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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Committee 03-17-06 NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETI TO: Clarence Malick, Chairman St. Croix County Board of Supervisors FROM: Transportation Committee Chairman, Richard King COMMITTEE TITLE: St. Croix County Transportation Committee DATE OF MEETING: March 17, 2006 TIME: 9:00 A.M. LOCATION: St. Croix County Highway Department Office, Hammond CALL TO ORDER: ROLL CALL: ADOPTION OF AGENDA: DATE OF NEXT MEETING: ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES: APPROVE VOUCHERS FOR PAYMENT: REVIEW FUND BALANCES: REVIEW HIGHWAY SAFETY MINUTES: SEMINAR ATTENDANCE REQUESTS: STATE PROJECT REQUESTS: ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE: UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Stillwater Bridge /Crossing Update Machinery Management Update Deer Park Shop Site Plan Update Review and Award Proposals for Hauling and Demolition Dump Bodies NEW BUSINESS: Patrol Superintendent Report of Activities Consider Disposal of Excess Right -of -way Review CTH "H" Speed Zone Alternatives Review CTH "U" Jurisdictional Transfer with Town of Troy Presentation of Retirement Certificates ANY OTHER BUSINESS AUTHORIZED BY LAW: POSSIBLE AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: ADJOURNMENT: (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order.) SUBMITTED BY: Tim Ramberg, Highway Commissioner DATE: March 13, 2006 MINUTES OF THE ST. CROIX COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE Meeting of March 17, 2006 Vice Chair Charlie Grant called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM. Roll call was taken with Grant, Art Jacobson, Gerald Peterson and Roger Rebholz in attendance, Dick King excused. Also in attendance for all or a portion of the meeting were Highway Commissioner Tim Ramberg, Kevin Brown, Jim Harer, Jeff Durkee, Dave Schnitzler, Larry Ness and Rich Loney. • motion was made by Rebholz, seconded by Peterson, to adopt the agenda. Motion carried. • motion was made by Jacobson, seconded by Rebholz, to hold the next regular meeting on Friday, April 7th King and Jacobson will meet in advance of the meeting to review the vouchers. Motion carried. A motion was made by Jacobson, seconded by Rebholz, to approve the minutes of the previous meeting as had been distributed in advance to the members. Motion carried. Regarding the vouchers, Grant and Peterson had met previously to review. A motion was made by Grant, seconded by Peterson, to approve as presented. Motion carried. Ramberg reviewed the fund balances. He also commented on the vouchers, noting that approximately one -half of the total related to payment to The Kraemer Company for gravel crushing. He also reviewed year -to -date operations. Grant reviewed the minutes of the Safety Committee meeting held February 23` An issue that related to sun glare was discussed, as was a request to purchase an ambu -bag to be used rather than mouth -to -mouth resuscitation in emergency situations. Ramberg made the point that the cost associated with this item was not to be passed to the Department as a result of what was initially meant to be a fully grant funded item. The Transportation Committee suggested that a very brief notation of the nature of the incident be made in the minutes of the Safety Committee for clarity of communication. Under seminar attendance requests, Ramberg noted the upcoming Wisconsin highway commissioner's annual training conference, scheduled for April 26 and 27 in Waupaca. The preliminary agenda for the session was reviewed. The Committee authorized Ramberg to attend. He also noted the Wisconsin Concrete Pavement Association session to be held in Eau Claire on March 28 th , requesting authorization for one employee to attend at a cost of $30.00. A motion was made by Rebholz, seconded by Jacobson, to approve. Motion carried. A motion was made by Peterson, seconded by Rebholz, to approve the attendance of up to four employees for the seminar to be held in Eau Claire on March 28 that deals with the maintenance of gravel, asphalt and geo- synthetics. The cost is $45.00 per attendee. Motion carried. A motion was made by Peterson, seconded by Jacobson, to authorize sending one representative to a DNR workshop in Eau Claire on April 10 Motion carried. There are no state project requests. Under the heading of announcements and correspondence, Ramberg said he had once again offered the 4 X 10 work schedule to the crew for the upcoming construction season. Particulars of the plan were presented to the Committee. There is a strong desire of those voting to work the schedule, which will begin on Monday, April 17 and end on Friday, September 1St 'March 17, 2006 Page 2 Ramberg noted the recent deaths of two Winnebago Highway Department workers in a construction zone. Ramberg said that he was recently notified of the approval of a HES safety project, funding at 90% the cost of improvements at eight sights on the county trunk highway system that had been noted during a 3M /AAA project review completed in July of 2005. The incident history at these locations after the signing work is completed will be tracked in an attempt to gauge the impact on traffic of the enhancement. The Committee discussed the transportation implications of the intersection of STH 65 and CTH "G" as it relates to the planned Calleja development in the southeast corner of the intersection. The issue was discussed with representatives from WisDOT who noted that, from a State transportation perspective, the intersection has been identified in their long -range plan for upgrade. The proposed development, however, has accelerated their schedule. Ramberg said that preliminary cost estimates indicate a local share of approximately $30,000. At this point, the development will pay one -half this total with St. Croix County picking up the remaining $15,000. Ramberg expressed his concern that this project is outside the current Highway Department six -year improvement plan and looks to be over and above current Highway Department county tax levy plans. Further discussions will be held once plans, etc., are complete. Ramberg noted that the plan to internally post the second operations specialist position would move forward next week. He noted that the job description had been reviewed through the Springsted process. Floor space issues are being worked out internally as part of the overall office space issue identified and discussed with the Committee previously. Plans are for the Transportation Committee to interview in April. Ramberg distributed copies of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that is currently under consideration for the Stillwater Bridge project. Loney reviewed the machinery management budget for 2006 and updated the Committee on the status of the Deer Park shop project. Current plans are for site work to be done and plans to be developed this summer and fall with the project hopefully completed in 2007. Brown reviewed the proposals that had been received for two haul boxes. The recommendation is to accept the proposal from Red Horse Truck & Equipment for one unit that substantially meets the specifications for $14,726.00. A motion was made by Jacobson, seconded by Peterson, to accept the recommendation. Motion carried. The second dump body is a unit more heavily constructed that features an elliptical -type construction used to haul rip rap, construction debris, etc. The benefits of this type of truck body were discussed with Brown noting that it is to be mounted on an older truck whose current body is in poor condition and will primarily be used in areas of severe service. The low proposal that substantially meets the specifications is from Universal Truck Equipment in the amount of $16,200.00. A motion was made by Peterson, seconded by Rebholz, to purchase this unit from Universal Truck Equipment in the amount of $16,200.00. Motion carried. Ramberg presented a request to lower the speed zone on a portion of CTH "H" in the area of Cedar Lake. The area was discussed with Ramberg noting that an engineering review recommends reducing the current 55 MPH zone to 45 MPH along the western edge of the area. This will match the speed zones in the area to those that currently exist to the east. A motion was made by Jacobson, seconded by Peterson, to so move. Motion carried. j Last construction season's relocation of CTH "U" resulted in a small stub of the former CTH "U" that is a candidate for jurisdictional transfer to the Town of Troy. Troy is currently maintaining this stub and agrees 'March 17, 2006 Page 3 with the transfer. Ramberg reviewed the proposed resolution currently under consideration by the Town of Troy. A motion was made by Peterson, seconded by Rebholz, to approve; the jurisdictional transfer resolution. Motion carried, with the Town of Troy to determine the actual effective date for the transfer. Peterson commended on what he sees as the lack of enforcement of "No Parking" signs that have been installed along various I -94 ramps. Regarding the possible disposal of excess right of way, Brown reviewed those parcels that had been identified as highway related in the countywide project recently undertaken. Numerous parcels were discussed, including one .33 acre in size along CTH "I" that Durkee had reviewed. These will be reviewed further pending possible Transportation Committee action. Jim Harer met with the Committee to discuss the week's very wintry weather. He distributed a summary of events, including staffing and equipment comments. Several events combined to create some very difficult conditions. The forecast had originally called for up to eight inches of snow over a fifteen hour period while the actual event resulted in twice that amount in a much shorter time frame. This alone caused some real difficulties and, when combined with poor visibility, stalled vehicles and the very heavy levels of traffic we routinely see, especially on I -94, resulted in a major event. Compounding this was the fact that Monday morning rush hour was in full swing, this with snow falling at the rate of 2" per hour and visibility down to 300 ft. He also noted the difficulties presented by short stub roads in housing developments as well as the cul -de- sacs routinely found in these areas. During snow events, they are difficult to plow, taking a good deal of extra time to get through and with very little area to put the snow. Compaction became an issue when the temperature fell to around 16 °. Harer expressed his gratitude to the entire crew for their extraordinary efforts. Formal thank -you notes that had been received were also noted. Grant and the Committee thanked Harer for the good, thorough report. The Committee recognized Dave Schnitzler, Lamoine Roatch, Larry Ness and Roland Jacobs, all of whom had recently retired, for their dedicated service to the Highway Department. Schnitzler and Ness were both present to receive their Certificates of Appreciation. Ramberg noted that the four had combined for approximately one hundred and four years of service to the County. A motion was made by Jacobson, seconded by Peterson, to adjourn at 12:45 PM. Secretary I