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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Committee 07-10-09 , r= NOTICE OF MEETING AND AGENDA ST. CROIX COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE July 10, 2009 - 8:30 A.M. St. Croix County Highway Department Office, 920 -3 Street, Hammond, WI CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING DATE OF NEXT MEETING CONSIDER VOUCHERS FOR PAYMENT REVIEW FUND BALANCES REVIEW HIGHWAY SAFETY MINUTES CONSIDER SEMINAR ATTENDANCE REQUESTS CONSIDER STATE PROJECT REQUESTS ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE OLD AND NEW BUSINESS 1. Consider CTH "M" Project Schedule of Land Interests 2. Discuss CTH "K" Right -of -Way Issue 3. Consider Chloride Proposals 4. Consider Grader and Plow Blade Proposals 5. Machinery Management Considerations/Update 6. 2010 Budget Discussions 7. Consider Long -Range Rail and Other Strategic Transportation Matters 8. 2009 — 2010 Goals 9. Legislative Issues 10. View 2009 Projects ANY OTHER BUSINESS AUTHORIZED BY LAW POSSIBLE AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING ADJOURN (Items may be taken in different order. Action may be taken on any or all items shown.) SUBMITTED BY - Tim Ramberg, Highway Commissioner DATE SUBMITTED — July 2, 2009 ** Additions /Changes /Corrections Items for County Board approval must be submitted to the County Clerk's office by Wednesday morning preceding a County Board meeting. 7/2/2009 11:26 AM MINUTES OF THE ST. CROIX COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE Meeting of July 10, 2009 The meeting was called to order by Chairman King at 8:35 A.M. Roll call was taken with King, Demulling, Peterson, Rebholz and Grant in attendance. Others present for all or parts of the meeting included Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, Rep. Kitty Rhoades, Rep. John Murtha, Tim Ramberg, Michelle Pietrick, Brian Hailing and Rich Loney. A motion was made and seconded (Peterson /Demulling) to adopt the agenda as published. Motion carried. A motion was made and seconded (Rebholz/Grant) to approve the minutes of the June 6 2009 meeting as presented. Motion carried. A motion was made and seconded (Peterson /Rebholz) to set the August meeting for August 7, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. with King and Demulling reviewing vendors before the meeting. Motion carried. Peterson and King reviewed the vouchers at 8:00 A.M. A motion was made and seconded (Peterson /King) to approve the vouchers for payment. Motion carried. Loney reviewed the June 15 fund balances with the Committee. Equipment operations as well as winter and general maintenance operations were discussed, in particular chip sealing projects. 2010 budget preparations were also reviewed. Grant reviewed the June Safety Committee meeting minutes. He noted worker's compensation history, 2009 vs. 2008. He noted that pipeline awareness safety also had been presented at the meeting. The Safety Roadeo is scheduled for September 1 Recent concrete blow -ups on 1 -94 and the Department's responses to them were also noted. The following seminar requests were considered: • A motion was made by Peterson, seconded by Demulling, to approve the sending of three employees to a sign reflectivity seminar in Eau Claire on September 2 The cost is $45 per person with state participation in the cost for the Patrol Superintendent. • A motion was made by Rebholz, seconded by King, to send three employees to the annual County Highway Expenditure Microcomputer System (CHEMS) conference with the full cost, including wages, paid for by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT). Motion carried. • The agenda for the Superintendent's and Foremen's Conference being held this year in Door County from October 7 through 9th was reviewed. The conference is sponsored by the Wisconsin County Highway Association (WCHA) with a cost of $30 per member plus lodging. A motion was made by Grant, seconded by Rebholz, to send the Patrol Superintendent and two others. Motion carried. After presentation by Ramberg, a motion was made by Peterson, seconded by Rebholz, to approve a Local Force Account Contract for $4,500 with WisDOT for assistance with traffic control for a project on 1 -94. Motion carried. ST. CROIX COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MINUTES Page 2 July 10, 2009 Under announcements and correspondence: o Ramberg distributed copies of the June 2009 issue of TRENDS magazine o Ramberg noted that the engineering and surveying departments are being required to upgrade their computer aided design software as a result of the current supplier (Eagle Point) being acquired by Auto Desk. o A traffic impedance issue on CTH "JJ" at the bridge just south of CTH "J" was discussed. Current rules and laws are planned to be utilized to control the area concerns. o Information on the pickup of dead deer along the roadways was distributed. Assistance with the issue given by Supervisor Dave Ostness and Casey Swetlik from the Emergency Communications Center. The DNR has been notified to the ongoing concerns of timely pickup of car - killed deer in the County. Ramberg presented a schedule of land interests the Department is seeking to acquire for a roadway project on the area of CTH "M" between CTH's "W & JJ ". Based on a recently completed road plan and sales study thirteen permanent limited easements and two temporary limited easements are needed. A motion was made by Demulling, seconded by Rebholz, to approve as presented. Motion carried. Ramberg and County Surveyor Brian Hailing presented a roadway issue along CTH "K" just east of New Richmond. The issue deals with marking the area with a sign on the right of way indicating that it is a park. King gave a historical perspective on the matter. Various features of the area were noted, with Hailing stating that right of way in the area is forty feet. There is no recorded easement in the area and it is not a county park. The determination is that, at this point, this is not a highway issue. The Department is to inform the interested parties of this. Loney reviewed proposals accepted for chloride proposals received with the recommendation as follows: o Morton Salt for sodium chloride at $62.64 per ton delivered or $56.00 picked up at their St. Paul depot o Knight Chemicals for calcium chloride bags at $10.60 delivered or $9.85 picked up at their Milwaukee depot o Knight Chemicals for liquid calcium chloride at $.85 per gallon delivered o Scotwood Industries for magnesium chloride at $1.16 per gallon delivered A motion was made by Peterson, seconded by Demulling, to accept the proposal from Morton Salt for sodium chloride. Motion carried. A motion was made by Peterson, seconded by Rebholz, to accept the other proposals as presented. Motion carried. Loney reviewed proposals accepted for winter plow blades with the recommendation as follows: o Purchase 100 four foot carbide blades, 10 three foot carbide blades, 25 carbon steel blades and 50 underbody blades from Burke Truck and Equipment for a total price of $31,991.00 o Purchase 50 grader blades and 50 underbody blades from Aring Equipment for a total price of $16,134.50 A motion was made by Rebholz, seconded by Demulling, to so move. Motion carried. ST. CROIX COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MINUTES Page 3 July 10, 2009 A motion was made by Rebholz, seconded by Demulling, to seek proposals for two single axle truck chassis and one quad -axle truck chassis for consideration at the August meeting. Motion carried. The Committee met with area legislators with the main focus on four issues: o Prevailing wage rate o Stillwater Bridge o Rail Transportation o Various information Regarding the Stillwater Bridge, Sen. Harsdorf said that the budget bill included $225 million in a segregated fund for bonding for the project, but, in order to access this, the Federal Government must have $75 million in place for the project. Rep. Rhoades noted that, based on the way the funding is contained in the budget, this is, in effect, an ear marked or segregated fund. Ancillary issues to the bridge were also discussed, including pending litigation that relates to the project. Ramberg noted that the 2008 St. Croix County survey that points to this as an issue very much on the minds of County residents. Rebholz discussed the potential rail corridor along 1 -94 from Chippewa County to the Twin Cities. He expressed the feeling that the east metro areas are very much in favor of this. Various aspects of this issue, including the transit of both passenger and freight, were discussed. Transportation funding issues were discussed, including the use of segregated funds for specific issues. Peterson brought up motor fuel taxes as they relate to the use of ethanol. Also discussed were the impacts of hybrid and electric cars on transportation funding. Regarding prevailing wage rate discussions, Ramberg noted that the dollar limit for projects for which a prevailing wage rate determination must be procured has been reduced from $234,000 to $25,000 effective January 1, 2010. Various aspects of this were reviewed. The local intergovernmental cooperation that has existed for many years between towns, cities and villages and the Highway Department was noted with Ramberg saying that this should be encouraged and that the legislation as passed looks to be counterproductive to this goal. The Committee thanked the legislators for taking the time and making the effort to attend the meeting. Ramberg reviewed Draft #2 of the Department's 2010 budget, focusing on the levy request. Three budget scenarios were reviewed, these being a 0% increase in funding and 5% and 10% reductions. He said that the Department's understanding is that the 0% scenario in levy growth excludes contract settlements in place for wages and fringe benefits. The 5% and 10% reductions both relate directly to the 2009 levy. He reviewed the potential impacts of these scenarios. Pietrick suggested that, possibly, rather than submitting a 0% budget, the Department submit a budget showing what is needed to adequately maintain the county trunk highway system, then the 5% and 10% reductions. This would show the dramatic gap that exists between what's needed and the level at which the Department currently operates. Ramberg distributed information from DOT Connections 2030 and the Hudson -River Falls Train Group, both of which deal with rail transportation in the area. His comments forwarded to the DOT Connections 2030 draft plan were also noted. , ST. CROIX COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MINUTES Page 4 July 10, 2009 Regarding 2009 and 2010 and long range goals, Ramberg noted the road kill issue previously discussed and said that this has also been added to the list for possible tracking to forward to the DNR through Dispatch. The Committee viewed a short video from the National Counties Association entitled "Restoring the Partnership for Transportation in the 21 Century, The Role of County Government in the Transportation System" that had recently been presented at a congressional briefing in Washington, D.C. Various other matters were briefly noted, including an upcoming public meeting on the Stillwater Bridge project. King adjourned the meeting at 1:00 PM. SECRETARY