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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPWC Minutes 2026-01-20AGENDA PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE January 20, 2026, 9:00a.m. ZOOM Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81695207215 1. Approval of Minutes a. December 16, 2025 2. Member Comments/Concerns a. Consider Modifications to Agenda 3. PW 2026 Departmental Goals a. Highway b. Parks, Trails, & Recreation c. . Water & Sewer d. Engineering 4. Project Updates a. TH Court Clerks/Mezzanine b. Misc Watermain Replacement Town of Ithaca Public Works Committee January 20, 2026, 9:00 a.m. Minutes Present: Rod Howe, Joe Slater, Mike Beach, Justin McNeal, David McCune, Hilary Swartwood, Marty Moseley, Joe Talbut, Mike Smith, Judy Drake, Kelly Anderson, Paulette Rosa, Becky Jordan. 1. Approval of Minutes: Approval of December 16, 2025, minutes was motioned by Mr. X, seconded by Mr. X. Carried. 2. Approval of 2026 Meeting Schedule – 3. Member Comments/Concerns Consider Modifications to Agenda Member Comments/Concerns a. Consider Modifications to Agenda – None 4. Use & Occupancy Fees Mr. Slater reported the need to reevaluate the towns right of way permits and in doing so look at the valuation of what the town ROWs are worth. Met Joe Delaney, through recommendation from attorney for the town, who wrote a proposal to re-evaluate ROW permit fees. Things to consider are demographics, wages for field inspections and administrative, and pavement condition index. A lineal foot cost will be the basis for use and occupancy. Franchise agreements will be reviewed in the process. 5. PW 2026 Departmental Goals a. Highway b. Parks, Trails, Recreation c. Water & Sewer d. Engineering 6. Project Updates – Mr. McNeal reported a. TH Court Clerks/Mezzanine In receipt of three of four signed contracts. Waiting for pollution insurance from one contractor. This project consists of energy efficiency and upgrading of town hall including removal of some existing hazardous materials, rehabilitating mezzanine area, and renovating court clerk office space. Modifying historic windows in court clerk area to maintain historical significance while making them more energy efficient. b. Town Hall Weatherization There is need to re-evaluate this project and consider splitting it up into phases. Requested cost estimate break-down from contractor and decided to begin in basement. This larger scale project involves insulating exterior walls, modification of historic windows, and facility wide LED lighting upgrades. Mr. Howe commented that this project does not currently involve state funding, hence the phasing. c. Public Works Facility Replace non-LED lighting with LED lighting. Add exterior light poles which will involve electrical service trenching. Exterior wall insulation. Modify a handful of windows. This will be done in phases as long as there is no state funding. Mr. Slater added that a master plan discussed with previous Engineering directors mentioned modified entrances, parking, more efficient access to public brush drop off amenity. d. Roads, Bridges, and conveyance Townline Road bridge replacement project is in draft design approval phase with DOT. Once draft design documents are reviewed and comments received, B&L can move to final design phase and contract documents. Looking to bid the project for 2027 construction. Timeline will be dependent on BridgeNY funding. Townline Road bridge, which is currently weight restricted, is one of five bridges the town has maintenance responsibility for. To note, any bridge that spans 20’ or more is automatically county responsibility however some components such as wing walls, decking and sometimes surfaces may be the town’s responsibility through agreement with the county. Intent to build to maximum capacity / minimum design to bare upwards of 70,000lb town snowplow equipment, straighten bridge at approach, and coordinating with Finger Lakes Land Trust for formal parking for preserve visitors. e. Lower Stone Quarry Feasibility Study Currently contracted with Erdman Anthony to perform feasibility study with potential consideration for sidewalks. Looking for recommendations and potential plans for stormwater drainage and ice mitigation. It’s a narrow road with limited space. f. Road asphalt replacement (audio disrupted) g. Lower Forest Home Bridge Looking to have an assessment performed. h. Foot bridges The town has five or six pedestrian bridges two of which are located on Pine Tree Rd going out to game farm trail, one on RT 366 by the synchrotron, one in the northeast parallel to Warren Road, and Texas/Lisa Ln walkway. The aforementioned involves a designated stream underneath requiring Army Core Engineers and NYS DEC permits. We can expect either a non-jurisdiction letter stating we do not need jurisdiction for the project or jurisdiction with requirement of a water quality permit. i. Forest Home improvement study and design Need for current assessment of forest home community taking into account the 2007 forest home traffic calming study. We will review the study. Mr. Slater shared that safety accommodations such as speed humps and entrance features have already been implemented. We would like to look at further traffic calming and pedestrian facilities. Mr. Howe added that the town will be interviewing two firms. j. Misc Watermain Replacement Budgeted for in 2025 to include Winner Cir, Stone Quarry, Penny Ln, & Lois Ln. Phase One involving roughly 1100ft (Winners Cir. & Stone Quarry) already bid and awarded Wentzel for spring 2026. Second phase, Penny Ln & Lois Ln, involves 1900 linear foot of water main. May add an additional 500ft of troubled area that has had two breaks already this fall/winter. Age of pipes is approximately 1981 with a life expectancy of 50 years. In other areas we have infrastructure dating back to 1930’s. Mr. Slater suspects that initial installation was ductal iron pipe bedded with limestone which reacts with and weakens ductal iron. k. Inlet Valley P.S. This project involves replacing pump controls and rehab of pump chambers for Waldorf and Wonderland pump stations as well as installing pumps in Wonderland P.S. 75ft new sewer main by Waldorf. Materials contract for parts and pieces and service contract with Vacri for parts installation. Joint interceptor study with City Ithaca and Larson Group. Larson will perform fieldwork to gain capacity measurements to give us an idea of where to upgrade. Mr. Slater showed sewer infrastructure map showing town lines going downhill to joint interceptor where it’s metered at the jurisdictional line and ends up at the Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Plant in the City. As developers come in, we’ll have an idea of capacity and where upgrades will be needed. Per percentage ownership the town pays PS upkeep fees monthly and per repair. Working with the City to upgrade interceptors annually. Brief overview of departments / operations for new members Snow removal operations: Five main plow routes of 50 centerline miles and 100 lane miles of road maintained by two alternating snowplow teams of ten staff plus three person night shift. (5) trucks with one person plowing, (4) staff on eight miles of sidewalks/trails, and (1) mechanic. Shared services intermunicipal agreement with county in which we plow nine miles of their roads, they plow three miles of our roads and they reimburse us annually. Mr. McCune inquired whether there are two people in each plow truck. Mr. Beach replied that it’s been one person plowing for many years now and while there’s a lot for a plow operator to pay attention to there are helpful tools that we’ve been equipping trucks with such as cameras on the plow wings. Road Maintenance: Mr. Slater began with salt and the development of a snow and ice policy about two years ago in order for staff, town board, and the public to be on the same page. Historically we get our salt from Office of Generals Services (OGS) state contract. The state procures the salt and we submit our allocation of anticipated usage for the year. Available products are plain rock salt, type I and type II salt. Type 1 & II have different additive ratios involving organic based compounds, calcium and magnesium chloride that work better in lower temperatures. Historically the town has used type II salt which is upwards of $95/ton. We’ve switched to Type I salt which is low $70’s/ton and plain rock salt about $60/ton. Purchased a brine tank to experiment with salt brine during certain low temperatures for its anti-icing ability. Obtained ground speed sensors for two trucks so far. Trying to dial in salt usage. We don’t use sand as it is geared for traction on dirt roads. Mr. Beach provided that compliance with DEC’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) regulations disallows the use of sand. Summer maintenance involves micro paving and crack sealing about 8-10 miles per year. We have a small drainage project this spring at 118 King Rd W. and water main replacement project on King Rd W. Utility Systems: Mr. Slater introduced the absent Travis Mills, Water and Sewer Maintenance Supervisor and explained that Mr. Mills manages maintenance of 12 water tanks, 95 miles of water main, 9 water pump stations all with agreements, 11 sanitary sewer lift stations, 68 miles of sanitary sewer mains, joint interceptors with agreements and 42% ownership of Ithaca Area Waste Water Treatment Facility (IAWWTF). There is a plant-to-plant intermunicipal wastewater agreement. Parks and Trails: Mr. Talbut shared that the town has 11 playgrounds (one is on our CIP schedule for updating), 31 park and preserve sites maintained, 182 acres of preserve land and will acquire to be at 320 acres, Babcock Preserve trail, 9+ miles of trail, 5 cemeteries (2 acquired, others we help out), and West Hill Community Garden we assist. Typical work activities include a lot of trash pickup, mowing and weed eating parks, trails, cemeteries, water tanks, stormwater detention ponds and right of ways in spring & summer. Batwing mower helps save time for more efficient operations! Tutelo park is our main park and is the only one with a pavilion. It’s rentable. Cal Ripken baseball league utilizes Tutelo baseball field. East Shore Park is the next most popular park. Both parks are so popular they require weekend trash pickup. Parks crew does tree work, trimming, and maintenance of trees from community tree planting events. Mr. Howe shared that the town’s website has a map showing parks & trails which are heavily used. Mr. McCune inquired about the policy for dogs at town parks and trails. Mr. Talbut replied that dogs are welcome on a leash per signage. All parks are carry in, carry out and we have mutt mitt stations at all parks and trail heads for dog owners to pick up and dispose of pet waste. Mr. Talbut continued with projects in the works including Babcock Trail heading into construction phase with an estimated completion date end of 2026. South Hill trail possible extension. Trail overlay is included in our annual CIP budget. Always improving infrastructure surfaces. Mr. McCune asked if we ever organize community events when building new trails. Mr. Talbut replied that public is always encouraged to provide input either at PWC meetings or public input events. Asset Management System: Mr. Slater discussed Cartegraph which DPW is still in the buildout phase of. A pavement condition index would be nice for our pavement plan. Internal staff have application to enter tasks including how much salt they used and how many hours they used equipment. Snow routes automatically reset with each snow removal completion. Staff on the five main snowplow routes as well as sidewalk crews can enter hours, equipment use, salt quantity. Brush and Leaf Collection: Mr. Slater discussed the biannual brush and leaf collection events which can also be tracked in Cartegraph. Dump trucks are retro fitted with leaf boxes which are not efficient in reoutfitting for snow removal operations. This year purchasing self-contained leaf vac equipment for cost and time efficiency. Streetlights: Mr. Slater stated that the town started a project with NYPA in 2020 to convert 272 high pressure sodium lights to LED lights which has saved energy costs. At the end of the project the town took over maintenance of lights. We have a two-year maintenance contract with NYPA for routine maintenance. The lights are installed with smart nodes allowing for remote monitoring and communication. We have the ability to add lights, dim lights and keep track of energy usage. Two years ago, we drafted a streetlight policy. Recently we received our first request for streetlight removal in which we were able to mitigate by dimming the light to low illumination and installing a house side shield. Budgeted for additional smart nodes for 12 entry feature LED streetlights in Forest Home and 30 along Danby Rd leading to Ithaca College. Public Works Facility Upgrade: Mr. Slater stated that master planning of upgrading the DPW facility included looking at lighting, parking, relocating public access to brush drop off mulch pick up amenities separate from public works activities to avoid liabilities. Being an emergency operations facility, we should qualify for a grant through department of homeland security for a security fence. Adjourn 10:30 a.m. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 17, 2026. Submitted by, Becky Jordan