HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 04/09/2018 - Public Works Committee E
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PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE
Monday,April 9,2018
Municipal Center Council Chambers,6:30 PM
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1. Call to Order: Chairman Santi called the meeting to order at 6:42 pm.
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2. Roll Call: Chairman Santi, Alderman Glab, and Alderman Mihevc. Also in attendance
Director of Public Works Schmitt, Wastewater Division Superintendent Ruzicka, and
Executive Assistant/Deputy Clerk Geraghty.
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3. Public Comment: None.
4. Motion to approve the January 8,2018 Public Works Committee Meeting Minutes.
Alderman Mihevc made a motion seconded by Alderman Glab to approve the minutes as
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presented,
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Aye: Mihevc, Glab, Santi.
Motion carried.
5. Annual Summary of National Pollutants Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
Stormwater Discharge Permit.
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Chairman Santi asked Director Schmitt to present the item to the Committee.
Director of Public Works Schmitt informed the Committee that as a requirement of the
NPDES Stormwater Discharge permit issued by the IEPA, city staff is required to
provide the Public Works Committee with an annual update of the current stormwater
program.
As background, Wastewater Superintendent Ruzicka reported waste and storm water
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discharges are governed under NPDES and overseen by the USEPA with origins in the
Federal Clean Water Act of 1972. McHenry was granted an MS4 permit in 2003, and
one of the requirement is an annual public update on the program.
Creek cleaning is a main point of the MS4 permit. In 2017, 624 total man-hours were
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dedicated to creek cleaning and approximately 50 cubic yards of material was removed, 5
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which is an increase from 2016. The results of the January 2017 IEPA audit of the city's
MS4 program were satisfactory.
In 2017,the department received six illicit discharge reports. Training is performed each
year to learn how to identify illicit discharge. Employees notify the Superintendent who
samples the discharge to determine if any action is needed. Director Schmitt stated f
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examples of illicit discharges are pumping pool water from a garden hose into the storm
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sewer along the curb or dumping any liquids in the storm sewer. All six discharges were F
tested and found to be pool water that had been de-chlorinated, which was accpetable. A
discussion ensued on the process of de-chlorinating and draining pool water. Regulations
are also published in city newsletters.
In 2016, the USEPA reissued the MS4 Stormwater Discharge permit. Last year, the
department was required to select a method of monitoring stormwater. Samples of
residential, commercial, and industrial areas are taken and the results are submitted to the
IEPA annually.
Alderman Glab asked where most of the creek cleaning had occurred. Director Schmitt
stated most of the hours were spent in January, February, March and early April, as there
were not many snow events, which allowed the department more time to remove debris
from the creek. Extensive work in the Lakeland Park drainage ditch was performed as
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well as Boone Creek. This winter season not as many hours were spent on creek cleaning
due to the increase in snow events.
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Chairman Sand asked how far the city is authorized to clean Boone Creek. Director
Schmitt stated Downtown Maintenance cleans the creek along Green Street in the
summer. Public Works started clearing the creek at the Bull Valley Bridge and behind
Millstream.
Alderman Glab stated property owners should pay the city to remove debris and large !'
trees that fall into the creek from their property. Director Schmitt agreed and stated the
property owners on each side of the creek are responsible to maintain. Staff is
documenting the hours spent and will be sending letters to property owners when this
occurs. At this time, when the department finds a tree in the creek, a letter is sent to the
developer or landowner and Community Development runs the process.
At 7:05 PM, Superintendent Ruzicka left the meeting.
6. Discussion on procedures for acceptance of existing privately owned public
improvements i.e., roads, storm sewers, streetlights, water mains, sanitary sewer
mains.
Director Schmitt asked the committee for direction on how they would like staff to
proceed when approached to take over their private roads, water, and sanitary sewer,
similar to Chesapeake Hills. Many areas are privately owned and for various reasons, did
not get dedicated to the city at the time of the development. Currently, as far as water,
the IEPA would not permit this. Ten years ago the IEPA declared if there was more than
one service off a public water main, it automatically becomes a public main and therefore
this becomes part of a municipality's water distribution system. This is not the case with
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sanitary sewer; they still allow private sanitary sewer mains no matter how many services
are tied-in. Director Schmitt stated in his opinion, the city should be responsible for
accepting sanitary sewer and water mains for all future developments.
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Chairman Santi recommended the development of a game plan where staff follows
guidelines approved by the committee. If at any point the areas in question wants to
come to us as a committee, we will either approve or not and send it up the ladder. F
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Alderman Glab asked how Chesapeake Hills made it to the Council and stated what the
city did with Chesapeake Hills was irresponsible to the users of the system as the city has
to maintain something that is subpar and not accepted by the city because it was never
built right. A discussion ensued on the 10-foot separation required between water and
sewer and the 10-foot easement that does not exist in Chesapeake Hills subdivision.
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Director Schmitt stated the city took a 10-foot easement over water main and a 10-foot
easement over sanitary sewer—over each utility. Sanitary sewer runs down the middle of
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the road and the water main is off the curb. There is a 10-foot separation and where they
cross they have to follow IEPA specification standards, which means that within 10-feet,
the sanitary sewer has to be water main quality pipe to hold pressure. Chesapeake Hills
was built to those specifications per the IEPA permit.
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Chairman Santi asked if this was a worthy guideline and something the city wants to
follow and Director Schmitt answered we are required to follow it and do not want it any
other way.
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Director Schmitt suggested that when the department receives a request, it should be
presented to the Committee to determine if staff should move forward with process.
Only after direction from the committee would staff time be committed to determine if z
the utilities or roadway were constructed to city standards. After staff inspection and
research, Director Schmitt would present a punch list of any deficiencies to the
Committee and HOA. G
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Alderman Glab suggested that the Committee consider including roadway acceptance
standards in an Ordinance to ensure consistency in the future.
A discussion ensued on various subdivisions throughout town with streets that are not
dedicated to the city, as they do not meet city standards.
Director Schmitt reported that as requested, he reviewed the permit for Irish Prairie
subdivision. The sanitary sewer main belongs to the city; it was an existing sanitary
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sewer that ran down the middle of the project with a dedicated easement. When Cunat
constructed the units, they tied into the main. The water main construction permit with
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the EPA had a special condition attached to it that stated the water main would be public '
unless there was not a public right of way or easement given. If it was not located in a
public right of way or easement, it was to be maintained by the developer, which is what
happened. Director Schmitt also discovered that Cunat approached the city to take over
the road and water main and the water main request was denied as it did not meet city w
standards. However, the city agreed to take the water main if easements were granted
over the water main and this never happened: As a result, the water main is the HOA's
responsibility.
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Alderman Glab suggested that any requests submitted to the city by a developer should
be assessed a fee for staff time to inspect the system.
Alderman Mihevc added in his opinion there should be a charge regardless as there
would be a significant amount of staff time spent to research the request.
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Alderman Mihevc asked how the city is usually approached. Director Schmitt answered
usually it begins as an informal request at which time staff would ask for the request to be
submitted in writing. Alderman Mihevc noted putting together a comparison of city
standards versus the utility in question would take a fair amount of staff time and a
review fee would be appropriate. Director Schmitt noted staff time and equipment is
used to perform the inspections.
Chairman Santi suggested the payment process could be similar to the Planning and
Zoning fee process.
A discussion ensued on including an application packet that would include city
specification that would have to be met prior to acceptance along with a base fee or filing
fee. Director Schmitt said he would contact Attorney McArdle for language holding the
city harmless when inspecting these utilities on private property.
Chairman Santi suggested a processing fee structure and inspection fee structure for
roads, sanitary sewer main,water main, streetlights, etc.
Alderman Glab asked if the city pays for the streetlight poles. Director Schmitt said in
new subdivisions, the developer pays for the pole and installation. Once accepted, the
city pays the ComEd bill. The city does not own the pole or infrastructure, but the city
does pay a maintenance fee to ComEd, generally. However, we have some areas such as
the hospital, which is our system, they are metered, and the city is responsible for
maintenance; downtown business areas and the new lighting on Route 120/Route 31 is
the city's and are also metered. The previous director wanted ownership of all the poles
and lights however, Director Schmitt is of the opinion that due to cost and manpower,
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this would not be beneficial to the city, which is why we pay a maintenance fee and
ComEd takes care of the lights in most areas of the city. g
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Chairman Santi requested that staff bring this proposal to the Committee for approval
prior to presentation to the Council. Director Schmitt will reach out to other communities
that may already have something like this in place. As the summer projects are
approaching, and after the City Attorney's review, it may be a few months before this
will be ready for presentation to the Committee. In the meantime, Director Schmitt will
inform the committee if any requests are submitted to the city.
7. Discussion on Fiscal Year 2018/19 Public Works Committee Meeting Dates and
Topics.
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• Committee onsite review of streets in areas requested by the Committee. The
meeting start time could be around 5 PM.
• Open House/Committee Meeting at various Public Works Facilities.
• Review of drainage ways/maintenance including behind West Campus.
• Value of Speed Signs/Locations for permanent installation of speed signs.
• Traffic Study for possible 4-Way Stop at Front&Northfox Condos.
• Township Road Agreements/Referendum and Public Works impact.
Director Schmitt asked the Committee how often they want to meet and suggested the
Committee schedule the next meeting at which time a schedule will be presented for 4
approval. A_Tuesday or Wednesday_meeting in May was suggested. After further
discussion, it was agreed to schedule the next meeting tentatively on May 30 at 6:30 PM.
8. Staff Reports.
Director Schmitt reported hydrant flushing is a day behind due to recent weather events.
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9. Other Business.
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Alderman Glab inquired about Township agreements regarding roads. Director Schmitt
stated the city has a written agreement with McHenry Township and a verbal agreement
with Nunda Township. Alderman Glab asked which roads we maintain for the city;
which roads do the townships maintain for us. Director Schmitt said that off the top of
his head, McHenry Township maintains Country Club Drive all the way to the end;
Riverside Drive; Lincoln Road and Martin Road have overlapping jurisdictions.
A discussion ensued on the upcoming referendum to dissolved Township Road Districts "
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and its impact to the city.
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10. Motion to Adjourn.
Alderman Glab made a motion, second by Alderman Mihevc to adjourn the meeting. ?
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The meeting adjourned at 8:25 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Marci Geraghty,Executive Assist/Deputy Clerk I�
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Reviewed and approved this day of vG 2018.
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Chairman Victor Santi
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