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10-11-10 CC WS MinCITY OF SHOREWOOD CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2010 MINUTES 1. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD COUNCIL CHAMBERS 6:00 P.M. Mayor Liz6e called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M. A. Roll Call Present. Mayor Liz6e; Councilmembers Bailey (arrived at 6:03 P.M.), Turgeon, Woodruff and Zerby; Administrator Heck; Finance Director DeJong; Director of Public Works Brown; and Engineer Landini Absent: Planning Director Nielsen B. Review Agenda Woodruff moved, Zerby seconded, approving the agenda as presented. Motion passed 4/0. 2. PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION Administrator Heck stated Director Brown, Director DeJong, Engineer Landini and he met several times to talk about the City's 20 -year Pavement Management Plan and financing the plan. During the presentation that DeJong will give this evening it may initially appear that efforts have gone backward, but he hoped that by the end of the presentation it will become apparent that progress has been made. Staff has identified a couple of approaches that should help in providing a better financial forecast for roadway improvements. Heck turned the meeting over to DeJong for the presentation on pavement management which is the outcome of the discussions among staff members. The presentation addresses both the maintenance and rehabilitation of the City's roadways. Councilmember Bailey arrived at 6:03 P.M. Director DeJong first reviewed Staff s understanding of the PMP. The PMP, initially prepared a few years ago, contains an accurate inventory of the City's roadways and a rating for the condition of the surface of each roadway. The Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating (PASER) System is used to determine the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) or rating. The rating is used to determine what types of improvements, if any, will likely be needed for each roadway. The improvements are filling of cracks, sealcoating, mill and overlay, or rehabilitation (reconstruction or reclamation). In 2009 Staff developed a decision flowchart to help in determining if a roadway in need of rehabilitation should be reconstructed or reclaimed. The flowchart will be reevaluated to ensure the results of using the decision flowchart depict what should be done. After that a 20 -year financial plan will be prepared to support the updated 20 -Year PMP. Council can then decide if the financial plan is affordable and to fund it. DeJong then reviewed some of the decisions that must be made before the financial plan can be developed. Council has to decide how frequently roadways should be maintained and what rating a roadway must have to trigger some form of rehabilitation. Things that factor into the decision about what CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES October 11, 2010 Page 2 of 6 type of rehabilitation should be done are whether or not there are stormwater management issues, sub soil issues, and right-of-way (ROW) issues. DeJong stated the 10 -point PASER System is a widely used tool. It's based on visual observations so staff members can fairly accurately determine the condition of the roadway by evaluating the condition of the roadway surface. Councihnember Bailey asked how much variability there would be between evaluators using the PASER rating criteria. Director Brown stated when the City first started to have its pavement surfaces evaluated there was a significant variance. Brown noted there is some subjectivity involved when evaluating pavement. DeJong noted the PASER System also identifies treatment methods for the various pavement conditions. DeJong explained a good roadway base has two feet of sand for stability and drainage, and eight inches or more of Class 5 aggregate. A native base has good native soils (e.g. sandy clay) and eight inches or more of Class 5 aggregate. There are also some bases with saturated organic soils with little class 5 aggregate. DeJong reviewed the things that cause surface pavement to deteriorate. Saturated sub soils cause the most deterioration; water freezes and heaves the top surface causing cracks and potholes. Lack of edge control allows water to flow under the pavement and that permits the asphalt to expand under load or heat. Lack of preventative maintenance allows asphalt to dry out and lose flexibility. And, vehicles that weigh close to or more than a road's load - bearing capacity cause deterioration DeJong explained reactive maintenance involves filling in potholes or cracked areas. Preventative maintenance includes sealcoating and mill and overlay. Sealcoating involves applying a sealant to preserve and protect asphalt pavements. Mill and overlay involves grinding the existing asphalt surface down at the edges and then putting down a minimum of two inches of new asphalt over the existing asphalt surface. Other maintenance things that must be done include clearing clogged catch basins and drains. DeJong displayed a graph showing the estimated life of roadway surfaces that have a good base, a native base and poor soils. The life of roadways with good base materials can be extended longer with preventative maintenance than roadways that have a poor base. He noted that a lot of the City's roadways were constructed in during the early 1970s. Roadways that were not originally constructed well are reaching the end of their useful life. He explained that a roadway surface with a rating of three needs patching and repair before a mill and overlay is done. When major overlays are repeatedly done to a roadway, the level of recovery decreases each time. Councilmember Zerby stated one of the things he takes from the graph is that a pavement surface cannot be milled and overlaid forever; it eventually will deteriorate to the level where it has to be rehabilitated. He then stated the graph also indicates a roadway can be milled and overlaid for 60 years before it has to be rehabilitated. Administrator Heck stated for a well constructed road the City will pay less over time before rehabilitation has to be considered. DeJong explained the differences between reclamation and reconstruction, noting reclamation does not address any sub soil issues. During reclamation a milling machine pulverizes the asphalt surface. The ground up asphalt is mixed with the underlying aggregate and that mixture is put back down. A two — three inch layer of new asphalt is put down over the mixture. During reconstruction the pavement and poor soils are removed. Granular materials and a drainage system are put down. A new eight -inch aggregate base is put in and four- inches or more of asphalt are placed over the granular material. Concrete edge control may be installed on each side of the roadway surface. CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES October 11, 2010 Page 3 of 6 DeJong stated there is one school of thought that fixing the worst roads first may not be the most cost - effective strategy. Preservation treatments are able to cover a lot more roadway surface per given dollar. He displayed a slide showing the different types of improvements and the cost per mile to make that improvement, and also the miles of roadway that can be improved for each type based on the cost per mile amount. A great deal more surface can be improved if pavement reconditioning /maintenance is done. DeJong showed a slide that was prepared by the Transportation Resource Board about principles of pavement preservation. The slide was based on a situation in the State of Michigan. For exampled, the cost to reconstruct a roadway is $508,000. If the newly constructed roadway isn't maintained it has a useful life of about 25 years and then it has to be reconstructed for an additional cost of $498,000. If the newly constructed roadway is properly maintained through sealcoating and mill and overlay, the useful life of the road can be extended for 18 years for an additional cost close to $150,000. Another slide showed the surface doesn't deteriorate very much during the first few years of life for a newly constructed roadway and about 75 percent of the way out into the useful life it begins to deteriorate rapidly. When a roadway reaches a state of fair condition the maintenance should start being done to extend the fife of the pavement. DeJong stated Staff took information from the PMP and calculated the average condition of roadway pavement surfaces. The average in 2005 was 6.85; in 2006 it was about 6.5; in 2008 it was about 6.25; in 2009 it was about 6.5; and in 2010 it is about 6.8. The roadways were not rated in 2007. The averages in 2009 and 2010 reflect the impact of increased funding for maintenance and rehabilitation of roadways. He explained the averages were calculated by taking the square -foot area of each roadway, multiplying that by the roadway's rating, adding the results for each roadway together, and finally dividing the total by the total square - footage for all roadways. DeJong noted that the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials standards indicate the minimum acceptable two -lane driving surface width for a roadway is 20 feet wide. A 20- foot -wide driving surface is narrow, it allows the edge to crack up a lot, access for school buses and emergency vehicles can be problematic if vehicles are parked on the surface, and that width of roadway should be labeled no parking. For the City's Minnesota State Aid eligible roadways the minimum two - lane driving surface width is 24 feet. Standard surmountable curb is 28 inches wide on each side of the roadway. The total width is just over 28 feet. Approximately 20 percent of the City's roadways (or approximately 10 miles of it) are eligible for MSA reimbursement for construction and maintenance. MSA maintenance reimbursement is put in the General Fund and reimbursement for construction has been borrowed against to help fund the County Road 19 project. In order for a reconstruction effort to be eligible for MSA construction reimbursement the roadway must be reconstructed to MSA standards. In response to a comment from Councilmember Turgeon, Director Brown explained in 2012 the funds the City borrowed against will be paid off. In response to a comment from Mayor Lizee, Director Brown explained the City is allocated MSA construction reimbursement equal to some dollar amount multiplied by 20 percent of the total mileage of City -owned roadways. For 2009 the amount was $184,414. Once the City's loan is paid off, that amount is what the State will hold for reimbursement for a construction project. For the reconstruction of MSA classified roadways the roadway will have to be reconstructed to meet MSA standards in order to be entitled to any of the funds. He noted MSA maintenance reimbursement dollars are put into the General Fund, and a transfer is made out of the General Fund to the Local Street Reconstruction Fund, Director DeJong stated that in order to accurately estimate the cost of roadway maintenance and rehabilitation Council needs to make a number of decisions about the current assumptions. Is the current CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES October 11, 2010 Page 4 of 6 goal of sealcoating a roadway every 5 years (or 20 percent per year) still correct? The current assumption is a roadway will be milled and overlaid every 50 years. Staff recommends that be changed to every 20 years. What PASBR rating should trigger rehabilitation? Staff recommends a rating of 2. How do items such as stormwater management issues, poor sub soils, and ROW issues factor into whether or not a roadway should be reconstructed or reclaimed? In response to a comment from Councilmember Zerby, Director Brown stated that patching, sealcoating and mill and overlay are all forms of maintenance. They don't necessarily extend the life of the roadways but they do help achieve the anticipated life. In response to another comment from Zerby, Brown explained on the west coast they use some treatments that are typically done in warmer climates. The roads are closed to traffic when those particular treatments are performed. Councilmember Zerby stated he did not think the PMP had a category for the type of base. Director Brown explained Staff can tell what type of base a roadway has to a high degree of accuracy based on the pavement surface, noting there can be surprises. Zerby asked if the PASBR raring factors the condition of the sub soils in. Brown explained the sub soils are indirectly factored in through the rating of the surface. Councilmember Woodruff stated from his vantage point the objective is customer satisfaction; do the residents think their roadways are okay. He stated a roadway gets patched and sealcoated, it looks good and the residents are happy. In five years that will happen again because the roadway has deteriorated. He thought residents only care about having roadways that don't have potholes or large cracks or other troublesome issues and they want them to be that way almost all of the time. Residents don't care about rehabilitating roadways. Director DeJong stated there are times subjective evaluations have to be made about what, if any, improvements to make to some of the roadways. It may be more cost effective to leave roadways with a poor base and starting to fail to deteriorate to the point where rehabilitation is a necessity. There has been some resident push back on reconstructing roadways that have deteriorated and have a poor base because the pavement surface looks good, although it won't look good for very long. If maintenance won't extend the life of such roadways it may be appropriate to let the roadways deteriorate until it must be rehabilitated. Councilmember Woodruff stated as part of the proposed rehabilitation project for Amlee Road, Manitou Lane and Glen Road there were heated discussions from some of the residents in that area. The then council decided to have those roadways patched and sealcoated in 2008 and it sounds as if the residents are pleased with what was done. Star Lane and Star Circle were patched and sealcoated last year and the residents are pleased with the condition of the roadways. Director Brown clarified that was done the year before. Woodruff commented Lakeway Terrace has big ruts and holes in it. Councilmember Woodruff stated if a sealcoat and patch will extend the life of a roadway 4 — 5 years then that is what should be done because it's the most cost effective thing to do, provided there are no serious issues such as stormwater management issues. Mayor Lizee stated she can appreciate Councilmember Woodruff s viewpoint from the perspective of financially extending the 20 -Year PMP. She said visuals are important but other things must be factored into the decision; the condition of the roadway surface and sub soils; stormwater management issues and additional drainage; and, the infrastructure (the age of the infrastructure, undersized sanitary sewer pipes, the lack of City water, etc.). Once Council understands how these items fit into the plan it can be explained to the residents. Administrator Heck stated Council needs to come to consensus on when a roadway reaches a certain rating significant maintenance will be discontinued and the roadway surface will deteriorate until it CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES October 11, 2010 Page 5 of 6 reaches the state where rehabilitation is required. The current decision flowchart indicates if a roadway's PASER rating is less than five it moves on to being considered for some type of rehabilitation. Staff suggested the trigger -point rating be equal to 2 or less. He noted that if it's determined that the sewer system or other utilities are in dire need of repair that the roadway will be torn up no matter what its rating is. He stated Star Circle and Star Lane have a rating of 4 [per the comments made during the September 27, 2010, meeting they have a rating of 3]. He asked Council if it's comfortable with reducing the trigger -point PASER rating. Councilmember Bailey asked what a roadway with a PASER rating of 2 looks like. Councilmember Turgeon stated it would be worse than Amlee Road which was rated a 3 before it was patched and sealcoated. Councilmember Turgeon stated she has no problem with lowering the trigger -point rating. She then stated that Amlee Road and Glen Road had not had anything done to them, other than some cold patch, since 1984 until there was a major patch and sealcoat done a few years ago. The residents are happy with the way the roadway looks. The roadways could not have been reconstructed because the City couldn't obtain the needed easements. She questioned if it would be better to continue with maintenance improvements to roadways until such time there is nothing more that can be done to improve the roadway. She stated based on Council's experience it's difficult to convince residents to rehabilitate a roadway when it looks good on the surface. She indicated she thought a trigger- rating of 4 may be a little high. But, she questioned if the City will be able to rehabilitate roadways with a lower rating if property owners resist granting the necessary easements. Administrator Heck stated earlier in the day Staff discussed the need for easements. If there isn't the availability of the needed ROW to construct a MSA roadway to MSA width standards and a council chooses not to pursue the acquisition of the needed ROW that may eliminate reconstruction as an option even though that is the best option. A council may have to spend money to go through a condemnation process or acquire the needed ROW through the eminent domain process in order to get the needed easement. That is factored into deciding on what type of rehabilitation will be done. He reiterated comments made earlier that in order to receive MSA construction reimbursement funds for reconstructing an MSA roadway it has to be reconstructed to meet MSA standards. Councilmember Woodruff stated he thought every year potholes should be filled in for every roadway. As currently planned, each roadway will be sealcoated every five years. A mill and overlay will be done when necessary. As currently done, each roadway will be reevaluated every year. If the new PASER rating of a roadway is 2 or less it becomes a candidate for rehabilitation. Mayor Lizde noted that potholes are filled in each year. Woodruff questioned if potholes are filled in on all roads annually. Woodruff also questioned if the sealcoat plan should be more aggressive for a while in order to get all roadways on the 5 -year cycle. Councilmember Zerby asked what the definition of a pothole is. Is it a one inch hole? He suggested that be agreed upon. Councilmember Bailey stated based on the current conditions of roadways there won't be a major reconstruction of a roadway for a while. He expressed concern that because of that a future council may take that as an opportunity to reduce the funding for the PMP. Council has appropriately delayed the use of funds in the Local Street Reconstruction Fund by not doing major rehabilitation. Eventually roadways will have toe be rehabilitated and the needed funds should be available at that time. Director Brown stated that just because the average rating for all of the roadways is 6 — 7 it does not imply the City should stop all rehabilitation efforts right now. CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES October 11, 2010 Page 6 of 6 Councilmember Bailey stated it's his understanding that Star Circle and Star Lane were being considered for rehabilitation now because they are in the worst shape. He does not have the impression that there are roadways in worse condition in the City that won't be rehabilitated now because Star Circle and Star Lane will be considered first. Director Brown explained roadways with a rating lower than the average will deteriorate faster. Councilmember Woodruff stated he would like to be able to review the list of the new ratings. Mayor Liz& asked Council if it would like to change the trigger -point rating; it's currently 4. She stated per Administrator Heck Staff recommends changing it to 2. Councilmember Turgeon stated a trigger -point rating of 4 is too high. Councilmember Bailey agreed. Councilmember Woodruff stated the PASER System explanation indicates a rating of 3 should have major maintenance done but it does not suggest rehabilitation. There was Council consensus to change the trigger -point rating to 2 which is consistent with the recommendations in the PASER System. Administrator Heck stated during the first meeting in November there will be work session to discuss the revised financial plan for funding roadway improvements. Councilmember Woodruff requested Staff provide Council with information on what it will take to get all roadways in sync with a 5 -year sealcoating cycle. Councilmember Zerby stated he wants to know what the cost will be first. Engineer Landini noted the City is caught up with its sealcoating program, but not with its mill and overlay program. Mayor Liz& stated a public hearing is scheduled for October 25, 2010, regarding potential assessments for the possible extension of watermain if Star Circle and Star Lane are reconstructed. She asked if the public hearing is being held too soon. 3. ADJOURi \ Turgeon moved, Woodruff seconded, Adjourning the City Council Work Session of October 11, 2010, at 7:02 P.M. Motion passed 510. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED Christine Freeman, Recorder pristine Lizee, Mayor