieresfied in the site and have been negotiating price wifh Home Depot who owns the building. Th�re's some legal stufF taking p(�ce behind the scenes there, thaf's why it's been a[ittle slow ta �et ofF fihe graund, b��t people r�main confident. One fihirig 1 also find interes�ing fia note, thers's been some additional ca��versation with the YMCA again about pot�ntially coming to town as opposed ta LA Fitness which some peopJe feel rea( strongly about." Olsen conclud�d, "I guess the fast thing f'll mention is we've had some conversatians recently af the Council table about what we did at the Council Workshop late January, ear[y February, bringing it into words and sa the Cify has now adopted a new Vision Statement.. That will be available on the website very saon. But reafly it revolves around the idea we wank to be the place of choice for not anly res�denfis ta live, but �usinesses to come and grow, We had a joint workshop with our Economic Dev�lopm�nt Aufhority to talk abouf some of the effor�s we've �een m�king over the last few years relative to enticing deve(opmenf in fihe community, specifically in the business Public Works Commission March 17, 2�14 — Page 6 park which some people may call fihe industri�l park. We had some indusfirial par[c d�velopers acfivally come to that me�tir�g to provide us wi�h f�edback on what it was they fhought we were doing wel! and not doing well or things we perhaps needed to do differently to became mare appealing. What we heard overwhelmingly was, `you guys are doing everyfhing right, you're daing great, we love workit�g here with you. You're very frier�dly, your process is very smooth, and we fee! very strongly that Cottage �Grove is a desira�le community. You're well posi�ioned, everything you have been doing fo set yourself up in ferms of coming out of the difficult financia! straits fhat everybody has been over the last few years, to sort� of be at the front of the line with regard fo development, you've done." And so we pressed for some really specific feedback and we were asking, "beat us up a little bit, tell us what we need ta do differ�ntly". There was nothing. Ev�rybody felt really, really good about where we are, so that obviously was n�ce to hear, We continu� to challenge ourselves, however, to be better and to be more aggressive and to work more closely on building relationships because �haf's truly whafi it's a[l �bout. So th�r�'s some planning taking place right now at the Council [evel and at #he EDA level in #erms o� what sorts of effarts we want to continue to mak� and other things we may want ta do differently in order ta enhance the way we presen# ourselves fia potential devefopment." "2013 was THE most highly permitfied year we've had in about 12 years and we think 2014 is going ta put that to shame, so it's going fio be a re�lfy busy year" added Council Member Olsen. Commission Chair Tany Jurgens inquired, "There was something in fhe paper a couple weeks �ga. Justin maybe you could teil us a fit#le bit abouf the HERQ Center?" Justin replied, "Certainly. 1 just got an update on this yesterday. Your timing is impeccable. What the HERO Center is, for those who might be interested, is a proposal for a joint venture in Soufh Washington County between Regions Haspital, Inver Hills Community College, the City of Cottage Grove and surraunding comrnunities ta put an educationa( �acility in the City. The proposed spot is actually right next door to the Public Safety/City Hall Building that we are sitting in right now because the land is there and it's r�ady ta go. What this facility would serve as is a safiellite Inver Hills Cammunity Coilege site wh�re they would continue ta do education and firaining for pub[ic sa�ety profession�ls and heaith care professionals like nurses, EMTs and medics m conjunc�ion with Regions Hospital who manages our EMS Program along with Woodbury's EMS �'rogram". � "Th� group has gone to State as a conglamerafie ot different entities wha are interested in co-managing the EMS facility and would fik� the State ta get involved", Tndicafed Ofsen. °We would like ta b� included in the bonding proposal for this. This is a bonding year for the Stafie afi Minnesota. Ev�ry off year is a bonding year and so they've presented a proposal that appears to be in the neighborhood of about a$20 milfion Public Worics Commission March 17, 2014 �-Page 7 dallar n�f project. $5 million dollars of that funding would. come fram the entities themselves so it would come firam the City of Cottag� Grove, Woodbury, Regians Hospita(, Inver Grove, Inver Hills Community College and the remaining funding would be requested through bonding af the State level and right naw it's in the bifL" Ols�n added, "The way the bonding process �works is the Governor has a bill, the House has a biN, th� Senafe has a bi11: They all get �ogether in a conference cammitfe� and there's discussian: whafi are you willing fio da, what am I willing fio do and so at this stage of fihe game, it's stii! in fhe brll. Negotiations will be ongoing whether or nof ii makes it aIl fhe way to the end. I know the bonding commiftee iiked the proposal becaus� fihere is an absalute need fior public safefy prafessional and health care professional training on this end of tawn. Righf naw for example, i� you are a police officer who goes to school at lnver Hills or Century and yau want fia take yaur skilfs training, you have to go up to Plymouth or St. Cloud. (f yau are a public safety professional who needs ta compl�te your o��going trainirig in order to maintain your POST certification, you have to arrange far a time and place fo shQO# a number of times during fhe year. Those places are becoming fewer and far�her between because as thase facilifiies get booked, you`ve got fiolks from Red Wing, for example, going up fo shoof at th� highway where we typically shoot in the summer mon#hs. The City af St. Paul's facility is constan#ly boo(�ed so if you want to go shoofi afi 3:00 in the morning, you probably could, but ather than that, it becom�s really, r�ally challenging. Public Safety Director Craig Woolery, Woodbury Pubfic Safe#y, folks at Inver Hills and folks at Regions ali gofi fogether and said, you know, mayb� it's time we start laoking at somethmg down her�. We're lucky enough that aur state represenfative from this area is a{so ane of our police officers, Representative Schoen, so he knows this business. H�'s very well versed in what's required and what is necessary so he carried the biil along with S�nator Sieben and thus far, we're cautiousfy optimistic". 10. CONi11tIISSIQN COtltfllllENTS AND REQU�STS Camm�ssion Member Jeff Po�oll inquired, "I know it's been about 6 to 8 months since we talk�d about th� fishing pi�r in Hidden Valley; L.es thought they were going to try and get it out there this winter. Are we getting anyplace?" Gary 4rloff sfated if's in the process ofi �eing built and the dock should be finished in about three days. Harry stated the guys have dane a great job wi#h ths construction and there are just a couple more d�tails to finish before getting it onto the pand. 9'1. AC}JOURNMENT Mafiion to adjourn was made by Michael Smith, seconded by JefF Podoli. Motion was unanimousiy carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:51 pm. Respectfully submitt�d by ]'a{:ricia 5�:o,-1�y