[0:04] Open.
[0:05] » Welcome everyone to the City of Lewis
[0:08] and the Lewis Board of Public Works
[0:10] joint meeting Monday, July 28th, 2025 at
[0:14] 100 p.m. Uh there are additional copies
[0:16] of the agenda in case you need a hard
[0:19] copy. They're up on the on the desk. Uh,
[0:22] and I want to just remind all of my
[0:24] colleagues here or Blue is having me
[0:26] remind you for all of us. Make sure you
[0:29] speak into the phone. Get closer to the
[0:32] phone to the microphone so that people
[0:34] online can hear you. And when we get to
[0:36] public comment, we'll be asking you to
[0:38] come to either one of these and speak
[0:40] into the microphone. Uh, today's agenda
[0:44] is lengthy. Uh both BPW and the city are
[0:48] going to look at some different formats
[0:49] in the future where we may have two
[0:51] public comment periods. Uh BPW has
[0:54] started to do this in the cadence of
[0:55] their meetings, one at the beginning and
[0:57] one at the end. But because we publish
[1:00] an agenda, we do have to follow this
[1:02] order. So um I apologize. Um you can't
[1:06] put public comment. You have to put com
[1:09] public comment the way you advertise the
[1:11] agenda. And the reason for that is there
[1:13] could be somebody who's thinking about
[1:15] wanting to listen in or speak and they
[1:17] realize they're all of these agenda
[1:18] items. So that's why rules of order is
[1:21] followed. But in the future we will look
[1:23] at too because I can imagine as I look
[1:26] around the room some of you may be here
[1:27] for an issue that is not um number one.
[1:30] Um so bear with us uh on this as well.
[1:34] So in terms of call to order uh do you
[1:37] have any opening comments and then we
[1:39] can say
[1:39] » Something I'll say is that the BPW did
[1:42] change our agenda as Amy u u stated
[1:47] we're taking public comments at the
[1:48] beginning for people who want to talk
[1:52] about items that are not on the agenda
[1:55] and don't want to sit through the whole
[1:56] agenda but also if people want to make
[2:00] comments uh about items on the agenda
[2:03] and then at the the end of the meeting
[2:05] we're taking public comments only on
[2:08] items on the agenda. So, and we felt
[2:11] that was the the best way because uh we
[2:15] had been doing where we're taking
[2:17] questions after each uh agenda item and
[2:20] that was creating too much disruption in
[2:23] the meeting cycle. self. Um and with
[2:26] that, um
[2:28] » So in terms of our attendance, uh we
[2:31] have our deputy city manager, city
[2:33] manager, city solicitor, all of our
[2:36] council, um Councilman Trina Brown
[2:39] Hicks, Councilman Richard, Councilman
[2:41] Elder, myself as mayor, and the deputy
[2:44] mayor wanted to be here. He has been
[2:47] trying to get back from Wyoming for
[2:49] about two days. flights are getting
[2:52] bumped every time. So, I don't think he
[2:54] even lands in Philadelphia until about
[2:57] four o'clock today, but he extends his
[2:59] apology. He will watch this session. Um,
[3:01] he had really planned to actually get
[3:03] back into town um Saturday night or
[3:06] Sunday. So, again, apologies that he is
[3:08] not here. The rest of council will be
[3:10] here for the full meeting. And on our
[3:13] side we have uh Robin Davis our general
[3:16] manager, Sharon Ston, our assistant
[3:18] general manager, Mike Hoffman, our legal
[3:22] authority, and then uh it's Bob
[3:24] Hefernon, uh Richard Nichols, Pres Lee,
[3:29] and Barbara and myself. So um I will
[3:32] announce also that press is gonna have
[3:34] to leave at 2:30. So, you know,
[3:39] on that with that,
[3:41] » Why don't we just start with the first
[3:43] agenda item, which is update and
[3:44] discussion on the June power outages.
[3:47] And Tom, I think you want to give us an
[3:49] update what what happened and what's
[3:50] being done.
[3:51] » First thing I want to say is um I should
[3:54] have said in the opening remarks, um I
[3:57] apologize for any misstatements I made
[4:01] during our BPW meeting relative to the
[4:04] city hack. The servers were not hacked.
[4:08] It was an email account and uh we were
[4:12] not using the video out of the utmost
[4:15] precautions, but the audio is now up
[4:18] online. So,
[4:21] » Thank you for that because I think there
[4:22] was some confusion about that.
[4:25] » All right. So the June outage um
[4:31] I'm just going to go through the the
[4:33] well what I consider the high level and
[4:36] maybe go down it's a little minutia but
[4:38] um um
[4:40] the first outage was the T1 transformer
[4:45] had gone to lockout position which means
[4:48] that the transformer was out of service
[4:51] and that contains circuits one and two.
[4:55] Um
[4:57] that happened about nine o'clock Robin
[4:59] if I remember. Yeah. And um the crews
[5:03] were you know the crews are out there. I
[5:05] was out there with the crews and we got
[5:08] it back online.
[5:11] Unfortunately
[5:13] four or five hours later the same exact
[5:16] thing occurred.
[5:19] um we switched the circuits off of one
[5:23] and two to eliminate them being on the
[5:26] same relay that was causing the problem.
[5:30] However, what we found out later was
[5:33] that uh the T1 uh transformer
[5:39] was still the lockout relay for that
[5:42] transformer
[5:43] even though there was no load on it was
[5:46] still in the the lockout the relay lube.
[5:51] So um
[5:54] once again circuit one and circuit two
[5:56] and this was only two circuits out of
[5:59] the four that we have um we're out. Um
[6:05] we then combined circuits one and two
[6:08] and three and four
[6:10] um
[6:12] in onto
[6:14] circuit three and circuit four breakers.
[6:18] Uh, and I do want to make the point here
[6:20] that none of this was covered by or
[6:24] caused by heat.
[6:27] You know, it was purely coincidental
[6:29] because the the transformer loadings and
[6:32] everything were within normal range. So,
[6:35] it just was coincidental that it
[6:38] happened to be a heat event and a relay
[6:40] failure.
[6:42] So, um,
[6:46] the next morning, uh, PTOIC, which is
[6:49] our testing contractor, came out and,
[6:53] uh, they ran tests on the relays and
[6:55] other equipment to find the issue and
[6:58] eventually found that the relay,
[7:01] uh, the T1 relay lockout was reading
[7:06] 4,300
[7:07] amps
[7:10] normal or typical high range. range is
[7:12] in the 60 to 100 amps. Uh and ideally
[7:17] the neutral should be at zero. Uh but
[7:20] there's a lot of reasons unbalanced
[7:23] loads u fluorescent equipment,
[7:26] electronic equipment that can cause the
[7:29] neutral to run slightly high but by no
[7:32] means ever. 4,300 amps. That's so
[7:38] the
[7:39] the relay was uh jumpered out and the
[7:43] the rest of the transformers and
[7:45] circuits were separated and that's how
[7:48] we've been running. We have three new
[7:51] relays on order to replace the T1
[7:55] transformer one and T2 relays
[7:59] because they're,
[8:01] you know, getting old and then one for
[8:04] spare.
[8:06] In addition, um,
[8:09] we're we're having PTOIC do with us a
[8:13] full review of the control circuitry at
[8:16] the substation because no one still
[8:20] understands why the T1 relay was
[8:22] tripping to T2 transformer. So, um, that
[8:28] that's that's ongoing and we hope to
[8:31] have that completed in within a month or
[8:33] so.
[8:34] Um,
[8:37] and I think that's about it. So, I'll
[8:39] take questions.
[8:40] » Um, I think the call center was the
[8:42] other concern that people had. I mean,
[8:44] technical is good to hear, but when we
[8:46] all called in, um, that wasn't a very
[8:48] good experience.
[8:49] » Why don't we go through the technical
[8:50] stuff first? And I I got a note here
[8:52] about the control.
[8:53] » Great.
[8:54] » Are there any questions from council?
[8:55] Tim, I think you may have some followup
[8:57] on the technical aspects.
[9:00] Are you good with the description now? I
[9:03] uh I follow the description. I
[9:04] understand the description. Uh my
[9:08] question would be more about the
[9:10] maintenance schedule of this piece of
[9:14] infrastructure or pieces of
[9:16] infrastructure
[9:17] and uh is will that be addressed going
[9:21] forward? That is a completely valid
[9:23] question and yes that'll be part of the
[9:27] u review and analysis of the event and
[9:32] the control system but you know those
[9:34] relays u we should be replacing those
[9:38] relays on a regular basis. I will say
[9:41] though this is the first occurrence of
[9:43] it but that doesn't mean that the
[9:46] equipment isn't getting older. So yes it
[9:48] will be addressed.
[9:49] » Thank you. You know, and I think this
[9:51] goes to the city as well, that we all
[9:54] have now capital improvement plans, the
[9:56] city and the and BPW, but you also we
[9:59] want to have asset management plans
[10:01] which address exactly as you're saying,
[10:02] Councilman Ritzer, so we can anticipate
[10:07] uh having to buy new equipment so we
[10:10] budget for it day one. So, very much
[10:12] like your own home, you know, you know
[10:14] how long your roof is going to last
[10:16] minus a big storm. And so we need to
[10:18] look at our capitalization plan as well.
[10:21] I assume you do too where we can look
[10:23] ahead and say three years from now we
[10:27] can imagine these things need to happen.
[10:29] So asset management is just as important
[10:32] as budget management. So on the city's
[10:34] side we started it and that's something
[10:36] our finance committee is going to
[10:38] continue with. Um but that was something
[10:40] I think we could share because then we
[10:42] both see when there are big costs. Now
[10:45] maintenance things can happen but that
[10:47] way we can look at the life of equipment
[10:49] and I you know your business is yours
[10:51] but we'd want that too so we would know
[10:54] that there's good maintenance on both
[10:56] sides.
[10:57] » Any questions from the board side
[11:05] all right
[11:06] moving on then um
[11:09] » To the to the customer service line the
[11:11] call center. So, um, Darren, if you'll
[11:14] take the lead on this one.
[11:20] » So, we actually use a local service. Um,
[11:24] short answer. Um, they are very small.
[11:26] So, as you can imagine, as the night
[11:28] goes on, they don't have as many
[11:30] representatives. They also are in the
[11:31] midst of doing a change over to their
[11:33] system that I recently learned out about
[11:35] after all this. um which we've never had
[11:39] this issue with them dropping the calls
[11:40] before in this manner. Um so we did
[11:43] propose maybe that they do more like a
[11:45] loop or to keep people on hold rather
[11:48] than and they said they would get back
[11:50] to us last week about Friday. They told
[11:52] me nope, it's just not possible. So we
[11:54] do have a demo set up with a new company
[11:56] moving forward. So hopefully in the next
[11:58] few weeks we should have a new after
[11:59] service company to handle those calls.
[12:01] That that's terrific because I think the
[12:04] frustration Yeah. you know you any of us
[12:06] felt as citizens when we got the number
[12:08] to call and our calls were dropped there
[12:11] was no answer that just added to the
[12:14] frustration in community.
[12:15] » I agree. I agree.
[12:16] » Exactly. So I commend you for
[12:18] questioning whether they could do it and
[12:19] if not going out with a more robust
[12:22] service.
[12:23] » Yeah. I don't know as much as the calls
[12:24] were dropped. It was the goodbye.
[12:27] » Yeah.
[12:28] » Yeah. It wasn't. Any questions from
[12:30] council about call center?
[12:32] » The only question I have is uh when a
[12:36] similar event occurs and it's just a
[12:38] matter of when it's not if. Uh my
[12:41] question is the contractor this
[12:44] answering service uh who who within the
[12:48] BPW is responsible for communicating to
[12:51] them what the me outgoing message should
[12:53] be when they take a call so that the
[12:55] person your customers who are calling in
[12:58] are given reliable factual information.
[13:01] » Yep. So when they receive those calls
[13:03] they actually dispatch our on call uh
[13:06] employees. So once they go out, those
[13:08] employees call back to the customer
[13:10] service line and say, "Hey, this is
[13:12] what's going on." And we usually have a
[13:14] dialogue already predetermined prior to
[13:16] so they know what to say going out. I
[13:18] will also say that um after the first
[13:20] one happened and we did get those
[13:22] notifications that people were being
[13:24] dropped, we added a message to our line
[13:26] the second time it happened to say,
[13:28] "Hey, we know there's a high incoming
[13:30] volume, so we know there's a situation."
[13:33] That did kind of give people the
[13:35] opportunity to say, "Okay, they know."
[13:36] and hang up. So, they didn't receive as
[13:38] many calls the second time it happened.
[13:40] So,
[13:42] » Okay,
[13:42] » That's good. Thank you.
[13:43] » Yep.
[13:43] » And for the city manager, is there
[13:45] anything in that call center information
[13:47] that you would like to request as as
[13:50] Sharon is taking this on with the new
[13:52] companies?
[13:53] » So, definitely communication with the
[13:56] BPW going back and forth. You know, if
[13:58] the city were to have issues, we would
[13:59] certainly reach out to BPW. Um, but
[14:01] we're also here to support the BPW and
[14:04] provide any outreach and lasting uh not
[14:06] medications that we give you.
[14:08] » Elraine, do we use um a similar service?
[14:12] » No, we don't. Okay.
[14:16] » Okay. Should we move on to agenda two?
[14:18] » Okay.
[14:20] So, it's updating and discussion on the
[14:23] city BPW resiliency
[14:26] vision goals and projects.
[14:30] » So, let me just start from the city's
[14:31] part. We, as many of you know, we passed
[14:34] a resiliency fund and funded it um in
[14:38] our budget process for FY26.
[14:41] Uh Mayor, Deputy Mayor Celiba and also
[14:44] um Lewis, planning commissioner, chair
[14:47] Rich Inis have been tasked to put
[14:50] together recommendations on the scope of
[14:52] our resiliency committee, but it's going
[14:54] to be environment and resiliency because
[14:56] they do go hand in hand. And then
[14:58] there'll be subcommittees under those.
[15:00] We're trying to look at some ways to
[15:02] consolidate
[15:03] where possible the amount of meetings
[15:05] not just that we all attend but where
[15:07] you all attend. And so the Lewis
[15:10] planning commission environmental
[15:11] subcommittee has been thanked for their
[15:13] service. That was something that I
[15:14] chaired originally when I was on
[15:16] planning commission and that will now
[15:18] those activities or focus will go under
[15:20] the resiliency. Uh so they're in the
[15:22] process right now of getting that set
[15:24] up. I can anticipate that would be
[15:26] sometime in September or October. That
[15:28] commission will report directly to
[15:30] council. So, it doesn't sit under
[15:32] another commission because it doesn't
[15:34] just relate to planning or parks. Um,
[15:38] what's important about how that's going
[15:40] to be engineered in terms of membership
[15:43] is
[15:45] expertise. So, we welcome volunteers
[15:48] from the community. If you are
[15:49] interested, you can reach out directly
[15:52] uh put in a note on our website or reach
[15:55] out to uh the deputy mayor or LPC chair.
[15:59] But we'll be looking for engineers,
[16:01] scientists. Uh we're going to be looking
[16:03] for folks who have expertise, who have
[16:05] time to look at nature-based solutions
[16:08] as well as engineering solutions and
[16:11] also environment. That's tree canopy,
[16:13] all those other kinds of things. So,
[16:15] it's going to be a very robust um
[16:17] commission. It may not meet once a
[16:19] month. They're working out the cadence
[16:21] of that. Subcommittees might meet. But
[16:23] basically what I wanted to share with
[16:25] the public and BPW is we will want BPW
[16:29] to sit have a representative on that as
[16:32] as Barbara and Bob had in the past with
[16:35] the uh planning commission the
[16:36] environmental subcommittee because it's
[16:39] handinand related to resiliency. But I
[16:41] think what's exciting about it is we are
[16:44] um I believe it's South Bethany has a a
[16:47] resiliency fund, but we're in the
[16:49] pioneering stages to have it. And with
[16:51] all of what's going on in our federal
[16:53] government, um we are not replacing FEMA
[16:57] and and I can be quoted on that. We
[16:59] don't have those kinds of resources, but
[17:01] we're going to be putting funds into
[17:03] protecting and building uh better now
[17:06] and sharing information out with the
[17:08] broader public. So our goals will be
[17:11] really looking at ways to educate,
[17:14] inform, uh undertake certain projects as
[17:18] well, like Cedar Street. That's a good
[17:20] example of the floodgates there. Um and
[17:23] and for street preserve is another
[17:26] example of open space used as a
[17:28] nature-based solution. And then we're
[17:30] looking forward to seeing your goals
[17:31] because obviously you have a lot of
[17:33] infrastructure that should we or when we
[17:36] are flooded could be uh in jeopardy and
[17:38] risk.
[17:39] » And I think the only thing I would add
[17:40] is that uh both the city and BPW have
[17:44] met with University of Delaware.
[17:46] » Yes. And uh last Friday, I think it was
[17:50] » Uh and
[17:52] University of Delaware, we've been
[17:54] chosen as one of the communities
[17:58] that is going to be uh they're going to
[18:01] do a resiliency study on storm water and
[18:04] drainage and it's about a year year and
[18:07] a half program. So we had the first our
[18:10] kickoff was about two and a half hours.
[18:13] I think yours was an hour and a half or
[18:15] so.
[18:15] » Right. So um we are using the expertise
[18:19] of University of Delaware to help uh
[18:23] guide us in the resiliency. Some of the
[18:25] stuff we can do without them, but the
[18:27] bigger picture of how to protect Lewis
[18:31] over the next 25, 50 years is something
[18:34] we're going to need, you know, outside
[18:36] help with.
[18:37] » They're also just to put a plug for um
[18:39] UD, they're going to be hosting the
[18:41] first kickoff. It's a workshop on
[18:44] September 5th at the library from 9 to
[18:47] noon. It's really important that we get
[18:49] a good amount of the public out there
[18:51] because they're going to be using some
[18:53] survey techniques and they will need at
[18:55] least 50 people uh to to participate to
[18:59] make it a valid survey. And that's going
[19:01] to be primarily focused on nature-based
[19:04] solutions. Um so please pass the word
[19:07] out in your neighborhoods um and to
[19:09] others. And I'm sure the gazette's here,
[19:11] so that could be I'm sure that they'll
[19:13] be reaching out. Pardon me.
[19:15] » The date is se is Friday, September 5th,
[19:18] 9 to noon at the library.
[19:22] » Yeah, thank you very much for that.
[19:25] » Okay, let's go. Let's go on to number
[19:27] three. Update and discussion on the city
[19:29] and BPW Burton subdivision projects. Why
[19:32] don't we let you start first at BPW?
[19:35] So um
[19:39] the BP BPW understands that there has
[19:42] been generalized concerns about
[19:45] discolored water in the Burton
[19:46] subdivision.
[19:48] Uh based on these generalized concerns,
[19:52] uh the BPW has installed an automatic
[19:55] flusher for the water lines in
[19:57] subdivision back in uh early 2024
[20:02] and it's been flushing the
[20:03] intermittently
[20:05] uh during nonfreezing conditions.
[20:08] A permanent flusher
[20:10] that will flush year round will be sto
[20:13] installed in the next month or so. So,
[20:16] we will be able to start flushing in the
[20:18] winter time. Uh, and just for anyone who
[20:21] doesn't know, the reason why we we can't
[20:24] flush during the winter is the drain is
[20:27] on one side of the road and the flushers
[20:29] on the other side, and we don't want to
[20:31] create icing conditions on the road. So,
[20:36] um, in addition to the testing
[20:39] requirements required by the regulatory
[20:40] agency, the BPW did an additional test,
[20:44] border sample test on May 9th, and the
[20:48] testing revealed no water quality
[20:50] concerns.
[20:52] Um, we understand that some in the
[20:54] Burton subdivision had questioned the
[20:57] BPW's additional testing samples
[21:00] due to the proximity of time to when we
[21:02] were doing fire main flushing. Uh, going
[21:06] forward, we will ensure that these are
[21:09] separate and the next schedule testing
[21:12] is this week. Do we have any update on
[21:14] that, Robin?
[21:34] Yeah, as Tom said, the next scheduled
[21:36] testing date that we have for the water
[21:37] samples is Thursday.
[21:40] » We're getting the sample bottles uh
[21:42] today. They ordered them today. So,
[21:44] Thursday, we should go ahead and have
[21:45] the samples done. So, if you see some of
[21:47] our staff out out there doing water
[21:50] sampling, that's what it would be.
[21:51] » And and how do you share the results or
[21:53] what's the time frame? And how do you
[21:54] share the results of those?
[21:56] » It normally takes several weeks to get
[21:59] the results back. Could be three weeks.
[22:01] Um, at that point, we can put them on
[22:04] our website and uh maybe share them with
[22:06] the task force that meets monthly.
[22:07] » Yeah, I think it'd be a good idea to
[22:08] share with task force. Could you take a
[22:10] minute and describe how the water
[22:12] sampling is accomplished?
[22:15] » Uh what they're doing is what they did
[22:17] back when they did it in May of 24. Um
[22:20] the sampling is done through the water
[22:22] meter. They go out, they take the water
[22:24] meter out, they take the test as
[22:26] required by how how the testing cycle
[22:29] goes through, run the water for a little
[22:30] while, and then you take the sample, put
[22:32] the water meter back in, and send it
[22:34] away. Kind of basic, but that's about
[22:35] how it's done. So at each service
[22:37] lateral, in other words, the meter is
[22:40] actually removed and tested at that
[22:41] point. Is that what I understand?
[22:43] » The samples taken from the meter pit.
[22:44] Yes. And there's going to be six of them
[22:46] just like the original one was.
[22:48] » And would these be six different ones or
[22:51] six?
[22:51] » It was determined that we were going to
[22:53] do keep the same sampling sites. We
[22:54] could change them if we would like, but
[22:56] yeah, right now they as as give us a
[22:58] baseline for what happened before to
[23:00] what we have now. We wanted to do the
[23:02] samples originally to try to get an idea
[23:04] of of the if there was any difference in
[23:07] in the testing of the water because one
[23:09] of the concerns was that we were doing
[23:11] the did the testing after a flushing
[23:13] cycle
[23:15] » And is the sampling can you say what
[23:17] streets or where is the scope what's the
[23:19] geographic scope of the sampling
[23:21] » The the streets there's I think we're
[23:23] going to do Johnson Painter
[23:27] Dupont
[23:28] Four Street I don't think think we're
[23:31] going to do and Burton I don't think
[23:32] we're going to do park
[23:33] » Because park is on on the of replacement
[23:37] » And Robin when when was the last time we
[23:39] did flushing on the fire mains out there
[23:42] » Uh April um I think it was either the
[23:46] 151 16th or 161 17 something like that
[23:48] » We're far enough away from May
[23:50] » Correct and we'll be do doing the the
[23:53] additional bianthly by annually in
[23:55] October
[23:56] » Robin why would you omit park
[24:01] » Because I think park was on the list of
[24:04] of to go ahead and do and I don't know
[24:07] that I I don't have the list in front of
[24:09] me, Councilman. So, it we might might be
[24:11] doing a Park Avenue address. I'm not
[24:13] sure. Well, my concern would be that
[24:15] even though the pipes are scheduled for
[24:18] replacement, if something unusual would
[24:20] happen in that water system, which there
[24:21] are already complaints about, it should
[24:23] be monitored and documented in case
[24:25] there needs to be any kind of an
[24:27] emergency,
[24:28] uh, for example, water distributed to
[24:30] the houses or, you know, what have you.
[24:33] » We are testing on park. I just
[24:35] » You are okay. Great.
[24:36] » Great.
[24:37] » And I do have a question as well. Um,
[24:39] you mentioned about the uh automatic
[24:42] flushing. Um, I'm interpreting that is
[24:46] supposed to help relieve the
[24:48] discoloration in the water, but if it
[24:51] doesn't, what does that tell you? What
[24:54] does that mean?
[24:56] » It's just a way of keeping keeping the
[24:58] water circulated. So, it does it does
[25:00] help um alleviate any problem of
[25:02] standing water in a spot. So, I don't
[25:05] know exactly what the scheduling they
[25:08] have it on right now, but I know it does
[25:10] periodically run several times during
[25:12] the day.
[25:13] » It does. I know it does for sure on
[25:14] Dupont, but I just know that there's
[25:16] still discoloration. So I was just
[25:18] wondering if what
[25:19] » That means
[25:20] » And uh if I can add that that to that
[25:24] that's the next topic is as I've
[25:27] emphasized in past meetings it's very
[25:29] important for customers to call in
[25:32] specific events to the BPW so our staff
[25:36] can investigate it. Um, you know, I know
[25:40] you bring it up at the bi-weekly or
[25:43] monthly meetings, but that's not real
[25:47] time. And for us to go out and do
[25:50] testing to ascertain where the problems
[25:53] are, we would prefer that you or in
[25:57] addition, we would that you would um
[26:00] call in the problems because we actually
[26:03] have and this isn't meant as a hit, but
[26:06] we have almost no callins to the the the
[26:11] BPW
[26:13] for actual events. Hey.
[26:15] » So, so Tom, let me let's just pause on
[26:18] that just or I'd like to pause and just
[26:19] ask a little more clarification. So,
[26:21] obviously um that subdivision, that
[26:25] community has come often to these
[26:27] meetings to raise issues and some of
[26:30] them are having continuous issues.
[26:33] So, I'm just a I'm just pausing. Do you
[26:37] want them to call you? Because some
[26:39] might call you every day and I don't
[26:42] think that's what we're asking.
[26:45] Yeah. No, wait, wait, wait. No, no, no.
[26:48] Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
[26:50] Folks, there is decorum. Our group is
[26:53] and I'm trying to ask those questions
[26:54] you might want to hear the answers to.
[26:56] So, are you asking for folks to do it
[26:59] every time they see something or are you
[27:02] asking for when they see a change? Like,
[27:05] let's just be clear what we're asking
[27:06] the public to I think that's what it is
[27:07] that if you're normally not having or
[27:12] the discoloration gets worse,
[27:14] » Okay,
[27:14] » That's what we're looking for.
[27:16] » Okay.
[27:16] » Because we're looking for where it's
[27:18] breaking free from
[27:21] and more detail. So, um,
[27:25] Robin, Sharon, you want to add anything
[27:28] to that?
[27:29] » No, I think you're correct in what you
[27:31] just said about the changes. Yeah, I
[27:34] have a another question related and it
[27:38] just has to do with infrastructure. You
[27:40] know, um we've all worked really hard to
[27:45] try and get uh some projects on line
[27:48] here for u our infrastructure. On our
[27:51] side, it's been a lot of roads and we're
[27:53] working with BPW of course to see that
[27:55] we get these uh projects in place. My
[27:59] question is um and it's kind of a
[28:01] complicated one. Um when you go back to
[28:04] the uh initial study that was done um
[28:08] the uh June uh 2000 uh number uh 2110129
[28:14] report that was given there were a lot
[28:17] of uh there were a lot of studies of the
[28:19] pipes done there and um I think there
[28:23] were some areas that were pointed out as
[28:26] uh definitely areas of need. You know,
[28:29] uh I know that we need to be flexible
[28:31] and things need to change around, but my
[28:34] my question relates to just the whole
[28:37] notion of how old our system is in the
[28:40] city of Lewis. We all understand that
[28:42] this is an old city that's grown
[28:44] organically. And so, we're going to have
[28:46] these problems. There's just absolutely
[28:48] no doubt about it. And we want to work
[28:49] with the BPW to help get these things
[28:52] resolved for our citizens. But my
[28:54] question is this.
[28:57] The reading that I have done indicates
[29:00] that um the lifespan of iron pipe is 50
[29:05] to 70 years. And if you look at the
[29:08] infrastructure that we have here, that
[29:10] would indicate that the majority of our
[29:12] water pipe, our mains is kind of worn
[29:15] out. So, in some of the reading I've
[29:19] done, they indicate that this coupon
[29:21] testing, by the way, they call it
[29:23] destructive coupon testing where they
[29:25] take a chunk out of the pipe. Um,
[29:28] they're saying that after a certain age,
[29:31] it's not worth doing. You just need to
[29:33] put a plan in to replace the pipe. And
[29:37] um so I'm looking at this and I'm
[29:40] wondering I didn't think that um uh
[29:44] 2110129
[29:47] was a completely thorough study it
[29:50] didn't seem to me but I could be wrong.
[29:52] So my question is because one of my
[29:55] goals today was to see if we couldn't
[29:57] get the rest of the Burton subdivision
[30:00] done, redone the whole thing because of
[30:02] the age of the pipe in that area. Yet
[30:06] there is a pipe all over the city. But
[30:09] then again, the information that I'm
[30:13] reading is is that coupon testing is
[30:16] kind of a waste of time and that it's uh
[30:19] very questionable when you have pipe
[30:21] this old. and it does more damage to the
[30:23] system by trying to do the testing uh
[30:27] than not. So, you should just plan on
[30:29] replacing. But we don't really have a
[30:31] plan per se that I can see out there
[30:34] that says this area will be done this
[30:36] year like a 20-year plan or a 10-year
[30:39] plan. So, what I would like to see is
[30:42] something like that. And I would like to
[30:44] see the city of Lewis also commit to
[30:48] doing the backup so they can get that
[30:51] done. I think we need to be good
[30:52] partners together on this.
[30:54] » So let's let's break up your question
[30:55] into
[30:56] » Long question.
[30:57] » Well, it's but it's a very important
[30:58] one, but it has components. So let's do
[31:00] the coupon first and have BPW answer
[31:02] that and then let's talk about the
[31:04] strategy of what streets are done where.
[31:07] Okay. Is that that's a fair
[31:08] characterization? There are two
[31:09] questions.
[31:10] » Yeah. So u I would take inception. We
[31:14] have a 10-year capital plan.
[31:16] » Let's do the couponing first.
[31:17] » Oh, I'm sorry. Um, so
[31:22] I I know where you got that from the
[31:25] couponing. However, couponing is no
[31:28] different than doing a tie in to a pipe.
[31:32] So, when we provide a new housing
[31:34] service, we have to cut a hole in the
[31:37] pipe,
[31:38] » Right?
[31:39] » And then put a strap over it and tie in
[31:42] the new one. And that is no more
[31:45] destructive than taking a coupon. We're
[31:49] taking the coupons
[31:51] because we're trying to prioritize as
[31:54] you said Joe there is there are lots of
[31:57] other hundredyear or
[32:00] » Old pipes
[32:01] » In in the city and so we're trying to
[32:04] prioritize.
[32:06] So
[32:08] Robin,
[32:09] your comments on the impact of
[32:12] compounding on structural.
[32:15] » Well, any anytime you you know the less
[32:17] joints you have in a pipe, the better
[32:19] off you are, but there are times you
[32:20] have to go ahead if you got a repairs,
[32:21] you got to do some sort of some sort of
[32:23] a coupling in there. So,
[32:27] it's hard uh uh when when you talk about
[32:30] stuff on ground, it's hard to just make
[32:32] an assessment by there's no way of
[32:34] looking at it without going down there
[32:36] and cutting a section out of the pipe.
[32:37] So, in cases of trying to assess what
[32:40] the condition of the pipe is. You have
[32:42] to do that. And I understand what you're
[32:44] saying that you said if it's some some
[32:46] of the pipe that are 70 years old, you
[32:47] just say it's automatically bad.
[32:50] » Yes.
[32:50] » You just automatically assume that it's
[32:53] bad. Well, with having a lot of pipe
[32:57] that of that age, you you still need to
[33:00] prioritize which is the worst and which
[33:01] one's the the better. So to do that is
[33:04] to to physically take a section of the
[33:06] pipe out in in my opinion.
[33:08] » Yeah. And
[33:10] all iron pipe is not the same.
[33:12] » Okay.
[33:13] » We have cast iron, we have ductal iron.
[33:16] Okay.
[33:16] » We have cement coated ductal iron. Okay.
[33:19] Um, and then PVC,
[33:23] » Okay,
[33:23] » Or HTTP or whatever. And so
[33:28] » The we have perfectly good cement coded
[33:33] ductal lion pipe,
[33:34] » Okay,
[33:35] » In the system. And we don't necessarily
[33:37] have good records going back 40, 50
[33:42] years. Mhm.
[33:43] » Now we do because now everything gets
[33:45] put into GIS, but historically we may
[33:49] know it's an iron pipe down there, but
[33:51] we don't know what type.
[33:54] » Okay.
[33:54] » So,
[33:56] » Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
[33:59] » And um
[34:03] the other top Well, that's a good
[34:05] explanation. And I think uh it was
[34:08] helpful for me because I didn't realize
[34:11] that we had three different types of
[34:13] iron pipe. Uh my point was what I was
[34:17] reading was that when these pipes get
[34:20] that old, it's probably better to
[34:22] replace. But I understand your position
[34:24] too, Robin, that uh we can't do it all
[34:26] at once. So you gave me a figure what it
[34:30] would cost to do it all, and it's
[34:31] absolutely pretty amazing. I I don't
[34:33] know. The figure we were talking about
[34:35] on the phone the other day was just a
[34:36] number that I reached up. I mean, again,
[34:38] ideally, if we could had millions and
[34:41] millions of dollars, we could go ahead
[34:42] and replace them all and
[34:44] » Be all set.
[34:45] » Hundreds of millions.
[34:47] » I have a question, please.
[34:49] » About that one.
[34:51] » Before you do that, um, Robin, would you
[34:54] also just comment on the amount of
[34:58] iron pipe versus PVC pipe? I don't I
[35:03] mean it's it's way way more and again
[35:05] now with the replacements we are
[35:07] replacing with HD Pipe or or PVC. So it
[35:11] it's still a still a a big difference in
[35:15] the the amount that we have for compared
[35:17] to the other. Okay.
[35:18] » Councilman Ritz.
[35:19] » All right. I'm sorry. Go ahead.
[35:20] » Thank you. Uh when you speak about the
[35:23] couponing and you speak about the
[35:26] different varieties and materials used
[35:28] for the pipes, uh are you speaking only
[35:31] about the distribution side of your
[35:34] system or are you also sampling the
[35:37] individual service laterals that run
[35:40] from the distribution pipe to the
[35:43] residents to the structure? We own to
[35:46] the curb stop and the individuals own to
[35:49] the uh from the curb stop to the house.
[35:52] Correct. Outside the house.
[35:53] » Right. But historically and my home is I
[35:57] offer up as an example 40-year-old home.
[36:00] Uh my curb stop is within 3 ft of the
[36:03] front wall of my house. So uh the
[36:07] lateral is in fact the the length of my
[36:11] lateral is is yours with the exception
[36:16] three feet and uh and if that's what is
[36:19] the if my experience if my home
[36:21] ownership experience is similar and
[36:24] replicated throughout the city what I'm
[36:26] suggesting or asking is is it not
[36:29] possible that laterals
[36:31] could be actually the responsibility of
[36:34] the BPW W.
[36:35] » Yeah. And this there's a couple of
[36:37] issues with that is that um in in cases
[36:42] there are laterals like yours that are
[36:45] further in. Uh mine happens to not be at
[36:48] the curb either. So
[36:49] » Speaking to your mic.
[36:50] » Oh, I'm sorry.
[36:52] » Just pull it closer.
[36:55] » I won't look at you.
[36:56] » Yeah. Um, so, um, my lateral is also not
[37:02] at the curb stop or the the curb stop
[37:04] isn't at this the street. Um, but once
[37:08] you start going in, you can't really
[37:10] sample lateral. When you open up the
[37:13] street, you can see what the pipe is,
[37:17] where it connects to the mains.
[37:20] But going in and trying to unearth the
[37:24] laterals, many people have established
[37:28] uh landscaping
[37:30] and that would mean that if that pipe is
[37:34] under landscaping
[37:36] um
[37:38] we would you know be disturbing
[37:40] landscaping. So it's it's kind of a you
[37:43] know a balancing act
[37:44] » Right but
[37:45] » I'm opening to any suggestions
[37:46] » Right and but I think what and I can
[37:49] appreciate the point the point you're
[37:51] making with respect to landscaping and
[37:54] the efforts that people make to beautify
[37:57] their properties but when we're talking
[37:59] about the health of our residents I kind
[38:03] of think that most people would reason
[38:05] that it's more important to actually get
[38:08] the samples of of that material
[38:12] regardless of where it's located so that
[38:14] we understand and they understand what
[38:17] the risk is.
[38:20] » So can I ask for both attorneys because
[38:22] we are on private property in this
[38:24] conversation and I just want the
[38:25] attorneys to say what happens there. I
[38:27] mean I I I hear the I hear the need the
[38:30] public health need but I also respect
[38:32] that uh private property is private
[38:35] property
[38:36] » And and thank you mayor that that's the
[38:37] point that I wanted to make. So the for
[38:40] simplicity sake in terms of offering an
[38:43] explanation the BPW says BPW owns to the
[38:45] curb or hand uh it's responsible up to
[38:48] the curb stop and then it's from there
[38:50] but at the end of the day the BPW system
[38:53] is in BPW easements. If there isn't an
[38:56] easement for the BPW lines then then
[39:00] they're private lines. Now, that's again
[39:03] because for the BPW to go onto the
[39:05] property and take samples or repair or
[39:08] do any of that, it would need permission
[39:09] and that's where the BPW gets uh that
[39:12] permission to an easement. So, the point
[39:14] is is that where there are these
[39:16] examples where the curb stop is
[39:18] different and where there's questions,
[39:19] then those should be brought to the
[39:21] attention of the BPW. we can look into
[39:22] it to confirm where the BPW uh system
[39:26] ends and where the private portion
[39:27] begins because I'm sure there are
[39:30] individual unique circumstances. But at
[39:33] the end of the day, if the BPW doesn't
[39:35] have an easement, it's not the BPW
[39:37] system.
[39:38] » So, I had one other question about the
[39:40] coupon testing. You gave a very good
[39:42] explanation about the iron pipe. Um, one
[39:46] of the things that I came across in my
[39:47] readings was that if there is um,
[39:51] galvanized iron pipe that it has to be
[39:54] treated differently, especially if there
[39:56] is upstream lead that when you have
[39:59] upstream lead, the lead washes down
[40:02] through and it actually adheres to the
[40:05] uh, decaying zinc and iron surface. And
[40:08] the um EPA has uh made a regulation that
[40:12] then it must be treated as though it is
[40:14] lead pipe. Is that true?
[40:17] » So Robin, I to the best of my knowledge,
[40:20] we have no zinc distribution pipe.
[40:23] » Okay.
[40:24] » Or galvanized.
[40:25] » No galvanized.
[40:26] » No. No. No galvanized main. So
[40:28] » Okay.
[40:29] » Now
[40:29] » That's good. But
[40:31] » What you bring up now is that houses
[40:34] built in the 1940s and 50s may have
[40:37] galvanized pipe inside them.
[40:40] » Right.
[40:41] » And
[40:43] » Yeah.
[40:43] » So
[40:44] » Then if you have upstream lead it to
[40:46] your mic.
[40:47] » So um when BPW and and we're on the
[40:51] topic of Burton subdivision, so let's be
[40:53] specific to Burton subdivision. So when
[40:56] we have in the plans that we're digging
[40:57] up those streets and you're putting in
[40:59] pipe,
[41:01] then will you I'm going to say correct
[41:04] any historical issue. In other words, if
[41:06] we have just what Councilman Richard's
[41:08] describing in his is it the intent in
[41:11] that project to say, "Oh, citizen X, you
[41:15] know, we do need an easement because we
[41:17] want to be responsible until you're
[41:20] responsible." So sometimes it's the
[41:22] curb. Uh, for mine it's on in the middle
[41:24] of the sidewalk. I mean, it's it's
[41:26] different everywhere. Historically,
[41:27] that's reflective. But how do we correct
[41:30] this going forward when we're spending
[41:32] and investing the money to get clean
[41:34] pipe and clean water to our citizens?
[41:36] » Maybe I'll I'll start by answering. I
[41:38] don't know if I have a full answer. Uh,
[41:40] what we what we do uh historically on
[41:42] any of these projects is when we get the
[41:44] plans and the plans indicate that there
[41:46] needs to be work done on private
[41:48] property, we check for an easement.
[41:50] there isn't an easement then we approach
[41:52] the property owner for easement. So
[41:54] that's typically how uh those situations
[41:56] are corrected. The first step is where
[41:59] do the plans take the the construction
[42:02] and then we build from there.
[42:03] » Okay. So in the case of Burton once
[42:06] those design plans are done and then you
[42:08] go through this easement process then in
[42:11] the future if BPW is checking something
[42:13] and they actually have to disrupt
[42:16] somebody's landscaping um do you because
[42:20] it's in the easement are you responsible
[42:21] for the repair?
[42:23] » So we typically address that in in our
[42:25] easements. Uh we typically our stand the
[42:27] BPWS the BPW standard easement u
[42:31] prohibits um um encroachments into the
[42:35] easement area if you are to having was
[42:38] there's been situations where there's
[42:39] existing landscaping and whatnot. The
[42:41] BPW has allowed that with an
[42:42] understanding that if it has to be
[42:44] removed the owner's responsible to
[42:46] replace them. That is the typical the
[42:48] standard policy.
[42:49] » Okay. But but if we're
[42:51] » We discover discover a service that's u
[42:55] subpar that we don't have the
[42:57] responsibility to replace it from the
[43:00] the the me from the u our where our
[43:07] where our curving yeah from the curb
[43:09] that's what I'm trying to say
[43:11] » Uh it's still their responsibility to
[43:14] replace that on their own from from the
[43:16] house to the to the curb stop if it is
[43:20] not a part of the BPW system, then it's
[43:22] not the BPW's maintenance result.
[43:24] » But but we don't typically go after
[43:25] easements to replace them. That's the
[43:27] point I'm trying to make.
[43:28] » Correct. If it's if it's a private line
[43:30] on a private uh system, the BPW wouldn't
[43:33] undertake that um unless it were part of
[43:36] the BPW.
[43:37] » I just wanted that to be clear.
[43:38] » Yeah. I'm I'm just what I'm just
[43:41] relating it to is this agenda item which
[43:43] is when you are putting replacing a main
[43:45] and laterals it's that point in time
[43:48] that if we have a situation as
[43:50] Councilman Ritzard said in his property
[43:52] but if you had that in Burton then would
[43:54] you have a conversation with each of
[43:56] those citizens you know oddly the
[43:58] lateral goes in your front yard or
[44:00] whatever it is I'm just wanting to
[44:01] correct the prop when we're spending all
[44:02] this money and getting clean water let's
[44:05] get the infrastructure right as well so
[44:08] that Just as as the solicitor said,
[44:11] you're only responsible up to a point,
[44:13] but that point is going to be a little
[44:14] more standardized.
[44:15] » Yeah. And and again, that's why I said
[44:17] I'll start the answer at the end of the
[44:19] day. There is the the plans are based on
[44:22] the BPW system. So that the engineered
[44:24] plans are going to be for the BPW
[44:26] system. And it's important to make sure
[44:29] that that work is done either in a right
[44:31] of way or easement for the BPW system.
[44:33] if it's not a part of the BPW system,
[44:36] then it's not going to be on the plans.
[44:38] Now, if we're looking if the engineer
[44:40] plans come back and they show the system
[44:42] extends in the private property, we
[44:43] don't have an easement. Well, then of
[44:45] course that that's where it would have
[44:46] to be remedied, but that is not
[44:48] necessarily going to say, oh, the BPW
[44:52] systems where it's supposed to be, but
[44:53] we've got this curb stop an anomaly.
[44:55] That that would be a different question.
[44:58] » Okay. So what I would say and I guess
[45:00] this falls on GMBB when you are in the
[45:04] robust design stage for the Burton
[45:06] subdivision for the one that right now
[45:08] is being discussed on park and forth.
[45:13] Not everybody can read blueprints and so
[45:15] I would encourage a public workshop
[45:18] where those citizens can actually look
[45:21] at their property line and understand. I
[45:24] mean just having on a website to me is
[45:26] not enough. I think it really has to be
[45:28] this is going to be a very active and
[45:30] interactive design stage and so I think
[45:33] that that would be something that would
[45:34] give better education so people can
[45:37] understand and you could draw on the
[45:39] line in a color this part is your pipe.
[45:42] So I think that going forward let's
[45:45] request and I'll just state for the
[45:47] record. Um my curb stop and meter were
[45:52] almost adjacent to the house and I had a
[45:56] 30 foot tall holly that was encroaching
[46:00] on the curb stop and excuse me on the
[46:04] meter pit and the line. I just had to
[46:08] have the Holly taken down,
[46:10] which was a big crime against humanity
[46:14] and it was on my cost to replace the
[46:18] lateral out to where the new curb stop
[46:20] was. So,
[46:22] » Okay. So, let's move on.
[46:24] » I have one followup question. Uh, I want
[46:27] to go back to what was described earlier
[46:30] as the flushing the automatic flushing
[46:32] program. U I know that program was also
[46:35] used over on Rodney and my question is
[46:39] is that community is Rodney still being
[46:42] flushed?
[46:44] » No, it's not longer since the U
[46:47] infrastructure has been completed and
[46:48] it's looped around through Y.
[46:50] » Yep. That loop is completed.
[46:51] » Yep. The loop is completed.
[46:53] » And in the Okay, then that's going to be
[46:55] get another question. And in the Burton
[46:58] subdivision, do we not have a loop
[47:00] system?
[47:01] » It's it's a loop system. Yes, it is.
[47:03] » And yet we still have a discoloration in
[47:06] the water and
[47:10] is that correct?
[47:11] » Yeah. There there's a single loop that
[47:13] goes through the school property and and
[47:15] it ends up the pipe ends up on Sussex
[47:17] Drive. The others are tied into the park
[47:21] and the Burton go into Johnson who and
[47:26] which end up turn into Dubai. So it is
[47:29] totally looped around. It's just how the
[47:31] flow of the water runs.
[47:33] » It's about um you know fluid dynamics
[47:36] because even though it's all looped, it
[47:39] doesn't mean that there's necessarily
[47:40] flow through every line. If people on
[47:45] Johnson aren't using water
[47:48] and people on park are, then the water's
[47:52] going through park. It it's it's very
[47:55] complex because it depends upon the
[47:56] pressure drops
[47:58] which also depends upon u interior pipe
[48:02] surface conditions.
[48:04] » So is there anything
[48:06] citizens can do when they know about the
[48:08] flushing schedule that gives a better
[48:12] I'm not using this technically correct
[48:14] but a better flushing a better
[48:15] true-to-life flushing. In other words,
[48:19] should they be running water during that
[48:20] time? like what's to get the best
[48:24] accurate results? What do citizens do?
[48:31] » It's it's recommended you don't during
[48:33] the flushing cycle, don't run your water
[48:36] because a lot of times if if it's
[48:38] stirred up from the flushing,
[48:40] » Right,
[48:40] » It's it's going to run in there. Don't
[48:42] while you're actively flushing the the
[48:44] preference would be not to use your
[48:46] water, right?
[48:46] » Not to use water at all.
[48:47] » Yeah. Not to use water.
[48:48] » Okay. And does your guidance does your
[48:50] guidance um so so does your guidance
[48:54] give them directions about we're going
[48:57] to be flushing at this time try to
[48:59] reduce your water use and then when
[49:01] you're finished flushing do they have an
[49:04] increase in in the iron and so then is
[49:08] there a post flushing protocol for
[49:11] citizens?
[49:12] » There is a potential of uh increased
[49:14] discoloration.
[49:15] » Okay. So, at that point, that's when we
[49:17] normally put in the notifications that
[49:19] you you may need to run your water for
[49:21] like 15 minutes and then to clear up.
[49:22] » And okay, I would I would like to add at
[49:25] this point that that discoloration is um
[49:28] mostly iron.
[49:31] » So, we call it discoloration, but it's
[49:33] primarily iron, I believe.
[49:36] » Yes. Um I I'm guessing that we're
[49:40] talking about two different types of
[49:41] flushing here.
[49:42] » Yeah. Thank you.
[49:44] And there's the once a month flushing
[49:46] where we all have problems if we're in
[49:49] the wrong place and we're running um our
[49:51] washing machines. You know, you just
[49:53] don't do that on Wednesdays. What is it,
[49:56] the second Wednesday of the month? You
[49:57] don't do it. Um and if you get the brown
[50:01] in your water, you run your your cold
[50:04] water for a long time. Don't run your
[50:06] hot water, you know, that sort of thing.
[50:08] But I think that Amy may have been
[50:11] asking about the flushing that occurs at
[50:14] the end of
[50:15] » The automatic flushing.
[50:16] » Yes, the automatic flush.
[50:18] » Thank you. Thank you for that. Yes, I
[50:20] was.
[50:21] » So during the automatic flushing,
[50:25] you know, the public isn't doesn't know
[50:27] what that schedule is and there's no
[50:32] and and I believe there's unless I'm
[50:34] wrong, there's there's no additional
[50:36] discoloration. And I think when that
[50:37] thing flushes because it comes on so
[50:39] often.
[50:40] » Yeah.
[50:40] » But but wouldn't that be wouldn't that
[50:45] water which is being flushed represent
[50:47] what is actually flowing through the
[50:49] pipes?
[50:51] » It that's the whole purpose of having it
[50:54] » Flush. It's what's sedimented onto the
[50:57] bottom of the pipes.
[50:57] » Okay. So it's it's circulating it.
[51:00] » Yeah.
[51:00] » Okay. Okay.
[51:01] » I do have one additional question.
[51:04] um you mentioned about the different
[51:07] types of types of pipe and if I recall
[51:11] maybe about a year ago there was a
[51:13] survey I'm not sure who the survey came
[51:15] from but I thought it was um BBW that
[51:18] said if you wanted to find out what type
[51:20] of pipe you had you could do that um
[51:23] what was the results of that because I
[51:25] think I filled out that survey and I
[51:27] never
[51:27] » Sharing
[51:29] » So that is part of the EPA's lead and
[51:32] copper rule Um when 2024 we had to
[51:35] submit our initial inventory which we
[51:38] did. Um and we now have three years to
[51:40] determine the rest of the unknowns in
[51:43] our system. And with this particular
[51:45] program we actually have to find out the
[51:47] utility side and the customer side. So
[51:50] that was the reason for sending out that
[51:51] survey hopeful that the customers would
[51:53] say, "Hey, we just replaced our pipes.
[51:55] We know what it is." We did not get an
[51:57] abundance of response. Um so we do we're
[52:00] on that path. were still trying to get
[52:02] that inventory collected. Um, you should
[52:04] have also received a another letter
[52:07] saying, did you receive one saying it
[52:09] was unknown what you had?
[52:12] » I believe so.
[52:13] » Yeah. Um, so you'll probably get that
[52:14] every year until we completely determine
[52:17] our inventory. And like I said, 2027 is
[52:20] and we're trying to shoot before that,
[52:21] but 2027 is the goals.
[52:23] » So if someone missed that survey, would
[52:25] they be able to? It's still in U.
[52:27] » Yep. We have a whole page on our
[52:29] website. Anybody can go to it.
[52:31] » Yeah. So, I would encourage everyone uh
[52:33] to save us cost, which saves your rates,
[52:37] and to expedite the process to respond
[52:40] to the surveys so we can check off which
[52:44] houses
[52:46] we have to go out and actually verify.
[52:49] » So, my one question I'm not sure was
[52:52] answered. It was in that uh larger
[52:54] question, but hopefully we can get to it
[52:57] at some point and that is can we read
[53:00] can we do the remainder of the Burton
[53:03] subdivision?
[53:04] » That's the next part of it. So, are we
[53:05] fine on the on the blushing one?
[53:08] » You have any other questions?
[53:10] » I do have questions, but I'll take them
[53:11] up um at another occasion.
[53:13] » You feel free to ask them.
[53:15] » Uh
[53:17] I am going to Okay. Thank you, mayor. Uh
[53:20] I am going to ask for greater clarity on
[53:23] the statement that uh Sharon just made
[53:25] with respect to the survey work that was
[53:28] done. Um you're if the if the survey is
[53:33] asking the homeowner to
[53:36] identify or declare what material
[53:40] there's service lateral
[53:41] » On the customer side.
[53:42] » That's correct. That's right. And the
[53:45] customer site means inside the structure
[53:47] or could it be on the house side of the
[53:50] meter pin? It
[53:50] » It could be either or. Um so the
[53:53] majority that we did receive most people
[53:55] that tell me they have a basement and
[53:57] they can see that pipe coming in. Um so
[54:00] that's the easiest way. Now most people
[54:01] are not going to crawl under a crawl
[54:03] space and tell me so. Um
[54:06] but we we're asking them, you know, if
[54:08] you see it, let us know. That way we can
[54:10] just check you off. Now it may still be
[54:12] unknown. So for you it may be known on
[54:14] our side what it is but we didn't know
[54:16] the customer side. So we still had to
[54:18] list it as known. If we don't know both
[54:20] sides it is considered an unknown
[54:23] that
[54:24] » Well to go with that question. Didn't
[54:27] they put all the water meters in
[54:30] the Burton subdivision? New meter pits
[54:33] and new meters. So electronic was
[54:36] connected to the other side.
[54:39] I thought that was done two or three
[54:41] years ago.
[54:43] » Not that I'm aware of.
[54:46] » Okay. So, just go ahead.
[54:48] » So, we we still do have some meters that
[54:51] are inside the house. We're trying to
[54:54] eliminate those.
[54:57] » Another Go ahead. No, Barbara Kyle.
[54:59] » Another point. Um,
[55:02] those of us who have crawl spaces and
[55:05] have had the crawl space um, sealed
[55:10] » Encapsulated,
[55:13] you can't really tell what your pipes
[55:15] are.
[55:15] » Mhm.
[55:16] » And so I think that may be a source of a
[55:18] lot of the unknowns.
[55:20] » Yep. And so we and we do um we still
[55:22] have quite a few out there that we don't
[55:23] know. Um, so the plan is to actually go
[55:26] out and do these inspections. And when
[55:28] we do that, we will probably be going
[55:30] out with the vac truck um looking at the
[55:32] meter so we can see both sides, our side
[55:35] and the customer's side.
[55:37] » So going back to um the question on the
[55:40] survey. So I also remember receiving the
[55:43] survey and I didn't know what I had. So
[55:45] I was in the unknown. And so the next
[55:47] time a plumber came to my house, I said,
[55:49] "By the way, can you check my pipe?" And
[55:51] he said, "You're fine." But I didn't
[55:53] know I then had the responsibility to
[55:54] let you know what I now know. And I'll
[55:56] bet I'm not alone in that. So I think
[55:59] perhaps there is that need for uh
[56:01] followup um because maybe we can get a
[56:04] percentage of this puzzle figured out
[56:06] from folks who were concerned but didn't
[56:09] but didn't know they had to report in
[56:11] » And as part of the program we have to
[56:12] send that letter out. So if you did not
[56:13] respond and we haven't determined it
[56:15] yet, you're going to get another letter.
[56:16] » Good be good to have
[56:17] » Sharon and somebody go and pick it up at
[56:21] the BPW
[56:22] um office. There's not really anything
[56:25] to pick up um
[56:27] » A survey
[56:28] » Uh it's it's not a manual. It's um
[56:30] online or they can just call me if you
[56:32] just call me and say, "Hey, I had a
[56:33] plumber out. I'm going to write it down.
[56:34] Write your number down and put it in the
[56:36] system."
[56:37] » Okay. Let's go on to then the second
[56:40] issue that was part of your question,
[56:41] which is the big issue about setting
[56:43] priorities for the entire subdivision.
[56:45] » Oh, right.
[56:46] » Okay. So uh let me start with this
[56:49] because
[56:51] when there's a priority list we all know
[56:54] it doesn't matter whether you're working
[56:55] I know I worked for years on super fund
[56:57] national priority list the priorities
[56:58] change when you look at different things
[57:00] happen however then you wonder well
[57:04] could there be we have to look at the
[57:06] citywide as an enterprise so let's say
[57:08] there are three neighborhoods that have
[57:10] a more serious environmental public
[57:12] health issue well then when when does
[57:14] Burton get done because you could be
[57:16] lower and lower and that seems like
[57:18] perhaps what's being done when none of
[57:21] us were sitting here and maybe none of
[57:22] you were in the audience. So I think the
[57:24] challenge we face is getting this
[57:27] subdivision finished. Now the part the
[57:30] city could do is we set our CIP plan
[57:34] this year a multi-year plan and we did
[57:36] it based on pavement condition index. We
[57:39] went to GMBB and said we don't want to
[57:41] choose one neighborhood over another. We
[57:43] wanted to be engineering science-based
[57:45] and they they gave us a formula to use
[57:47] and that's what our priorities are. So
[57:50] we have a list of priorities. You have a
[57:52] list of priorities. What we could
[57:54] certainly do is a joint meeting. I don't
[57:56] mean this. I mean a working roll up our
[57:58] sleeves meeting where we say, "Oh, these
[58:01] two streets
[58:03] are important to deal with pavement, but
[58:06] they're not having any underground water
[58:10] issues, water quality. So why don't we
[58:12] lower them? Again, I'm not mentioning
[58:14] any street names. Um but but you can
[58:16] imagine what I'm saying is we could
[58:18] repprioritize because ours was not based
[58:21] on public health. Ours was based on
[58:24] above ground pavement condition. So So
[58:28] we can do that. So we can sit to you and
[58:30] then we can say we need Burton
[58:32] subdivision done. So, we're gonna we're
[58:35] gonna ask you to not work on these
[58:38] whatever x number of streets so we can
[58:40] get this one in the queue. Okay? And
[58:42] that will probably aggravate another
[58:43] neighborhood. I I understand that. But
[58:45] public health is critical. Okay? It's
[58:48] critical. And so we can we can change
[58:51] our priorities so that this
[58:53] » Well, that brings to mind another
[58:55] question and that is um how will we know
[58:59] if the BPW has the funds to be able to
[59:02] do that? Just because we can doesn't
[59:05] mean that they'll be able to.
[59:06] » Well, I'll let Tom answer how the on the
[59:08] funds, but every year I see no reason
[59:12] why we would not be applying for the SRF
[59:15] for the my life tenure as mayor of
[59:17] Lewis. It's a fund that exists for all
[59:21] the kinds of things we're talking about
[59:22] and you and one should apply every
[59:24] single year for that. So that's one
[59:26] tool. Now there are other there are
[59:28] other grants out there for different
[59:30] contaminants but that's kind of the
[59:32] general one. So we would turn to you all
[59:35] and say okay every year let's what are
[59:37] the priorities public comments have to
[59:38] wait till the end. I'm so sorry and I
[59:40] know that's frustrating but please keep
[59:42] your thought. Okay. All right. So
[59:47] a lot to digest. First of all, on the
[59:49] SRF funds,
[59:52] we go after SRF funds on a regular
[59:54] basis.
[59:56] However,
[59:57] however,
[59:59] um
[1:00:01] what all SRF money is not equal. you
[1:00:05] know, the there are you can get bumped
[1:00:08] up the SRF list uh or your application
[1:00:11] can get bumped up if it's a public
[1:00:14] health issue. If it's just replacing
[1:00:17] pipes for the sake of they're old, it's
[1:00:20] not which is why the sampling and the
[1:00:22] coupons are important to help back up
[1:00:26] the SRF applications.
[1:00:29] So, um
[1:00:30] » I agree. Absolutely. That's a priority
[1:00:32] that all offices of drinking water
[1:00:34] across the nation use. Everything's even
[1:00:37] and then you tell them the worst story.
[1:00:40] Okay. Absolutely.
[1:00:41] » And so, um, that's how we got the
[1:00:43] additional funds for the Burton
[1:00:45] subdivision project last time. You know,
[1:00:49] we got an amendment to our existing SRF
[1:00:52] which allowed us to do more. Um
[1:00:57] the next point
[1:00:58] » Well the next point is why not a joint
[1:01:00] meeting working meeting with GMBB where
[1:01:03] we look at your strategic plan our CIP
[1:01:06] and we see what we can reallocate from
[1:01:10] the city's side to get this subdivision
[1:01:12] taken care of.
[1:01:13] » And I don't think we did that last year
[1:01:14] but that was actually how the original
[1:01:16] list was developed.
[1:01:17] » Okay. We put together our 10-year list
[1:01:22] based upon uh sewer, water, electric,
[1:01:26] whatever, and then the city put together
[1:01:28] its list and we tried to meld them
[1:01:31] together.
[1:01:32] » Would we be able to modify this list at
[1:01:35] our next meeting?
[1:01:37] » Well, we would my recognition is we work
[1:01:40] before the next meeting and then at the
[1:01:42] next meeting because there's a cycle
[1:01:43] with SRF. You got to you got to get into
[1:01:46] the queue. So by October, we should have
[1:01:49] had that joint work. I'm going to call
[1:01:51] it a working session. It can be in front
[1:01:52] of the public. That's fine. But it's not
[1:01:55] this. It's not a report out. It's roll
[1:01:57] up your sleeves and GMBB would be
[1:02:00] sitting at the table with us and we'd
[1:02:02] say, "What about this street?" And then
[1:02:04] you'd tell us the pavement condition and
[1:02:05] we'd say, "What about this?" And we'd
[1:02:07] work it around so that we can
[1:02:10] » The word guarantee is too strong a word,
[1:02:12] but we can meet the commitment of this
[1:02:14] subdivision. Um that would be October
[1:02:17] 8th
[1:02:18] » That as that next meeting be
[1:02:20] » It's the quarterly meeting in October
[1:02:22] the 28th.
[1:02:24] » What goes along with that though is also
[1:02:27] u and now this is not a public health
[1:02:29] issue but it's the design of the street
[1:02:32] and the tree canopy. So, the city's tree
[1:02:34] commissioner also wants to be part of
[1:02:36] that working session because presumably
[1:02:40] you're going to have to take down some
[1:02:43] of the trees on fourth and that's going
[1:02:46] to be alarming um because there are some
[1:02:48] beautiful trees there. But in the design
[1:02:51] stage,
[1:02:53] maybe we could come out with bumpouts
[1:02:55] and other things that are more
[1:02:56] hospitable to trees. We squish trees
[1:02:59] into this, what do they call it? The
[1:03:00] devils. is a terrible name, but now I'm
[1:03:02] starting to believe it.
[1:03:04] » Yeah. In that in that the verge. And so
[1:03:07] we could do some trafficcomming features
[1:03:09] because fourth gets a little busy and we
[1:03:12] could do bumpouts which would be more
[1:03:14] hospitable to trees, but it's at the
[1:03:16] design stage all of those topics need to
[1:03:18] come in because afterwards um they're
[1:03:21] too costly. So that's what I would I'd
[1:03:23] commit on behalf of the all of us that
[1:03:26] we would like to do a working session
[1:03:28] with all of you
[1:03:29] » And GMBB actively at the table.
[1:03:32] » I think we want to take one last review,
[1:03:34] but our capital plan is pretty much up
[1:03:37] to date.
[1:03:39] » Well, up to date doesn't mean the Burton
[1:03:42] subdivision. I mean, I know they're on
[1:03:44] your plan
[1:03:45] » And they're on your plan in
[1:03:47] » 27
[1:03:47] » 27 28
[1:03:48] » 27 and 28. We're talking about
[1:03:50] coordination. We're talking about
[1:03:51] coordination between the two so that in
[1:03:54] this next SRF application we can put the
[1:03:58] Burton subdivision in and then you know
[1:04:00] the government takes its time the
[1:04:02] federal and state government takes all
[1:04:04] time.
[1:04:05] » May I ask a question please? Um, I think
[1:04:09] it's wonderful that we, the city, the
[1:04:12] BPW,
[1:04:14] uh, pursues grant money for funding
[1:04:18] these large capital projects.
[1:04:21] What concerns me is that the
[1:04:24] availability of grant money is in fact
[1:04:27] possibly
[1:04:29] holding up
[1:04:31] projects from moving forward.
[1:04:34] And so my question about this particular
[1:04:38] issue as it relates to safe water is
[1:04:44] we all pay wa rates water rates we pay
[1:04:48] sewer rates.
[1:04:50] If we are not if you're not building a
[1:04:53] war chest to be able to draw upon to
[1:04:57] offset these capital
[1:05:00] expenses which are really well they're
[1:05:02] capital but they're really more or less
[1:05:04] maintenance in the form of replacement
[1:05:06] then
[1:05:08] is the problem with the rate structure
[1:05:11] what I don't understand why so much of
[1:05:14] your your decision- making is being
[1:05:16] based upon SRF funds for me This is very
[1:05:20] similar to the city's dependency on
[1:05:23] transfer taxes for our annual budget.
[1:05:26] You know, it's it's nice that it's out
[1:05:28] there. It's nice to draw upon, but it's
[1:05:31] a pretty slippery slope to
[1:05:34] develop actionable plans.
[1:05:36] » Well, I'm going to let uh because we
[1:05:39] don't have Kim here. I'm gonna let
[1:05:40] Sharon talk in a second, but um
[1:05:43] » Is your treasurer here?
[1:05:45] » No, that's what I said. Kimberly is not
[1:05:48] here. Um as well.
[1:05:50] » What's that?
[1:05:51] » Richard.
[1:05:52] » Richard's treasure. Kim is the staff
[1:05:54] financing.
[1:05:55] » Um,
[1:05:58] we do set our rates based upon u well
[1:06:02] the impact fees based upon u growth of
[1:06:06] the system and the rates are to cover
[1:06:09] and the readiness to serve is to cover
[1:06:12] the infrastructure and the commodity
[1:06:14] cost. So, we do, but we're also mindful
[1:06:19] of uh keeping rates reasonable because
[1:06:23] if we once again, I'm going to throw a
[1:06:26] number out there and I don't I don't
[1:06:28] have any validity for it, but to replace
[1:06:30] all of the pipes in the system is
[1:06:32] probably hundreds of millions of
[1:06:34] dollars.
[1:06:37] » I I would say probably in the range.
[1:06:39] Yeah.
[1:06:39] » Yeah. So, you know, to jack up,
[1:06:44] let me rephrase that, to increase the
[1:06:46] rates to cover a hundred million dollar
[1:06:49] expenditure and we still couldn't do it
[1:06:51] all in a time, you know, in a short
[1:06:54] time. We have to be concerned about
[1:06:56] traffic flow and the such. So, that is
[1:07:00] all part of our capital project
[1:07:02] expenditures. So, Sharon, if you want to
[1:07:06] add anything or correct me.
[1:07:08] » Is definitely the better person to talk
[1:07:09] about this. Um, but the the capital
[1:07:13] budget is actually taken in effect. The
[1:07:15] last time we had a rate study done and
[1:07:17] at that time I think we had 42 million.
[1:07:20] So, they used that to help base the
[1:07:22] rates.
[1:07:24] » 42 million
[1:07:25] » At that time
[1:07:25] » In reserves.
[1:07:27] » No, no, no. That is projects that we had
[1:07:29] in the capital.
[1:07:30] » That's the backlog.
[1:07:31] » Yeah. Yeah. And it is now more. and our
[1:07:34] but to to Tim's point our reserves are
[1:07:39] » I don't know off the top of my head I'm
[1:07:40] sorry
[1:07:41] » Yeah I don't have the spreadsheets with
[1:07:42] me okay
[1:07:43] » To reme from memory the list of capital
[1:07:47] projects is about $48 million the funded
[1:07:51] part is about 18
[1:07:54] » Use microphone
[1:07:56] » The funded the identified projects
[1:08:00] currently is about $48 million that does
[1:08:03] not include all replacing all the pipes
[1:08:05] and it doesn't include a bunch of other
[1:08:07] stuff. Tom's number of hundred is
[1:08:10] probably right.
[1:08:11] » Bob, is that just on the water side?
[1:08:13] That's one of the things.
[1:08:14] » No, that's just
[1:08:16] » For the whole BPW.
[1:08:18] » Water solar.
[1:08:19] » No, the $und00 million is just the water
[1:08:22] side.
[1:08:23] » Okay. Well, that
[1:08:24] » 100 200. I mean, you're talking big
[1:08:27] money.
[1:08:28] » Well, I was always curious. Okay. But
[1:08:30] let me finish my whole sentence. So you
[1:08:34] funded identified is about 18 and that's
[1:08:38] everything water storm water electricity
[1:08:40] all that. So there's $30 million there.
[1:08:44] Tom's number is right
[1:08:47] is more than 100.
[1:08:49] So you're in very much in a priorities
[1:08:52] game.
[1:08:53] So,
[1:08:54] » And you know, we have used the
[1:09:00] uh revolving funds,
[1:09:02] » Right,
[1:09:03] » And loans to accomplish many things like
[1:09:08] Donovan Smith and you know the um
[1:09:14] uh pipe underneath the canal last year
[1:09:16] and you know those kinds of things. So,
[1:09:19] it's it's a key part of what we can
[1:09:23] apply for now.
[1:09:25] » And not not to throw um a water balloon
[1:09:29] on this, but this is all dependent upon
[1:09:34] the funding that's going to be coming
[1:09:36] down in the future. And none of us none
[1:09:39] of us have any control over that.
[1:09:41] » No, we we don't have control over it. So
[1:09:43] there is thank goodness some continuity
[1:09:46] in this White House as there has been
[1:09:48] for decades that drinking water is still
[1:09:52] a high priority. And so because drinking
[1:09:55] water is a high priority, the SRF grant
[1:09:58] for water and wastewater is kind of the
[1:10:01] golden grant that communities go after.
[1:10:05] So Tim, what I would say is you go after
[1:10:08] it every year. I would I would share the
[1:10:11] view of our partners at BPW. you go
[1:10:13] after it every year and you're hopeful
[1:10:15] that you get all or part and you're
[1:10:17] going to get most of it as a as a
[1:10:19] lowinterest loan with a 20 plus year
[1:10:21] payback. It's about the best
[1:10:23] environmental money that's out there.
[1:10:25] Then where they're gaps, you look into
[1:10:27] your own reserves, but you always you're
[1:10:31] always going to look for lowcost grant
[1:10:33] money over over operating funds. So,
[1:10:37] what I what I think we've got to do at
[1:10:39] this working meeting is make the
[1:10:41] commitment that we got to get this
[1:10:42] Burton subdivision, the whole of it
[1:10:44] done. And this goes back to Tom's
[1:10:47] comment about getting the public record.
[1:10:50] Uh that's part of the grant application.
[1:10:53] It's the scientific protocols, it's the
[1:10:54] data protocols, it's the public
[1:10:56] interest, it's the city support. All of
[1:10:59] that is the story. Um and I've in
[1:11:03] previous lives have written a lot of
[1:11:04] these grants. It's the story that ups
[1:11:07] you. So the city's saying, should we say
[1:11:10] that the Burton subdivision is one of
[1:11:12] our highest priorities, the office of
[1:11:14] drinking water will hear that because
[1:11:17] they'll know that both bodies are
[1:11:19] agreeing. What the what the the feds and
[1:11:21] the state, they don't want that we're
[1:11:23] divided. So the joint effort will really
[1:11:27] sorry expression carry the water, but it
[1:11:29] will in the grant process. Okay. So
[1:11:31] that's what I think we should commit to.
[1:11:33] And that means we're going to have to we
[1:11:35] don't have endless funds either. And so
[1:11:38] we have a 10-year plan for the street.
[1:11:41] And so maybe that's a 15-year plan now
[1:11:44] if this one becomes a priority. But I
[1:11:46] think we have to look at what are our
[1:11:48] priorities public health and also you
[1:11:50] know cran
[1:11:54] subdivision is in competition with other
[1:11:57] parts is if we have streets that are
[1:11:59] dangerous, sidewalks that are dangerous,
[1:12:01] that's public safety. But public health
[1:12:05] is higher and then public safety sitting
[1:12:08] as its sister very very close. So that's
[1:12:10] that's to me what I think we should do.
[1:12:12] I think we roll up our sleeves. We have
[1:12:13] GMBB there. Public's invited to listen
[1:12:16] in and we work we work out a joint plan
[1:12:18] for the joint projects. DPW has their
[1:12:21] own strategy and they should that's
[1:12:22] their business. But it's in the joint
[1:12:24] efforts that we have have shared vision
[1:12:26] and shared commitment.
[1:12:29] » All right.
[1:12:31] Um just the last couple of things and we
[1:12:35] can move on to the next. Um so we're
[1:12:39] going to continue to monitor discolored
[1:12:41] water. We're going to take the sample
[1:12:43] this week uh samples this week and we're
[1:12:47] going to continue to privatize
[1:12:49] prioritize our waterline replacement
[1:12:52] program based upon objective data for
[1:12:56] the entire
[1:12:58] BPW territory.
[1:13:00] Um,
[1:13:02] and as we covered before, you know, if
[1:13:05] you're experiencing discolored water and
[1:13:09] we encourage you to run the water for 5
[1:13:11] to 10 minutes, if it's still not clear
[1:13:15] and it's a change from prior, please
[1:13:18] call the BPW so we can build up the
[1:13:21] data, which as Amy has pointed out very
[1:13:25] helps support our grant applications.
[1:13:28] Um,
[1:13:29] » And so Sharon, whoever is in this, glad
[1:13:32] you're getting a robust call center. Um,
[1:13:35] they're going to need to document the
[1:13:37] time of day that, you know, there that
[1:13:39] data can't just be 22 people call. It's
[1:13:42] going to have to have an audit trail
[1:13:44] behind it so we can use it in the grant
[1:13:46] application.
[1:13:46] » Y and that call center's got to be
[1:13:48] available for these kinds of calls about
[1:13:51] discoloration, not just outages.
[1:13:53] » Correct. Correct.
[1:13:54] » That's always Yeah,
[1:13:56] » They're always available. Right. That's
[1:13:58] a call center for everything, electric,
[1:14:00] water, sewer.
[1:14:01] » May I make a suggestion? Um, it was said
[1:14:05] earlier that this is a a daily constant
[1:14:08] situation in the development. That's why
[1:14:10] they don't call in. Uh, because they
[1:14:14] don't want to bother anyone, but it's a
[1:14:15] constant situation.
[1:14:18] Is there any way that you could come up
[1:14:19] with a standardized checklist to give
[1:14:22] all the folks in your area that's
[1:14:24] uniform that they can check every day
[1:14:26] that they have cloudiness or
[1:14:28] discoloration in their water and submit
[1:14:30] it to the BPW at the end of the month?
[1:14:34] Would that be something that would be
[1:14:35] helpful in applying for these joint
[1:14:37] funds to show that there's a need?
[1:14:40] » I don't think supplying it on a monthly
[1:14:42] basis because it doesn't give us the
[1:14:44] timeliness of being able to go out.
[1:14:47] » Okay. Yeah.
[1:14:48] » And I think the state could say it's
[1:14:51] manipulated. It's better that you call
[1:14:54] in and you just got the offer to call
[1:14:56] in. So when it changes. So I I hear what
[1:14:59] you're trying to say because that sounds
[1:15:00] more efficient.
[1:15:01] » Yeah.
[1:15:02] » But the office of drinking water isn't
[1:15:03] going to care about efficiency. They're
[1:15:05] going to care about customer demand. And
[1:15:08] then there could be something that could
[1:15:09] actually uh BW needs to respond to.
[1:15:12] Okay. So that's why you don't want to
[1:15:13] have it a delay.
[1:15:14] » Yeah. I'm not I'm gonna ask one last
[1:15:16] question about this subject and that's a
[1:15:18] promise uh at this time is the last
[1:15:21] question I'm gonna ask and that is if uh
[1:15:26] a customer uh calls in and reports
[1:15:31] what is what what is that trigger within
[1:15:34] the BPW organization
[1:15:37] that uh do you do you send someone to
[1:15:40] the field to verify or do you just
[1:15:43] simply tabulate.
[1:15:45] » I'm going to let Robin and Shar the
[1:15:47] trigger.
[1:15:47] » I'm going to let Robin and Sharon answer
[1:15:49] that.
[1:15:52] » Well, it's it's going to trigger that we
[1:15:54] can track it. So, if it's the same house
[1:15:56] always having the same issues or if um
[1:15:59] three people side by side are having
[1:16:01] these issues, but the people across the
[1:16:02] street never call, we're we're thinking
[1:16:03] that it's isolated. And if that's the
[1:16:05] case, we may go out there and take a
[1:16:07] look. Um and and with this case, if it's
[1:16:11] happening every day, we probably will
[1:16:12] not respond every day. But in other
[1:16:14] areas, we have one guy we have, he'll
[1:16:16] call, but it happens maybe once every
[1:16:19] other month, one time, but if he calls
[1:16:21] at that moment, we know we need to go
[1:16:22] out there and we could take a look at
[1:16:24] the water meter and look and see if it's
[1:16:26] there or it might be something in his
[1:16:28] pipes in his house. So, but with this
[1:16:30] one, I don't think it's going to be us
[1:16:32] going out there every day. However, like
[1:16:34] I said, if we get a group in just one
[1:16:36] isolated area, we might say, "Okay,
[1:16:39] maybe something's happening in this
[1:16:40] specific area and we might want to go
[1:16:41] out there and take a look."
[1:16:43] » Very well said. Thank you.
[1:16:45] » So, we've been discussing three and four
[1:16:48] together. U
[1:16:50] » Yeah,
[1:16:51] » Which makes sense. It's the funding
[1:16:52] mechanism for what we're doing in three.
[1:16:54] I I think we also if Robin and Elarine,
[1:16:57] some of the public may not know that you
[1:16:59] have a routine meeting. if you could
[1:17:01] just go both of you comment on that that
[1:17:04] we are having a a water task force
[1:17:06] meeting.
[1:17:07] » Yes, we do have uh monthly meetings with
[1:17:10] the Burton subdivision water task force
[1:17:12] group. It does include city, myself and
[1:17:15] Janet as well as the BPW and GMD. And so
[1:17:18] we are tracking and looking for ways to
[1:17:21] uh speed up the completion at least of
[1:17:23] the Fourth Street and Park Avenue to
[1:17:25] Johnson project.
[1:17:28] » Uh would you do me a favor? Would you
[1:17:30] define the Burton subdivision? Uh, I was
[1:17:32] asked when I went back, what exactly is
[1:17:34] the Burton subdivision? Some of the
[1:17:36] folks here don't they're here for
[1:17:38] another reason other than Burton.
[1:17:40] » Okay.
[1:17:42] Yeah. Go ahead.
[1:17:46] » So, we consider the Burton subdivision
[1:17:48] to be Park Avenue, Johnson, Dupant, Aer,
[1:17:52] and then Burton,
[1:17:53] » Right?
[1:17:55] » With the extension on to fourth.
[1:17:58] » Yes. Yes. Onto the fourth.
[1:18:00] » Okay.
[1:18:01] » And that's our same definition.
[1:18:03] » It's apparently it's one of the oldest
[1:18:05] developments in the city.
[1:18:08] » It's my understanding. Uh the age of
[1:18:10] that pipe.
[1:18:12] » That's right.
[1:18:14] » Okay.
[1:18:14] » Does anyone know I I'm going back in my
[1:18:17] word. I have one more question.
[1:18:18] » I know it. You know, you had a whole
[1:18:20] audience that was there. We can't take
[1:18:22] questions now. I'm so sorry.
[1:18:27] » Right. All right. Real quickly, uh when
[1:18:30] the city went about doing uh the
[1:18:33] redevelopment of Second Street, uh were
[1:18:36] the water pipes, the sewer pipes
[1:18:39] replaced on that street?
[1:18:43] Press?
[1:18:44] » That's even before my time. I I I
[1:18:46] believe they were, but I I couldn't
[1:18:48] swear to it.
[1:18:50] » Yeah, that's it was before my time also,
[1:18:53] but I'm I'm pretty sure that was the
[1:18:56] case. the whole street was ripped up and
[1:18:59] » Things were put underground.
[1:18:59] » The electric was put underground and the
[1:19:02] water and sewer.
[1:19:02] » So, I would assume that everything was
[1:19:04] replaced at that at that point.
[1:19:07] » We we can verify that.
[1:19:08] » Okay, that would be helpful.
[1:19:10] » All right. So, this was a critical part
[1:19:13] of our agenda, but I do want to keep
[1:19:15] » Andrew's nodding in the affirmative.
[1:19:17] » They were okay.
[1:19:19] » Yeah.
[1:19:19] » The city engineer is not public. So, if
[1:19:22] you have a statement you need to make,
[1:19:24] you're fine. You're you're actually you
[1:19:25] should be sitting at this table actually
[1:19:27] in the future. Next time sit up here Ben
[1:19:29] and
[1:19:30] » So we have the public
[1:19:31] » Andrew and Ben some GMBB here.
[1:19:35] » Um let's go back on the state revolving
[1:19:38] fund which is item four on the agenda
[1:19:40] and that is not just to the Burton
[1:19:42] subdivision. Um I haven't been mayor
[1:19:45] while you've all set this up. I was on
[1:19:47] council, but I would like to better
[1:19:51] understand the timing and the process se
[1:19:55] in addition to the Burton subdivision
[1:19:57] because when you're applying for
[1:20:00] big grant funding, we want to make sure
[1:20:01] it's in concert, it's your priorities
[1:20:04] technically and it's also our priorities
[1:20:06] for the public. So, what is the process
[1:20:08] that the city and BPW have used in the
[1:20:10] past to decide and discuss what the
[1:20:13] different options are?
[1:20:18] Well, I think overall what we what we've
[1:20:20] been doing been doing recently in the
[1:20:22] past years or so is we've been getting
[1:20:24] together. Um these quarterly meetings do
[1:20:27] help discussing, you know, our projects
[1:20:31] and the city projects and trying to come
[1:20:33] up with a solution to make sure one of
[1:20:36] us is not doing something over the
[1:20:37] other. Um I think that's worked well. I
[1:20:40] think in the past years, even before my
[1:20:43] time, um it was kind of a here's our
[1:20:46] plan, here's your plan, and we just kind
[1:20:48] of I don't say winged it, but that was
[1:20:50] about it. But now I think we kind of
[1:20:52] work together and now these meetings
[1:20:54] have really helped out a lot. So we can
[1:20:56] combine and say, look, this is our
[1:20:58] priority. This is the BPW priority. How
[1:21:01] can these work together? Somebody might
[1:21:03] have to shuffle
[1:21:05] an item lower or move it up higher on
[1:21:07] the list. So I think overall I think
[1:21:10] that's really helped out. So we're not
[1:21:13] looking at these things independently.
[1:21:15] » And I would add to that is in the last
[1:21:19] year we've been working more
[1:21:21] cooperatively on things like the Burton
[1:21:23] subdivision. We added an extra million
[1:21:27] dollars to the SRF loan as an addendum
[1:21:31] to help to for the city to pay the
[1:21:33] streets
[1:21:34] » Because you didn't have the finances to
[1:21:36] be able to do that. And you know,
[1:21:39] anywhere we can do that to piggyback
[1:21:42] because we're the only ones who can
[1:21:44] apply for SRF funding.
[1:21:46] » Right. Okay. So, what we're committing
[1:21:48] to do is a working meeting with GMBB
[1:21:51] before our next quarterly meeting where
[1:21:53] we're really looking at the Burton
[1:21:55] subdivision. And then when is your
[1:21:58] application due for SRF?
[1:22:00] » Normally, the SRF applications are due
[1:22:02] in February.
[1:22:03] » In February,
[1:22:04] » You got to get the paperwork together
[1:22:05] beforehand, but normally February is the
[1:22:07] is the submission date.
[1:22:08] » Okay. So, it could be in that working
[1:22:11] group. We could do two of those things
[1:22:13] or or we have to have another special
[1:22:15] session where we're looking at what
[1:22:18] parties you have in ours so that they
[1:22:19] mesh. Okay. Um All right. Given time and
[1:22:22] we want to leave a lot of time for the
[1:22:24] public.
[1:22:25] » Uh let's move on because I think some of
[1:22:26] these others are a little bit shorter.
[1:22:29] Number five is update and discussion on
[1:22:31] dark sky friendly lighting which is an
[1:22:33] effort uh joint and it's led by
[1:22:36] Councilman Ritzert and the citizen lead
[1:22:38] is Mary Linda Maddie. So, Councilman
[1:22:41] Ritzard, any update? And and this is
[1:22:44] just beginning. So, even if your update
[1:22:46] is there's no update, that's okay. We
[1:22:47] just want to know that it's moving.
[1:22:49] » He's gonna shine some light.
[1:22:52] » Very good, Joe.
[1:22:54] Uh I will take 45 seconds or less if you
[1:22:56] want to set the clock. Uh yes, I have
[1:22:59] met with Maryland and Maddie uh several
[1:23:02] times and we have begun to sketch out
[1:23:05] what we think is just the beginning uh
[1:23:10] formation of what the study will
[1:23:12] encompass. Uh we have taken identified
[1:23:16] some streets in the city that we have
[1:23:19] actually gone out into the field and
[1:23:20] surveyed at nighttime to uh to see if in
[1:23:24] fact they would be candidates for the
[1:23:25] pilot program. This study is heavily
[1:23:29] relying upon a pilot program where we
[1:23:33] would the goal would be that we would
[1:23:34] actually uh test uh the installation
[1:23:38] test by installing uh samples of dark
[1:23:43] sky friendly light fixtures. And uh and
[1:23:47] this is going to require us to uh we've
[1:23:50] identified this early on in the
[1:23:52] discussion that we will need to capture
[1:23:54] the current data points with respect to
[1:23:56] what the current lighting light level is
[1:23:58] on streets in areas and then also uh
[1:24:03] during the summer season with with
[1:24:05] leaves on trees and then capture it
[1:24:08] again in the winter time. So that we you
[1:24:12] know we have that kind of data points
[1:24:14] » And and you are going to be in relying
[1:24:17] or working with BPWs.
[1:24:19] » Oh yes. Oh yeah. It's just been too
[1:24:22] premature in our discussions to actually
[1:24:25] take their time their bandwidth in these
[1:24:27] discussions at this point in time. And
[1:24:30] uh yes we will be doing that.
[1:24:32] » Okay that sounds good. And then for the
[1:24:34] public to know at at the city's
[1:24:36] September workshop, we are going to be
[1:24:38] looking uh at each of these small
[1:24:40] projects, the fountain, the dark
[1:24:43] skylighting that I mean, not to say
[1:24:44] they're they're small, but we're going
[1:24:47] to get an update on all of the projects,
[1:24:48] block house pond, um all the different
[1:24:50] ones, mobility parking that we have
[1:24:53] initiated.
[1:24:55] Did you have anything else on your side
[1:24:56] on Dark Side?
[1:24:59] » No.
[1:24:59] » No.
[1:25:00] » Okay.
[1:25:00] » I just note that this is an endeavor
[1:25:03] that's going on across the country and
[1:25:06] there are several cities uh that have
[1:25:09] got programs in place and especially out
[1:25:12] west. Uh but uh Pittsburgh has got a
[1:25:15] very good program underway right now.
[1:25:18] » Yeah, they do.
[1:25:19] » Yeah.
[1:25:19] » So, we're not alone on this. There's
[1:25:21] lots of expertise out there that we can
[1:25:24] piggyback off of.
[1:25:25] » Right. Okay. Let's move on to number
[1:25:27] six. Um and Tom, this is you. An update
[1:25:30] on the wastewater treatment. So plan
[1:25:33] » Don't have a lot of update right now. Um
[1:25:36] we're still continuing to talk with the
[1:25:38] county um to develop u the baseline
[1:25:42] agreement. Uh once we get that finalized
[1:25:46] with the county or not finalized once we
[1:25:49] get a draft
[1:25:51] from the count with the county we will
[1:25:54] be scheduling uh a public workshop. I
[1:25:57] know I had promised it in the middle of
[1:26:00] July, but you know, we're 95% done.
[1:26:06] We're 99% done and the last 1% is taking
[1:26:10] equal amount of time. So, it's, you
[1:26:13] know, typical negotiations. Um I I see a
[1:26:17] light at the end of the tunnel and uh we
[1:26:20] will making more uh announcements about
[1:26:23] this and we will hold a public workshop
[1:26:26] and we will distribute the agreement
[1:26:29] prior to the workshop. So that's about
[1:26:33] all I had.
[1:26:34] » Okay.
[1:26:36] » All right. Let's move on to item seven.
[1:26:38] GMBB. You're making a presentation to
[1:26:41] this joint group I believe.
[1:26:57] Let the record show that press Lee is
[1:26:59] leaving us right now.
[1:27:03] Everyone say goodbye press.
[1:27:05] Bye.
[1:27:10] [Music]
[1:27:14] All right, good afternoon everybody. Um,
[1:27:16] so we wanted to give a brief update on
[1:27:18] the joint projects that the city and the
[1:27:20] board are currently working on as well
[1:27:22] as looking towards in a little bit of
[1:27:24] the future. First one being Fourth
[1:27:27] Street and Park Avenue project. Um,
[1:27:30] » Ben, please talk to them.
[1:27:32] » Okay, sorry. Apologies. Um, first one is
[1:27:35] the Fourth Street and Park Avenue
[1:27:36] project. Um so far uh well I guess just
[1:27:40] kind of high level you know at that at
[1:27:43] this point we are looking to replace
[1:27:45] water main water services hydrants and
[1:27:49] valves as well as replace rehab sewer
[1:27:51] mains storm water mains laterals inlets
[1:27:55] and then on the city side um we're
[1:27:59] looking at a full reconstruction of both
[1:28:02] streets with options of select por
[1:28:04] pavement um based on infiltration
[1:28:07] testing results that you know need to be
[1:28:09] done. Um, additional improvements
[1:28:12] include ADA compliant sidewalks, ADA
[1:28:14] ramps, curving, traffic calming, tree
[1:28:17] work, as as we've kind of alluded to
[1:28:18] before.
[1:28:21] » We're also looking at some of those
[1:28:23] traffic calming um like you said,
[1:28:24] bumpouts. Um, this is all at the
[1:28:26] conceptual stage at this point. Um, so
[1:28:29] one of the things that we really would
[1:28:31] like to do is to meet with some of the
[1:28:34] residents of the Bolton Avenue, Fourth
[1:28:36] Street area, um, 10 or two sort of like
[1:28:39] the task force um, to get some ideas of
[1:28:42] what um, would help in in Dale um, mind
[1:28:47] of what the streetscape should be,
[1:28:48] especially for park. Um, but we know
[1:28:51] there has been some ideas that have been
[1:28:53] communicated, so we'll be looking at
[1:28:55] those also. Um, again, we're at the
[1:28:57] conceptual stage, so we just did get the
[1:28:59] full base map done. Um, and we'll be
[1:29:02] sharing that with the bike and ped
[1:29:04] committee um for their next meeting uh
[1:29:06] to get any concerns that they have on
[1:29:08] the existing area.
[1:29:10] » We have reviewed the bike and ped report
[1:29:13] um and master plan. And at least in that
[1:29:16] section of four street, there was no
[1:29:17] recommendations from the plan, but we
[1:29:20] want to get a, you know, a good feel for
[1:29:21] them on what they they think since we're
[1:29:24] going to be redoing the whole street at
[1:29:26] that point.
[1:29:26] » So I I believe Trina and I have agreed
[1:29:29] to meet with you. Is wasn't that around
[1:29:31] October 8th you would begin that uh
[1:29:33] looking at?
[1:29:35] » We actually should be able to do that uh
[1:29:37] sooner than that.
[1:29:38] » Okay. Well, just let us know and we'll
[1:29:40] get some folks from the community
[1:29:41] together.
[1:29:43] » Great. And and just to highlight the
[1:29:46] magnitude of this project both, you
[1:29:49] know, we've broken it down versus city
[1:29:51] versus BPW costs, but in total, the
[1:29:53] project will we're estimating is $8.5
[1:29:56] million just for this amount of work.
[1:29:59] It's it's a large project, but it's a
[1:30:01] large amount of money as well.
[1:30:03] » The one thing I wanted to joint cost,
[1:30:06] excuse me. I'm sorry, Tom. Excuse me.
[1:30:07] No, go ahead.
[1:30:08] » Was that the joint cost?
[1:30:09] » Correct. Yes. In in round numbers.
[1:30:12] » Yes, I understand. Yes. I think we've
[1:30:15] covered it uh both in the city council
[1:30:17] meeting and in BPW's meeting that we did
[1:30:21] look at undergrounding the electric
[1:30:23] utilities and it was on the order of $40
[1:30:26] million
[1:30:28] just a real guesstimate and it's due to
[1:30:32] uh constraints with the water and the
[1:30:35] sewer lines. the fact that there's many
[1:30:38] of those houses have very very little
[1:30:42] areas to put transformers and we, you
[1:30:46] know, we didn't feel that even though
[1:30:49] the roads going to be open, it was
[1:30:51] worthwhile to spend $40 million on when
[1:30:56] we could spend that money on
[1:30:58] undergrounding or hardening other areas
[1:31:01] and cities that are more susceptible. So
[1:31:04] I just wanted to point out that's
[1:31:05] excluded from this.
[1:31:08] » Before you move on, uh
[1:31:12] may when you describe this as you're in
[1:31:15] the conceptualized phase, is that
[1:31:17] correct? U what is your projection for
[1:31:20] the time that you will time span that
[1:31:22] you'll be in the conceptualized phase?
[1:31:28] » Actually, we're just about finished the
[1:31:29] conceptual phase.
[1:31:30] » I see. Um and and that's actually going
[1:31:33] to be a slide in a minute
[1:31:35] coming up.
[1:31:36] » Sorry.
[1:31:37] » When you say conceptual,
[1:31:40] » Um
[1:31:41] » Could that change? I mean, is it that
[1:31:44] conceptual that we're going to have to
[1:31:46] change it when the community meets with
[1:31:47] you? So my question is, are we spending
[1:31:50] money that we shouldn't have spent? We
[1:31:52] should have been involved in this
[1:31:54] process early.
[1:31:56] No, this is the time when in the
[1:31:58] conceptual we do want to meet with
[1:31:59] everybody because that's that's early
[1:32:01] enough.
[1:32:02] » Yeah, we we have gotten all the
[1:32:05] background information that actually
[1:32:06] meeting with the with the residents
[1:32:08] would be more appropriate at this time.
[1:32:11] Um so that the information is there on
[1:32:13] exactly what is all the base map the
[1:32:16] underground um constraints that we do
[1:32:19] have and then all of the surveying base
[1:32:21] map. So our conceptual designs are we
[1:32:24] don't for the streetscape we'll say or
[1:32:28] for lack of a better term sketches.
[1:32:31] » Okay.
[1:32:31] » Um they there's not any of the hard
[1:32:33] engineering in those. It's ideas of what
[1:32:36] can happen and ideas. So that's the time
[1:32:39] when we want to meet with everybody. Um
[1:32:41] once you get through prelimin
[1:32:43] preliminary that's when you have all of
[1:32:46] your engineering at least you know
[1:32:48] everything can happen and any changes at
[1:32:51] that point become more expensive.
[1:32:53] » Okay.
[1:32:54] » And I'm just going to do a time clock
[1:32:56] here um because we're going to have to
[1:32:58] be rushing you more than we want to.
[1:33:01] » Um so we leave adequate time for public
[1:33:03] comment. Uh, so that might mean a
[1:33:05] follow-up meeting um that you're on a
[1:33:07] workshop schedule with the city and
[1:33:09] maybe at a BPW board meeting as well.
[1:33:11] So, if you can stay hi and if you all
[1:33:13] can limit your
[1:33:15] » If you could just hold for the questions
[1:33:17] because there's a a public out there
[1:33:19] that we're squeezing their time.
[1:33:21] » Yep.
[1:33:22] » Okay. And I apologize both to you both
[1:33:24] you gentlemen. We had a big agenda
[1:33:26] tonight.
[1:33:26] » No, you're you're fine. So, in in a high
[1:33:28] level, you know, we are we are just
[1:33:30] about through the conceptual phase. Um,
[1:33:33] as as Andrew just alluded to, um, we did
[1:33:35] provide a more
[1:33:38] robust kind of status update. You know,
[1:33:40] I won't hit all the highlights, but in
[1:33:42] general, you know, we're we're pretty
[1:33:43] far on the utility design in terms of
[1:33:46] conceptually sizing things, making sure
[1:33:48] things work, what we need to look at.
[1:33:50] Um, on the street side, you know, Andrew
[1:33:52] just covered that. Um on the next slide
[1:33:55] we did provide a again a highlevel gant
[1:33:58] chart that kind of shows where we are
[1:34:00] where we expect where we I guess where
[1:34:03] we expected to be and where we are the
[1:34:05] percentages there show kind of where we
[1:34:07] are as of the middle of July when this
[1:34:11] printout was made. So progress has been
[1:34:14] made since that point. These percentages
[1:34:15] are higher than what they are shown on
[1:34:17] this um sheet.
[1:34:22] Um,
[1:34:24] so that's that's kind of our high level
[1:34:25] update on Fourth and Park.
[1:34:28] » When you um update this in the future,
[1:34:30] can you have a uh I'm just going to call
[1:34:32] it streetscape. You can use whatever
[1:34:34] term you want. I know it's embedded in
[1:34:36] your design and data, but for the
[1:34:38] public, they're going to care about what
[1:34:41] you're delivering, but it's, you know,
[1:34:42] it's 90% it's once you solve the water
[1:34:45] and wastewater, it's above ground. And
[1:34:47] so they're gonna want to know the
[1:34:49] streetscape process within your design
[1:34:51] or the time frame. Okay.
[1:34:53] » Yeah, we we do have the the streets in
[1:34:55] there for conceptual. Um trying to make
[1:34:57] it as high level as possible. We're in
[1:35:01] conceptual. We didn't break down the
[1:35:03] preliminary and the um final design. Oh,
[1:35:06] is that which broke down the same way?
[1:35:08] » Your column of street means that that's
[1:35:10] all. I didn't see it that way. We can we
[1:35:12] can make that more clear.
[1:35:13] » No, it's fine. I could read a little bit
[1:35:15] better, too.
[1:35:18] Okay.
[1:35:20] » Um so our next project that is a joint
[1:35:22] project is Hornkill Avenue which is
[1:35:24] water, sewer and streets. Um just as a a
[1:35:28] reminder this project includes an incity
[1:35:31] portion piece as well as an out of city
[1:35:33] portion which is um
[1:35:37] because the street you know because the
[1:35:40] street city limit line cuts the the cuts
[1:35:43] the street in I don't know twothirds.
[1:35:47] » Yeah detail.
[1:35:48] » Um so part of the project is we're
[1:35:49] bringing in um 11 new homes or 11
[1:35:53] existing homes into the BPW service
[1:35:55] area. um giving them water and sewer. Um
[1:35:59] part of this project is replacement of
[1:36:02] the existing water man. Um CIP lining of
[1:36:06] the existing sewer main, replacing a
[1:36:08] pump station, upgrading the street
[1:36:10] potentially with a porous um option um
[1:36:15] based on
[1:36:17] the infiltration testing. Um the
[1:36:20] magnitude of this project between the
[1:36:22] two um city versus BPW is uh just about
[1:36:27] $3 million.
[1:36:30] Um
[1:36:32] where we stand on this project, we have
[1:36:34] the design, you know, fully underway,
[1:36:37] working on the pump station specifically
[1:36:39] through the resiliency approach um with
[1:36:42] the board. Um the utility lines in the
[1:36:44] street have been laid out and you know,
[1:36:46] geotechnical work is very imminent. um
[1:36:49] for this project
[1:36:52] and um
[1:36:57] we have also provided a Gant chart as
[1:36:59] well to give again again a high level
[1:37:04] insight on the progress. So right now we
[1:37:06] are about all we're almost all the way
[1:37:09] through the preliminary design of this
[1:37:10] project. We're working on the final
[1:37:12] design. Um we have
[1:37:16] again this is you know as of the middle
[1:37:18] of July um you know geote some of the
[1:37:22] things holding us back right now geotech
[1:37:24] is slightly behind schedule our
[1:37:26] electrical design is slightly behind
[1:37:28] schedule um but anticipating you know
[1:37:32] moving forward on that project as we can
[1:37:37] and
[1:37:37] » Thanks for the Gant charts by the way
[1:37:40] » Hopefully. Yeah, they're hopeful.
[1:37:41] » They're hopeful.
[1:37:43] » Um the next joint project is Alaska
[1:37:46] Avenue Improvements. Um again, as a
[1:37:49] reminder, you know that this is a paper
[1:37:52] street and um if you recall, an adjacent
[1:37:55] parcels being developed um which
[1:37:58] required an entrance off Alaska Avenue
[1:38:00] um that required bringing the street up
[1:38:03] to standard. And as as this project has
[1:38:07] developed, the city and the board have
[1:38:08] decided to extend that a little bit
[1:38:10] further to fully p fully bring up the
[1:38:14] paper street to standard, not just the
[1:38:17] small section related to the um
[1:38:19] development that is occurring. So that
[1:38:22] includes um replacement of water man,
[1:38:25] cap lining of sewer manes, full
[1:38:28] reconstruction of the road with porous
[1:38:30] pavement and drainage swale. Um the
[1:38:32] overall construction estimate is
[1:38:34] $438,000.
[1:38:36] Um we are currently meeting with the
[1:38:38] city and the board um to discuss the
[1:38:42] cost share of what that looks like. So I
[1:38:44] can't break it down for you in terms of
[1:38:47] city would be this responsibility, board
[1:38:49] would be that responsibility because
[1:38:50] that just hasn't been determined yet. Um
[1:38:53] working with the developer.
[1:38:54] » Developer share. Okay.
[1:38:58] » And I'll just note on this one, the
[1:39:00] permits have been acquired. you know,
[1:39:01] everything's almost ready to go whenever
[1:39:04] we're ready to go with that.
[1:39:06] » Okay.
[1:39:06] » Alask
[1:39:10] order.
[1:39:12] » Okay.
[1:39:12] » Um, so one of the other projects that we
[1:39:15] have is the Monroe U Railroad Adams
[1:39:17] Avenue project. Um, and this is a larger
[1:39:21] project we've been working on. Um BPW
[1:39:23] improvements include um replacement of
[1:39:25] water main and service on Monroe Avenue
[1:39:28] and then tying over the existing
[1:39:30] services on Railroad Avenue from the
[1:39:32] Castile line uh to the the newer 16inch
[1:39:36] line that's existing now. Um and also
[1:39:38] replacement of the
[1:39:40] um so main new storm water um inlets. Um
[1:39:45] the BPW constructed estimated cost is
[1:39:49] $1.35 million.
[1:39:51] Uh city improvements uh include a
[1:39:53] section of porous pavement uh in the
[1:39:55] park parking area, new ADA ramps, ADA
[1:39:58] compliant sidewalk cing. Um that
[1:40:01] construction estimate is 1.137
[1:40:04] million. There was also originally FEMA
[1:40:07] funding for 587,000.
[1:40:10] Um that was not included in the
[1:40:12] construction cost to the city.
[1:40:15] um that unfortunately as of April um
[1:40:18] that funding was pulled and I don't
[1:40:21] believe that is coming back. Um so right
[1:40:24] now the we're in the final stages of
[1:40:26] design um but still waiting on a little
[1:40:28] bit of um information from the city on
[1:40:31] how we want to proceed with that. Um now
[1:40:34] there's 600,000 in funding that is been
[1:40:37] lost on that one.
[1:40:41] Um the next one is actually the future
[1:40:43] project that I we owe a a proposal to
[1:40:46] this the city on. Um and this is Marina
[1:40:49] Drive. Um so for BPW improvements um
[1:40:54] there is nothing in the capital
[1:40:55] improvements plan. Um there may be some
[1:40:58] light catch basin repair that we
[1:41:01] recommend as we've gone out there and
[1:41:03] found we've got some
[1:41:05] » We've actually got some seedal bushes
[1:41:07] growing out of two of the catch basins.
[1:41:10] Um so we've got to do a little bit of
[1:41:12] work to see exactly what those are. Um
[1:41:15] any if there's any damage uh to those
[1:41:17] catch basins um because of that you
[1:41:19] actually can't see the catch basins from
[1:41:22] the street in that area because of those
[1:41:24] cedar bushes. Um, so they've got to be
[1:41:27] cleared and actually we've got to do a
[1:41:28] little bit of work to to see on that.
[1:41:31] Otherwise, this is just a city project
[1:41:33] which is anticipated for one and a half
[1:41:35] inch mill overlay. Um, if there are no
[1:41:39] improvements, other improvements needed
[1:41:41] like because the catch basins are
[1:41:43] damaged, then it's probably a catch
[1:41:45] basin top replacement. We've been asked
[1:41:47] to look at that. If you have noticed the
[1:41:50] catch basins that are there, um, they
[1:41:53] are a different design. Uh so there is
[1:41:56] swailes and right at the catch basins
[1:41:58] there are concrete channels that are
[1:42:00] about 2 feet wide and then there is a
[1:42:03] parkway top unit that sits about 2 feet
[1:42:07] 18 in above the top of the swale. Um
[1:42:10] what would we would recommend be more
[1:42:12] appropriate is that parkway grate
[1:42:14] actually be at the base of the swale. Um
[1:42:17] so that may that top unit may be um
[1:42:20] modified. Um, again, we'll look at that
[1:42:22] if there's any other improvements that
[1:42:24] are necessary.
[1:42:26] » Um,
[1:42:27] » D had a question for you to
[1:42:28] » Yep.
[1:42:29] » Apologize. Um,
[1:42:32] are you taking in are you going to This
[1:42:34] is the community here is called Pilot
[1:42:36] Town Park.
[1:42:37] » Yep.
[1:42:38] » My question is, are you only looking at
[1:42:41] this section of Pilot Town Park or are
[1:42:43] you looking at the entire Pilot Town
[1:42:46] Park? As of as of this time, according
[1:42:48] to the CIP, um we're only looking at
[1:42:51] Marina Drive from Pilottown Road to
[1:42:53] Fourth Street.
[1:42:54] » But you're also looking at University,
[1:42:55] correct?
[1:42:57] » Not as part of this project.
[1:43:01] » Okay, I'll take that.
[1:43:02] » Not not at the we we've not been given
[1:43:04] direction for that.
[1:43:05] » Okay. So I have a a question also Andrew
[1:43:08] and might be to the larger group and
[1:43:10] that is um given that we are working on
[1:43:13] these particular projects and we were
[1:43:16] just talking about prioritizing based
[1:43:18] upon health needs
[1:43:21] are these
[1:43:22] up for grabs when we need
[1:43:25] » These are public safety these are in our
[1:43:28] priority not so yes everything is up for
[1:43:31] grabs when we sit down and talk. Okay.
[1:43:33] » Okay.
[1:43:35] » But just to be clear, the Marina Drive
[1:43:37] would is mostly one of the maintenance
[1:43:40] projects for the city,
[1:43:41] » Right? Which is its own budget item.
[1:43:43] » Okay.
[1:43:44] » Pure maintenance.
[1:43:45] » Okay.
[1:43:46] » Okay. And we'll we'll invite them back.
[1:43:48] Okay. Yeah. Because we're at we're
[1:43:50] quarter to three. Okay. Thanks.
[1:43:51] » Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen.
[1:43:53] » Uh I did on the last item, which is Army
[1:43:56] Reserve, I gave a detailed overview at
[1:43:59] the public workshop. So if you heard
[1:44:01] that public workshop um but I will
[1:44:04] summarize it in three minutes. The Army
[1:44:07] Reserve program uh is through our
[1:44:10] federal delegation and the only way we
[1:44:13] will accept this land is if we know that
[1:44:16] it is environmentally clean. That
[1:44:18] definition of what environmentally clean
[1:44:20] means is in process. So we have
[1:44:23] completed phase one um and we are
[1:44:26] looking to go after a brownfields grant
[1:44:27] for phase two. We are looking to have a
[1:44:30] citizen engagement uh like a public
[1:44:33] information officer working with us and
[1:44:36] then eventually we would go out for
[1:44:38] design and construction. So it's a big
[1:44:41] project. The only thing I want to share
[1:44:42] at this point is some citizens have said
[1:44:44] well why don't you just use it for
[1:44:47] affordable housing. The delegation that
[1:44:50] organized to get this to Lewis
[1:44:52] specifically in the arrangement said it
[1:44:54] need to be for municipal campus BPWs
[1:44:57] listed and the police. So the purpose of
[1:45:00] it was already set. Where we're spending
[1:45:02] our time now is making sure it is going
[1:45:05] to be environmentally clean and sharing
[1:45:08] that with the public once we get through
[1:45:09] the process. But if you listen to the
[1:45:11] workshop, I was um verbose on this topic
[1:45:14] and I'm happy to at a later point. All
[1:45:16] right. What I'd recommend is we get to
[1:45:18] public comment and that we all sit here
[1:45:19] a little bit longer so we can hear
[1:45:21] public comment.
[1:45:22] » Yep.
[1:45:22] » Fine. By the way,
[1:45:23] » And so u the ground rules for the public
[1:45:26] comments are
[1:45:27] » Ground. Go ahead.
[1:45:28] » This um this is the chance for the
[1:45:30] public to express their viewpoints. It's
[1:45:34] not a dialogue back and forth. After the
[1:45:37] public has expressed their comments, we
[1:45:40] will take them under advisement. We may
[1:45:42] have a discussion afterwards amongst
[1:45:44] ourselves but um
[1:45:47] » Yep. That's right. So when you come up
[1:45:49] to the podium as always say your name
[1:45:51] and your address speak into the
[1:45:53] microphone or you can come to the table
[1:45:55] and you are on a three minute clock and
[1:45:57] I will rudely hold you to the three
[1:45:59] minutes being respectful of everyone
[1:46:01] else. It looks like Miss Trip is first.
[1:46:04] » All right.
[1:46:06] » All right. We're going to run the clock
[1:46:08] » And blue has your clock, but you can say
[1:46:10] your name and address before the clock
[1:46:12] starts.
[1:46:12] » Okay. My name is Carrie Trip, 400 Park
[1:46:14] Avenue, Lewis. We heard today we didn't
[1:46:16] have the money to replace Burton's water
[1:46:18] pipes. It was said the cost of all the
[1:46:20] CIP is about 48 million, but that's
[1:46:22] apples to oranges. Maybe you want to
[1:46:25] take notes on this. We asked how much
[1:46:27] nonPVC versus PVC pipe there is in the
[1:46:30] water lines in Lewis. We didn't know. We
[1:46:32] do know. GMBB gave us a report in 2024.
[1:46:36] It tells us that there are 148,000 plus
[1:46:39] nonPVC pipes versus 169,000 PVC pipes. I
[1:46:44] can break that down for you in square
[1:46:45] footage and I can break that down for
[1:46:47] you mileage because it was in the
[1:46:48] report. So that means that there are
[1:46:51] 2744
[1:46:53] miles in PV in nonPVC versus 3.2 miles
[1:46:57] in PVC pipe. If we take the cost of just
[1:47:00] replacing the water lines, which is all
[1:47:03] our community wants, according to the
[1:47:06] most recent grant submitted by BPW, it's
[1:47:09] about $1,280
[1:47:11] times the amount of pipe we have. We're
[1:47:14] not talking about a million bucks even
[1:47:16] from what I can tell. So,
[1:47:19] back to my original comments. Well, we
[1:47:22] appreciate BPW's statement that they
[1:47:24] make their decisions based on science.
[1:47:26] We urge them to think about the impact
[1:47:28] on our residents as a stronger
[1:47:30] criterion. In prior hearings, some of
[1:47:33] you dismissed that criterion. But I want
[1:47:35] to remind you that research has proven
[1:47:38] that by anthropologist, sociologists
[1:47:42] that they enrich every subject including
[1:47:44] the subject of medicine. That when we
[1:47:47] look at people's lived experiences,
[1:47:49] whether it's patients or otherwise, it
[1:47:51] helps to empower disempowered
[1:47:54] marginalized communities and groups. and
[1:47:56] tackles injustices these individuals
[1:47:58] have faced. In that light, I read a
[1:48:01] statement from a native Louison. It
[1:48:05] declares, and I will put the original
[1:48:06] copy in the record, "My name is Mark Gu.
[1:48:09] Many of you know me as Froggy. I was
[1:48:11] born in Lewis and lived on 311 Chestnut
[1:48:14] Street until I left to serve in the
[1:48:16] Vietnam War. When I returned, I was the
[1:48:18] second African-American person hired by
[1:48:21] the city in 1979. I was assigned to the
[1:48:25] city's water and sewer department. At
[1:48:27] that time, the Lewis Board of Public
[1:48:29] Works just did electricity. My project
[1:48:32] was to help the city tear up all the
[1:48:33] streets on the townside to inspect and
[1:48:35] replace the old metal water pipes and to
[1:48:38] install water meters. I was surprised to
[1:48:41] learn this week that Park Avenue's water
[1:48:43] pipes were not were not plastic and had
[1:48:46] not been replaced at that time when so
[1:48:48] many other streets had their metal pipes
[1:48:50] replaced with plastic state-of-the-art.
[1:48:53] Maybe it was because all 18 homes on
[1:48:56] Park Avenue were owned by black people
[1:48:58] and the area of Ship Carpenter had my
[1:49:00] aunt and no other homes, just swamp. But
[1:49:03] given all the development on Park Avenue
[1:49:05] and in Ship Carpenter Square since then,
[1:49:07] certainly these pipes are obsolete and
[1:49:09] long in need of replacement. Signed Mark
[1:49:11] Gu. I have the original. Froggy was
[1:49:14] surprised to hear that we still had our
[1:49:15] hundred-year-old pipes in B.
[1:49:17] » Three minutes is up, but you can submit
[1:49:18] that comment so we can read it online.
[1:49:26] Just give it to the right. It's fine.
[1:49:28] Come forward,
[1:49:30] » Brenda. I think you have someone right
[1:49:32] before you.
[1:49:44] My name is Elaine Simmerman. I live in
[1:49:46] 418 West um Forest Street. It's not
[1:49:49] clear to me whether you consider that
[1:49:51] part of Burton subdivision. I I would
[1:49:53] say we are not a subdivision. We are
[1:49:56] nothing. None of our houses have
[1:49:57] anything to do with each other. We are
[1:49:59] not a subdivision. We are one of the
[1:50:01] oldest and most deprived um communities
[1:50:06] neighborhoods in the city of Lewis. And
[1:50:08] I think we do deserve more and we have
[1:50:11] more individual differences as the
[1:50:13] lawyer said and we deserve priority. I'm
[1:50:16] talking about Burton subdivision. Um,
[1:50:20] when we were first bought the house in
[1:50:22] 1988,
[1:50:23] uh, BPW replaced our entire water pipe
[1:50:27] from the house to the road. We didn't
[1:50:29] ask for it. We drove in and it had been
[1:50:32] a big old burrowed piece of land and it
[1:50:36] was because our piping was connected to
[1:50:38] our neighbor's house and evidently we
[1:50:40] were paying for their water. Um the
[1:50:43] mayor uh suggested that the homeowners
[1:50:47] be individually involved and come to
[1:50:49] your meetings. That is a wonderful idea.
[1:50:51] I also think it should be more than just
[1:50:53] as a group. I think it would be nice if
[1:50:55] somebody would look at my house. It's in
[1:50:58] 1790 historic house and it's an
[1:51:01] individual house. It's not on the lot
[1:51:03] correctly. It has it's totally different
[1:51:06] as are every other house in our
[1:51:08] neighborhood. I know one person in front
[1:51:10] of me now who built his house in our
[1:51:13] neighborhood. We are not a subdivision
[1:51:15] and we are really uh needing of a
[1:51:18] priority in this. Not only that, we were
[1:51:21] a forgotten uh community for years and
[1:51:25] years and years. We had dirt roads. We
[1:51:27] had ponding whenever it rained. We had
[1:51:30] no sidewalk. We had we were just
[1:51:32] forgotten and it was because of race. We
[1:51:34] all know that. Right now, let's make
[1:51:37] this a priority. and the whole
[1:51:39] neighborhood. Um, I do want to say that
[1:51:43] we wonder, are you going to pay for this
[1:51:45] sidewalk repair due to the trees that
[1:51:47] have been We didn't ask for those trees.
[1:51:50] All those roots came up and they ruined
[1:51:52] our sidewalks. Do we pay for that? Do we
[1:51:54] pay for them to be removed? Let us know,
[1:51:56] please. Surveys. Don't put them just
[1:51:59] online. Not everybody in our community
[1:52:02] goes online. This city um uh website is
[1:52:06] not easy to maneuver. I don't think that
[1:52:09] the average person can figure out how to
[1:52:12] figure out fill out an online thing.
[1:52:14] Certainly, we have a wonderful
[1:52:15] neighborhood of very bright people, but
[1:52:17] there are other people that just don't
[1:52:19] have a voice. When you say there's no
[1:52:21] problem in our water quality, guess
[1:52:24] what? That's what testing shows. Talk to
[1:52:26] the people in in talk to the people in
[1:52:28] back of me. Talk to the person I'm
[1:52:30] sitting next to me who's is replacing
[1:52:32] for the second time his water system
[1:52:34] because everything's black within the
[1:52:36] last two weeks. Um, and also take Amy up
[1:52:40] on her offer to write this grant because
[1:52:44] she is a professional. She has loads and
[1:52:46] loads and loads of experience. It has to
[1:52:48] be joint. I, as you know, wrote the
[1:52:51] grants for the Over Falls Light. She
[1:52:53] knows what she's doing. Thank you.
[1:53:01] » Thank you everybody for hanging. I know
[1:53:03] it's been a long time. Please stay and
[1:53:05] make comment.
[1:53:07] Hi, I'm Brenda Absel. I live at 418 Park
[1:53:10] Avenue and I will probably be less than
[1:53:12] three minutes. My filter when it goes
[1:53:15] in, my filter when it goes out. We have
[1:53:18] never said that this issue is about
[1:53:21] health. And I hear you looking for
[1:53:23] objective data about health data. This
[1:53:25] is about iron. As everybody in BPW
[1:53:28] knows, iron is not a health regulatory
[1:53:32] issue. This is except for two people in
[1:53:34] our community that have
[1:53:35] hemocchromattosis and they know they
[1:53:37] have he Thank you. Um know that they
[1:53:40] have it and they're taking action so
[1:53:41] that they're not drinking the water. But
[1:53:43] for the rest of us, it's about dirty
[1:53:46] water. I don't want to put my little
[1:53:48] granddaughter in this dirty water and of
[1:53:50] her little private parts in this dirty
[1:53:52] water. So, we had a $5,000 Sorry, I've
[1:53:55] just left iron all over this table.
[1:53:57] $5,000 um plus replacing filters on a
[1:54:01] regular basis cost. I know of at least
[1:54:04] six people in our community have have
[1:54:05] done that and many more who are doing um
[1:54:09] bottled water when we all know that that
[1:54:11] is not an answer to this problem.
[1:54:13] Two things that I wanted to make sure I
[1:54:15] said that I said Sharon has let me know
[1:54:18] that there is and I have seen a splash
[1:54:20] page on BPW's website about our issue.
[1:54:24] Hallelujah. I I think it's a wonderful
[1:54:26] thing for you to put it there. I think
[1:54:28] it would be really helpful if that was a
[1:54:30] place community members could go and
[1:54:32] just have a a response and say, "I am
[1:54:35] having trouble with this. I've had to
[1:54:36] replace this." Because when I ask people
[1:54:39] at our task force meetings, what is your
[1:54:42] record on on um community response? They
[1:54:45] say, "We don't have a record on a lot of
[1:54:47] of community calls." Mainly because
[1:54:49] people have given up calling you. And
[1:54:51] and like me, I'd be calling every day. I
[1:54:54] mean, this is an everyday long-term
[1:54:56] problem. Um,
[1:55:00] gosh, there was so much I wanted to say
[1:55:02] the SRF. So, in we didn't apply for SRF
[1:55:05] last year. No one applied for that. When
[1:55:08] we applied for the last one, and I have
[1:55:09] a copy of the loan that uh the loan
[1:55:12] grant that was applied for, there was no
[1:55:14] health component in that one other than
[1:55:15] there was some comment about lead, but
[1:55:17] in general, there was no health
[1:55:19] component. So, we do not need a health
[1:55:21] component to apply for the SRF. It's
[1:55:23] inexcusable that we don't apply for this
[1:55:25] every single year. When I asked about I
[1:55:29] mean I think it's wonderful that the
[1:55:30] city uses that um CIP index. When I
[1:55:33] asked BPW what they use to determine um
[1:55:37] replacement and I was told they use the
[1:55:40] expertise of the engineers and and their
[1:55:43] board. I said well how about comments
[1:55:45] from community? It is not considered. We
[1:55:49] need to have subjective data as well as
[1:55:51] objective data. And I'm going to stop
[1:55:52] there so everyone else could talk. This
[1:55:54] was another person's water that they
[1:55:56] brought today, but they had to leave.
[1:55:59] » Thank you all. Thank you.
[1:56:00] » Thank you.
[1:56:06] » Come forward, please.
[1:56:22] That wasn't blown at us, was it?
[1:56:24] » Just
[1:56:28] » My name is Don Ernakovich, 422 West
[1:56:31] Fourth Street.
[1:56:33] We moved into a new home in 1998.
[1:56:37] Excited retirees looking forward to
[1:56:39] living in beautiful Lewis.
[1:56:43] We have a jacuzzi bathtub
[1:56:47] and I took my first bath
[1:56:50] with brown bubbles.
[1:56:53] This has been going on now for 27 years.
[1:56:59] I cannot tell you the number of times
[1:57:01] we've appealed for help from Board of
[1:57:03] Public Works. We had several responses.
[1:57:07] Number one, it's on your side of the
[1:57:09] curb. It's your problem.
[1:57:11] Number two, the line from your main line
[1:57:14] to our house is cast iron. It's not.
[1:57:18] It's PVC.
[1:57:20] And the most ridiculous response, with
[1:57:22] all due respect, is that you must have a
[1:57:25] hole in your water line. If one has a
[1:57:29] hole in a pressurized water line, the
[1:57:32] water would come out. Dirt would not go
[1:57:35] in.
[1:57:38] We have gone through our second
[1:57:41] filtration system recently installed
[1:57:45] and the woman before me showed you what
[1:57:48] our filters look like after a very short
[1:57:51] time.
[1:57:53] We had to pay to have every lateral line
[1:57:57] in our crawl space replaced because of
[1:58:01] the buildup of sediment.
[1:58:04] listening to the presentation. I know I
[1:58:07] will not be around when the problem is
[1:58:10] solved.
[1:58:11] But I leave you with one simple
[1:58:13] question.
[1:58:15] Why do we have to pay full rate for
[1:58:20] water that we cannot drink or use? Thank
[1:58:23] you.
[1:58:30] » Thank you for your comments next. Yes.
[1:58:40] Good afternoon. Julie Spettz, 417 Dupont
[1:58:43] Avenue in Lewis. Over concerns of the
[1:58:46] water quality. We had our water tested
[1:58:48] last year professionally done. It
[1:58:50] revealed that we had lead, copper,
[1:58:52] sulfates, nitrates in our uh water. As a
[1:58:56] result of that, we got a water
[1:58:57] filtration system to be able to drink
[1:58:59] the water. And I would like to include
[1:59:02] the testing results as part of the
[1:59:03] public record. Our o octoarian friend
[1:59:07] and neighbor George Cole has a personal
[1:59:09] story to tell about how this water
[1:59:10] crisis has affected him. George has a
[1:59:13] doctor's appointment this afternoon and
[1:59:15] unfortunately cannot be here to tell his
[1:59:17] story. So he asked me to read read it
[1:59:19] for public. My name is George Cole. I'm
[1:59:21] a resident of the Burton subdivision in
[1:59:23] Lewis. Being unable to attend this
[1:59:25] meeting, I've asked a neighbor to
[1:59:26] present my thoughts. very sorry I cannot
[1:59:29] be here to answer questions. It is
[1:59:32] commendable that the city of Lewis and
[1:59:33] the BPW are jointly working to resolve
[1:59:36] an issue that presents something of an
[1:59:37] hidden health problem. When there is too
[1:59:40] much iron in the human body, the iron is
[1:59:42] labeled as a poison. In various tests,
[1:59:45] the Veterans Administration found that I
[1:59:47] have a genetic health condition known as
[1:59:48] hemocro chromatossis.
[1:59:51] Other DNA tests have confirmed the
[1:59:53] finding of the VA. Essentially, my body
[1:59:56] retains too much energy which has an
[1:59:58] adverse effect on various organs in
[2:00:00] particular the tissues of the heart, the
[2:00:03] liver, the kidneys and the pancreas.
[2:00:05] Thus, I have to monitor both the food I
[2:00:07] eat and the water that I drink. A person
[2:00:10] cannot be cured of hemocromattosis. They
[2:00:13] can only be treated for it. For those
[2:00:16] who live in Burton subdivision of Lewis,
[2:00:18] the best treatment is iron-free water
[2:00:20] delivery pipes. People should not have
[2:00:22] to pay for iron contaminated water to be
[2:00:25] delivered to their homes in addition to
[2:00:27] paying for filters to remove
[2:00:28] contaminants from the water. Looking
[2:00:30] forward to seeing the water pipes
[2:00:32] replaced in Burton subdivision.
[2:00:34] And I hope the council and the BPW agree
[2:00:38] with us that access to clean water is a
[2:00:40] universal human right.
[2:00:50] » Other comments? Yes, come forward
[2:00:52] please. And if anybody has online, we
[2:00:53] will get to you as well. Blue, is there
[2:00:55] anyone online?
[2:00:58] There are a good amount. Okay, we'll get
[2:01:00] to them when we finish with folks here.
[2:01:02] » I I'll be brief. Paparina, the 417 uh
[2:01:05] 418 Johnson.
[2:01:07] Um
[2:01:10] um just one one comment. Um the flushing
[2:01:14] that's done monthly that that can't be
[2:01:16] normal, right? And I know I can't ask
[2:01:20] questions, but I assume that's not
[2:01:21] normal. So, what would happen if the
[2:01:24] flushing wasn't done? I assume that it
[2:01:26] would just be build up worse and worse
[2:01:28] and worse over time. So, we've already
[2:01:31] admitted that there's an issue. There's
[2:01:33] a serious issue as you can see from some
[2:01:35] some of the samples. Um,
[2:01:41] so the the other thing is I have a bunch
[2:01:45] of comments, but a lot of them have
[2:01:46] already been addressed. The other thing
[2:01:48] is the streets in Burton need to be
[2:01:50] repaved. I mean, all the streets that
[2:01:53] have been dug up with all the pipe pipe
[2:01:56] issues and everything that we've had,
[2:01:58] they really they all need to be repaid.
[2:02:00] So, while we're in the process of doing
[2:02:02] that, wouldn't it make a lot more sense
[2:02:04] to do the infrastructure under the
[2:02:06] streets instead of repave the streets?
[2:02:09] Because I know if we repave the streets,
[2:02:11] the pipes will never get done. So, I
[2:02:15] this is kind of we just need to to do
[2:02:17] this for a bunch of different reasons.
[2:02:19] Um the other the other thing um I want
[2:02:23] to make sure that this is this is in a
[2:02:28] plan. This is definitely in a plan, a
[2:02:30] fiveyear plan, 10 year plan, two-year
[2:02:33] plan, whatever it is, because after
[2:02:35] going through all this, if this doesn't
[2:02:37] happen now, it's going to be 15, 20
[2:02:40] years out before anything probably
[2:02:42] happens. And we're really really at risk
[2:02:45] a lot of lot more health risk if we wait
[2:02:47] that long. That's it. Thanks.
[2:02:49] » Thank you.
[2:02:54] » Yes. Yes. Please come forward.
[2:03:05] Hi, I'm Tracy Tuscano. I'm at 407 Burton
[2:03:08] Avenue. Um, I'm a full-time resident.
[2:03:11] I've been living on Burton Avenue for
[2:03:14] just about seven years. And, uh, last
[2:03:18] year we put in a reverse osmosis system
[2:03:20] for our drinking water because we are
[2:03:22] not able to drink it. And I have a
[2:03:25] really tough time with the idea of even
[2:03:28] even though it's bad water, wasting
[2:03:31] water
[2:03:32] » By running something for 10 to 15
[2:03:33] minutes to clear it. Um that's not how I
[2:03:36] was raised. Um and I I don't want to do
[2:03:39] that. That doesn't feel right. So I'm
[2:03:42] just here with my community and my my
[2:03:44] neighbors to voice our u thoughts on
[2:03:48] making this a priority. Thank you.
[2:03:50] » Thank you.
[2:03:59] Hi, good afternoon. Uh, Taylor Cameron,
[2:04:02] um, 512 DuPont. Um,
[2:04:05] we are relatively new residence on
[2:04:07] Dupont Avenue. Um, we built our home and
[2:04:10] moved in, um, last August, so we've been
[2:04:14] here just a year. Um, in that time, um,
[2:04:20] our our bathtubs ruined.
[2:04:23] » Um,
[2:04:26] our dogs won't drink the water. We won't
[2:04:28] drink the water. We we we had to install
[2:04:31] a filtration system. And we live right
[2:04:33] next to that flusher uh that runs at
[2:04:37] 6:00 a.m., 12:00 noon, 6 pm, and 12
[2:04:42] midnight for 15 minutes at 500 gallons a
[2:04:45] minute. It's almost a million gallons a
[2:04:47] month.
[2:04:50] You're emptying the water tower three
[2:04:52] times a month to solve this problem.
[2:04:58] You dug a graveyard at the bottom of a
[2:05:00] cliff instead of putting a guardrail at
[2:05:03] the top of it.
[2:05:06] » That's all I have to say.
[2:05:08] » Thank you.
[2:05:14] » Anyone else in the audience that would
[2:05:15] like to come forward?
[2:05:18] » Let me go to those online. And if you
[2:05:21] are online and would like to make a
[2:05:22] comment, just raise your virtual hand so
[2:05:25] we can Blue will unmute you.
[2:05:28] Yes, Marty Thompson, I see. Let's start.
[2:05:31] » Marty, can you hear me?
[2:05:33] » We can hear you. Hold a second. We'll
[2:05:34] get ready. Yes. Go ahead, Marty.
[2:05:37] » Okay. Um, and I apologize. I'm Marty
[2:05:40] Thompson. I'm at three Flamingo Court in
[2:05:42] Lewis. I'm also the tree commissioner on
[2:05:44] the Parks and Rec Commission. Um, I
[2:05:47] apologize if you went over this before.
[2:05:49] or I tuned in late. But as to the Fourth
[2:05:51] Street and Park Avenue projects, um as
[2:05:55] you know, there's trees involved uh on
[2:05:58] Fourth Street and there's also used to
[2:06:00] be trees along Park Avenue. It's a very
[2:06:02] hot spot. Um, and I would like to be
[2:06:04] able to put trees back there. But when
[2:06:07] you talked about having bike pad and
[2:06:09] citizens on the committee, I I would
[2:06:12] like to have somebody dealing with the
[2:06:13] trees, not only where they are placed
[2:06:15] for aesthetic reasons and shade reasons,
[2:06:17] but also to make sure that the planting
[2:06:20] holes are good planting holes, suitable
[2:06:22] for trees. Hopefully not right under the
[2:06:24] wires if that can be arranged, but I
[2:06:26] don't know if that can be arranged, but
[2:06:28] you know, with good soil and drainage
[2:06:29] and stuff in the holes so that the trees
[2:06:31] can can do well. Um, same thing with the
[2:06:35] Railroad Avenue and Monroe Avenue
[2:06:37] project. Um, there's there actually is
[2:06:41] some planting space there along Road
[2:06:43] Avenue, but we don't have trees there
[2:06:45] because this project is coming up and it
[2:06:47] would be great if we would end up with
[2:06:50] places to put trees in that area. And
[2:06:52] uh, that's all I have. Thank you.
[2:06:54] » Thank you.
[2:06:57] Anyone else online? Raise your hand.
[2:07:03] Last call for online.
[2:07:06] Anybody else in the room that would like
[2:07:07] to make a comment?
[2:07:10] Yes. Come forward.
[2:07:19] Um, my legal name is Betty Krat and I
[2:07:22] live at 410 West
[2:07:24] uh 4th Street. And I would just like to
[2:07:26] say that I'm not going to repeat what my
[2:07:29] neighbors have said. I just agree with
[2:07:31] them and so does my husband. And we've
[2:07:34] been here for 20 years. And in 20 years
[2:07:37] and we came before that. Uh when we talk
[2:07:41] about needs,
[2:07:43] one of the gentlemen already said
[2:07:45] something about the roads. Those roads
[2:07:47] haven't been touched in all the time
[2:07:49] we've lived here.
[2:07:51] » Thank you.
[2:07:58] Okay, I'm gonna turn it back to no
[2:08:00] other. Oh, you have a Have you already
[2:08:02] made a comment? If you've already made a
[2:08:04] comment, you could submit online. You
[2:08:05] can't keep coming back according to the
[2:08:07] rules. Um, but that doesn't mean that we
[2:08:09] won't accept your written comment. So,
[2:08:11] please send that in. You get one bite at
[2:08:14] the apple in that public comment period,
[2:08:15] unfortunately. Okay?
[2:08:19] » And you don't ask questions in a public
[2:08:21] comment because you are we are
[2:08:22] listening. Okay, that doesn't mean I
[2:08:25] mean I'm taking very detailed notes. I
[2:08:26] know my others colleagues are too, but
[2:08:28] it's not a back and forth. That's what a
[2:08:30] workshop is, which is why we're going to
[2:08:32] have workshops. Okay, so comments. Let
[2:08:34] me start with BPW. Any comments that you
[2:08:36] would like to leave all of us with?
[2:08:38] » The first one and just in general
[2:08:40] response is that you, you know, you've
[2:08:43] said this many times before, we're
[2:08:46] paying for the sins of the past.
[2:08:49] Should we ever have gotten to this
[2:08:51] point? No.
[2:08:53] But we're not alone. Bridges are falling
[2:08:56] down. I mean, you know, the
[2:08:58] infrastructure of the country is really
[2:09:01] in deplorable shape. And now we're
[2:09:03] trying to make up for it. And we're
[2:09:06] you've got, you know, 30 $40 million
[2:09:09] capital budget plans
[2:09:12] to try to
[2:09:15] bring everything up to where it should
[2:09:17] be. This is not the way I was trained as
[2:09:20] an engineer to be to be reactive.
[2:09:24] It's about being proactive.
[2:09:26] But once again,
[2:09:30] with a hundred $200 million worth of
[2:09:33] capital projects,
[2:09:35] it can't be done in 10 years. And I hear
[2:09:39] what everyone is saying. I would not
[2:09:41] want the dirty water in my house.
[2:09:44] Although I get it sometimes, but you
[2:09:47] know,
[2:09:49] I'm not sure. We're trying to balance
[2:09:51] both sides here on that. Anything else
[2:09:55] from the BPW side?
[2:10:01] » And Robin, anything from us? Nope. Okay.
[2:10:04] from the city side.
[2:10:06] » I would just like to close by saying
[2:10:09] that,
[2:10:11] you know,
[2:10:13] a lot of times we think of things as not
[2:10:15] possible.
[2:10:17] I think we all have to have the attitude
[2:10:19] that we can do this. Um, we can do this.
[2:10:23] It's just a matter of making it happen.
[2:10:25] We can make this happen. We've got to
[2:10:27] believe it. And I think we will make
[2:10:29] this happen. We've just got to make the
[2:10:31] plans and come to these meetings. And I
[2:10:34] think this communication is wonderful
[2:10:36] that we're having right now. It's it's
[2:10:38] hard sometimes to have these kinds of
[2:10:40] conversations. But that's how you start
[2:10:43] developing a plan that can make things
[2:10:45] happen. So I really think today was very
[2:10:48] valuable. And whoever thought of these
[2:10:50] meetings and these joint meetings, kudos
[2:10:53] from me.
[2:10:55] » That's Councilman Ritzard first thought
[2:10:57] of this idea. Maybe someone else on BPW
[2:11:00] too.
[2:11:00] » This was resulting
[2:11:03] the dispute we had years ago.
[2:11:05] » Oh, so it came out of that. So the you
[2:11:07] know I think Presley was president at
[2:11:10] the time
[2:11:12] » Chair
[2:11:14] » Comments
[2:11:14] » And uh Ped was
[2:11:16] » And as mayor
[2:11:18] » I just wanted to say that I appreciate
[2:11:20] the comments of everyone who came
[2:11:23] forward and those who may not have but
[2:11:26] still have feelings about uh the water
[2:11:30] that they're drinking and bathing in um
[2:11:34] from the Burton subdivision. vision uh
[2:11:37] area as a resident of that same area
[2:11:40] who's been here all of my life. So, I
[2:11:43] appreciate the comments that you have
[2:11:44] made. Thank you.
[2:11:48] » I just want to say thank you all for
[2:11:50] coming and uh making your your views
[2:11:54] known once again. Thank you,
[2:11:56] » Deandrew. Uh let me close with a few
[2:11:58] comments. I love to write grants. All
[2:12:00] right. I'm the crazy I'm your crazy
[2:12:02] mayor who likes to write grants and I
[2:12:05] like to write grants based on stories
[2:12:06] because I believe regulators will always
[2:12:09] get data everywhere but it's when we can
[2:12:12] make them feel what it's like that we
[2:12:14] win. So I will personally commit to work
[2:12:17] with BPW and my colleagues on the city
[2:12:20] uh that we will uh be applying for an
[2:12:23] SRF grant. What I would ask of the
[2:12:25] public listening to these very important
[2:12:27] and impactful stories is keep good
[2:12:29] records because when we start the grant
[2:12:32] process um I will come out for stories.
[2:12:34] So you'll so keep these stories that I'm
[2:12:37] hearing and have heard in the past
[2:12:39] because they add to the flavor of a
[2:12:42] grant application. I'd also say that um
[2:12:46] there has been deferred maintenance
[2:12:47] related to I'm just saying the city side
[2:12:50] which our council has um rectified with
[2:12:54] a $ 1.7 million budget for FY26 to start
[2:12:58] working on the roads. However, I want to
[2:13:00] share the comment that as much as we
[2:13:02] need to do mill and overlay, if we are
[2:13:05] going to dig up a road, then it's just a
[2:13:06] waste of taxpayer dollars to do mill and
[2:13:08] overlay. So, we have to do that
[2:13:10] coordinated. That's why you see these
[2:13:12] bodies together that um but it could be
[2:13:15] that some neighborhoods wouldn't be
[2:13:18] ready for road really a lot of activity
[2:13:21] with BPW for years. Well, then you do
[2:13:24] mill and overlay because it's a band-aid
[2:13:26] until you get there. So, I've built
[2:13:28] roads. I I'm not an engineer, but I have
[2:13:30] built roads. I've built water um and
[2:13:33] even a small package treatment plant.
[2:13:35] I'm very well aware of this issue. I
[2:13:38] don't know, as Tom said, I don't know
[2:13:40] what happened here in the past, but it's
[2:13:44] not going to continue. So, you have my
[2:13:46] word, and I think you heard it from all
[2:13:48] of us. We're going to solve this
[2:13:49] problem.
[2:13:51] » Thank you for Thank you for coming out.
[2:13:53] Thank you for being patient. We are
[2:13:54] changing our agenda next time. There'll
[2:13:56] be public comment at the beginning and
[2:13:57] public at the end. Thank you for being
[2:13:58] patient to understand the process as
[2:14:00] well and for all of the time you put in.
[2:14:02] And thanks to all our colleagues.
[2:14:04] » Thank you. Okay. So the uh I need a
[2:14:06] motion to end the workshop.
[2:14:09] » I'll move that we end to adjurnn.
[2:14:11] » Motion to adjurnn.
[2:14:12] » So move.
[2:14:13] » I'll second.
[2:14:14] » Second from our side. Terrific.