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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-19-2018 regular meeting City Council of Peachtree City Meeting Minutes April 19, 2018 6:30 p.m. The Mayor and Council of Peachtree City met in regular session on Thursday, April 19, 2018. Mayor Vanessa Fleisch called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Others attending: Terry Ernst, Mike King, Kevin Madden, and Phil Prebor. Announcements, Awards, Special Recognition Fleisch called for a moment of silence in memory of Fred Brown,who died the day before. Brown served as Mayor for 10 years. Fleisch recognized Officer Kevin Brown and Cpl. Chad Davis of the Police Department for their prompt actions that saved a life in February. Minutes April 3, 2018, Retreat Workshop Minutes April 5, 2018, Regular Meeting Minutes King moved to approve the minutes as written. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Quarterly Reports- 1st Quarter 2018 No comments from Council Consent Agenda Consider Stormwater Facility Maintenance Agreement-South 74 Industrial Park Ernst moved to approve the Consent Agenda item. King seconded. Motion carried unanimously. New Agenda Items 04-18-03 Consider Amendments to Health & Sanitation Swimming Pool Regulations Deborah Straight of the Fayette County Health Department was present to answer questions. Madden said he was pleased to see the extensive rules and regulations for maintaining public pools and wanted to know what was meant by a requirement for "sacrificial anodes to reduce galvanic action and electrolytic corrosion"in pools with metal shells.Straight replied that sacrificial anodes cover the metal and prevent it from coming into contact with the water, which could contain corrosive chemicals. Madden referred to another part of the regulations that said timers must be set to provide at least one complete turnover before the pool could be opened, and asked if that meant the whole volume of the pool must be replaced before it could be opened to the public. Straight told him that was correct, noting that in most pools it took six hours to circulate all pool water through the pump and the filter. Madden also asked if all pools in Peachtree City adhered to standards for safety vacuum release systems to prevent suction entrapment. Straight said all commercial pools did and checking those systems was part of her job. Madden moved to approve New Agenda Item 04-18-03. Prebor seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 04-18-04 Consider Ordinance Amendment-Traffic (no parking west side of Echo Court) City Engineer Dave Borkowski said parking on both sides of Echo Court during special events created a hazardous situation because emergency vehicles could not get through. Borkowski noted this had been discussed at a previous Council meeting. He remarked that creating a no- parking zone on the west side of the cul-de-sac would solve the problem without interfering with curb cuts. City Council Minutes April 19, 2018 Page 2 Prebor moved to approve New Agenda Item 04-18-04. King seconded. Motion carried. 04-18-05 Consider Acceptance of Easement- Brechin Park Multi-use Path Borkowski requested that Council accept the donation of a multi-use path easement from the Brechin Park Homeowners Association (HOA). He noted this would be for a path connection between The Gates on SR 74 and Redwine Road to Brechin Park, which was in the County. Borkowski noted the connection was planned when Brechin Park was built, and the developers had donated funds to build it. King moved to approve New Agenda Item 04-18-05. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Council/Staff Topics Update on Multi-Use Path Bridges City Manager Jon Rorie detailed progress on the Spyglass Island land bridge at Battery Park,which was project #34 for the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) list. He explained that ledger rock, or Redi-Rock, was used for water filtration and flow, and the island bridge was constructed by City crews under the guidance of Integrated Science and Engineering (ISE). Rorie showed pictures of how the bridge looked at present, with the capstone in place on top of the wall and the inside filled with gravel. He said the area was disturbed by trucks during construction, and it was planned in advance to get the bridge done before beginning a planned replacement of the path around the lake. Rorie said a landscaping plan had been created for the entryway to the island, incorporating dogwoods.The landscaped area would help control parking by making it impossible to pull carts off to the side and park. Island visitors would have to either park at Battery Way Park and walk over the bridge to the island or drive across and park in a designated area on the island. Rorie added that six inches of concrete would be poured at the ingress and egress to the island. The SPLOST project had been budgeted at about $200,000, Rorie noted. The final total would be about$80,000 to$90,000, but Rorie wanted to use Flexi-Pave, a product made from recycled tires, to create a path on the island that would be more accessible to people with disabilities. Flexi- Pave would provide a smooth surface that met the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Rorie estimated this would cost between $50,000 and $70,000, but would be a better fit than asphalt for keeping a natural environment on the island. Another project Rorie discussed was the Lake Peachtree Multi-Use Bridge and Dam. He showed a photo looking east on McIntosh Trail/Kelly Drive near the Community Garden. He pointed out the Spillway area and noted that a lot of dirt was being moved from the dam side to the other side of the road, and that area would be landscaped. The path system would be realigned to eliminate the backwards look currently required for a safe crossing of the intersection with Kelly Drive. Another photo showed how the spillway looked at present,with the center support column for the bridge featured. Rorie showed drawings depicting the finished project, but noted there would be no parking area as the drawings showed.The path would cross the spillway bridge, then connect back into Kelly Drive. Rorie explained that the 161-foot long bridge would be constructed in two 80-foot sections. It was already being built and would be brought in and placed on the supports. Rorie said this bridge was a huge investment for the community, and there was only one chance to get it right. Hence, Rorie noted, they looked at some things that would add to the appeal of this gateway project, such as entryway columns and a sign reading "Lake Peachtree." He said these would be made City Council Minutes April 19, 2018 Page 3 of Corten steel, a product designed to rust, providing a protective coating for the metal. The 62- foot wide sign would be would be backlit, and there would be low-level lighting on the path and the bridge itself. The height of the Corten steel columns at the entryways was still in question. Rorie said they were looking at 17 feet, but 18 feet might be more appropriate. The columns would be set on a stone base,which would be low-maintenance. Maintenance was the reason for using concrete for the surface rather than a wood deck that would have to be replaced more frequently. He said the chain link fence shown in the drawing would be replaced with a higher-grade fence called American Montage, which had been used in other areas of the City. The landscape plan was still being developed, Rorie noted.Trees were a maybe, but ornamental grasses would definitely be planted, as would Bermuda grass. Rorie said they would rely on staff labor as much as possible. The cost of the bridge was approximately$687,992, Rorie reported,with the addition landscaping at$144,091,the projected total was$771,373.As a SPLOST project,this bridge had been budgeted at $800,000, Rorie commented. He said he was still looking at in-source opportunities for the landscaping to save more money. In summation, Rorie said the parking and path extension to the island were moving along. The spillway was within budget, even with the additions of the signage and the lighting. He said the paving contract for this year had been budgeted to include the cost of repaving McIntosh Trail after this project was finished. 111 Fleisch noted that this project was time-consuming, and she appreciated the forethought that had gone into these plans. Report on IMS Paving Assessment Rorie said since 2014, the City's mulch yard had been one of his topics of interest. Leading into this discussion, he explained that during last year's Retreat sessions, he focused on spending on street lights, attempting to explain the costs and how it factored into the budgeting process. The City had roughly a $35 million budget, he said, and last year he broke the costs down into line-by-line items. He said $60,000 to $80,000 was budgeted for three intersections on the SR 54 East corridor, and the City was waiting for Georgia Power's response to begin installing them. The City spent more than$350,000 a year on street lights. He noted this was the type of discussion that made up the budgeting process. Getting back to mulch, Rorie pointed out that the goal was to keep at least 25% of the City as greenspace, which equaled about 3,700 acres. With that came the consequence of trees and the maintenance and debris they bring. When trees and other vegetation was removed, much of the debris goes to the City mulch yard on SR 74 South.The mulch yard, Rorie noted,was officially sized at 12 acres, but only about 3.5 acres was available for mulch storage. This area was the City's south gateway, Rorie noted, and the first thing motorists saw upon entering the City was a $1 million piece of property used as a mulch pile. For years, he commented, the City had looked at moving the mulch yard from this prime spot. Rorie presented photos of the debris mound, which was estimated to contain around 18,000 or 20,000 cubic yards of mulch. He said the debris was ground, then moved to the mulch pile to be used in parks and other areas around the City. City Council Minutes April 19, 2018 Page 4 In calendar year 2017, the City budgeted $80,000 for tree removal, but wound up spending $246,000, due to storm damage. The cost for grinding the debris into mulch would require an additional $20,000 over the $40,000 that had been budgeted, Rorie noted. The City also paid Keep Peachtree City Beautiful (KPTCB) $40,000 to collect debris from City greenbelts, much of it thrown out by residents. He said staff distributed about 10,000 cubic yards of mulch a year around the City, in 800 tree rings, 471 islands, and around City facilities. Rorie asked where the excess went if the City distributed 10,000 cubic yards each year, yet produced 20,000 to 25,000 cubic yards annually. He said that was a problem, and the debris pile would soon overflow the 3.5 acres. Costs would be more substantial if the City transported its debris to the County Transfer Station Landfill in Fayetteville, Rorie pointed out, explaining further about the cost to mulch at the City facility. Right now, the City contracted to grind waste at $3.50 per cubic yard, which equaled $87,000 per year. The City used 10,000 cubic yards a year, leaving 15,000 cubic yards to decompose at the station. It would not be cost-effective to move it to the County Transfer Station, he pointed out. Rorie said the City had a bid from a contractor to both grind and remove the mulch at $1 1.38 per cubic yard, which would cost about $284,500 per year. Rorie said he wanted to bring this up because this issue, paving, and the IMS assessment were all part of the same big picture. He said the City was going to pay an outside contractor$250,000 to cut trees, but it was worth a look at whether the City should do the job itself or ask the contractor to haul away debris. Right-of-way mowing was a related issue. Rorie said the City could do its own mowing for $320,000 a year, but instead was paying an out-sourced crew $250,000 for nine months of work. He said it might be worth considering hiring additional employees and putting them to work on tree trimming in the winter months when grass cutting was not needed. Rorie said he wanted to bring up the mulching yard now because he had been trying to figure out how to move it from its current "gateway" location. Closing it was not possible, he noted. The City was 60 years old, and needed to think what the next 60 years would look like. He said this would lead into the conversation about IMS paving, which would lead to another conversation. Civil Engineer Jonathan Miller said the results were in from the Infrastructure Management Services (IMS) Pavement Analysis and Peachtree City Asset Inventory.The Pavement Condition Evaluation System (P.A.C.E.S.) previously used by the City was a subjective visual rating based on roadway distresses on representative samplings, while IMS looked at the entire road, not just a sampling, to gauge the Surface Distress Index, the Roughness Index, and the Strength Index. He noted that the 2014 P.A.C.E.S. rating, the most recent, rated the City's roads at 81 on its Pavement Condition Index (PCI). Assets listed included 193 miles of road network, valued at a little more than $1 million a mile, for a total of $206.5 million. This included pavement, curbs, gutters, signage, and landscaping, Miller reported. IMS did an inventory of each category, which reported the cost of replacing all these items. For instance, the City owned 4,860 signs,with a replacement value of about$1.3 million. Rorie pointed out that one of his pet peeves was leaning signs, but he realized it would be a massive use of man-hours and materials to straighten the many non-vertical signs. He said he received an email from a citizen asking why all the signs could not be replaced at one time, and noted that the $1.3 million cost was the answer. He said replacement was moving on, little by little, as funding and staffing allowed.The City had added to the paving budget to use for striping City Council Minutes April 19, 2018 Page 5 along Flat Creek, Riley, Aberdeen, McIntosh, and Kelly,which made Rorie's point that paving was not the only expenditure required for roadways. Fleisch noted that the most recent SPLOST said there were 179 miles of road in the City, and this inventory showed 193. Miller noted that Cresswind, Everton, and other developments, had been added since then. Crosswalks were another category where the City had fallen short in its estimate, Rorie added. Fleisch said the inventory of signs,crosswalks, etc., had been added to the IMS contract because the City had never had a professional counting of these types of assets. Miller said sidewalks and ramps were not included because the City did not have too many of those. Prebor asked what was included in the miscellaneous category, and Miller replied it covered special circumstances such as raising sewer manholes or water valves,which could be expensive. The City's current PCI was 61, compared to 81 in 2014, with a backlog of 9.7%, about 19 miles. Backlog was defined by the PCI being less than or equal to a rating of 40. Miller said the IMS recommendation was to keep the backlog at less than 15%. If it was greater, it was harder to catch up without a huge influx of money. Miller then showed a chart of the Pavement Performance Curves,which showed how pavements performed over time. The PCI was on the left hand side, time and years on the bottom. He had highlighted ranges to show the condition of the City's roads and the costs to keep them up to standard. For about$42,000 a mile, seal coats and thin lifts could be done on the 30%of the City's roads that needed them.These roads were rated between a 75 and a 90. Around $153,000 a mile would pay for the two-inch mill and pave that 19% of the City's roadways required. Mill, patch, paves, at around $209,000 a mile, were needed for about 40% of the City's roads, Miller reported. Full depth reclamation (FDR) was needed on the remainder of the roads, the 9.7% backlog, and that would cost $342,000 a mile. Miller said it was important to note that almost 60% of the City's roads were in the middle section, and 40% were on a cliff where, without repairs, they would drop to the FDR category. He noted that it was easy to drop from a 60 to an FDR in five years time. Miller also noted that pavement had a 15-year life cycle. The first major rehab was needed at 15, which would prevent an even bigger major expense. That 15-year rule was for roads with normal loading,Miller pointed out. Rorie added that the City tried to spend$42,000 every 15 years to keep from spending $153,000 or $209,000 later on. The City wanted to resurface every road every 15 years, he commented. Miller added that the chart showed a rapid decline in condition at the 15- year mark. Normal loading conditions meant typical traffic, with a small percentage of heavy vehicles, such as 18-wheelers and trash trucks. As an example, Miller talked about trash trucks because they were the heaviest load seen on most of the City's roads, and it was easy to predict their schedules. A chart showing road wear in an area with three trash providers made the point that the roadway would deteriorate much more quickly than in an area with normal traffic. SPLOST allocated $3.7 million for repaving, and $326,000 for seal coating, while the General Fund designated $1.8 million for resurfacing, Miller noted, for a total of almost$5.9 million. He said some of that money, probably about 5%, must be allocated for signage, striping, and other miscellaneous uses, leaving $5.58 million for seal coating and resurfacing. City Council Minutes April 19, 2018 Page 6 Miller presented several five-year budgeting options. To fix everything over five years, Miller said $9 million would be required each year.This would give the City an ending PCI score of 86,with a backlog of approximately nothing. At the current funding level, the City would be at 72, with an 8.2% backlog, which was under the IMS recommendation. IMS recommended a budget of $4.8 million, which would get the City to a 69, with a backlog of 11.7%. If the City spent just the $1.8 from the General Fund, the PCI after five years would be 57, with a backlog of 28.7%. Doing nothing would give the City a PCI of 50, with a 37% backlog. Rorie noted that the City had struggled to get the General Fund paving budget to $1.8 million, which was not just for blacktop asphalt, but included items like striping and curbing. He noted that it took the combination of the General Fund and the SPLOST dollars to keep the City from going off the "cliff" that Miller described. He said the challenge was to resurface the roads that required it,while working to keep the 40% on the edge of the cliff in manageable shape. However, the City still needed to be thinking long-term, the City Manager remarked, asking what would happen if the City reverted back to only the General Fund. He said they could have cut the millage rate by one mill in this year's budget simply by removing the $1.8 million dedicated to roadwork from the General Fund, but that would be a bad idea. Doing nothing also was not an option; staff felt they had a responsibility to maintain this asset. When SPLOST went away in four years, Rorie noted, the General Fund spending would need to be at $4.8 million, which would require a one mill increase. King noted that, in six years, $4.8 million would probably not cover the costs. Rorie concurred, pointing out that$4.8 million in today's dollars would not be the same as $4.8 million six years from now, and Fleisch and Miller noted that in six years, there would be more streets, such as in Cresswind and Everton, to maintain. Rorie said it was important to stay on the right track and maintain the City's asset. Miller finished by explaining how IMS helped the City determine paving projects by pointing out which roads required work on critical segments. He said there was money for roads that required only seal coating and money as well to help reduce the backlog. Rorie noted this would be completely opposite of what the City had previously done, which was work on the worst roads first. Miller said roads in the backlog would be attacked, too, but they did not want to work solely on the backlog and let the 40% to 60% that were on the brink get worse. Rorie asked Miller to discuss the merits of seal coating. Miller explained a thin lift overlay was used on Kedron Drive because it was the more practical solution if traffic control, surface patching and other factors required for a seal coat were considered. It would have cost $34,446 to seal coat, but thin lift was $22,680, he noted. Thin lift, Miller related, was a thin layer of actual asphalt. Seal coat was rolled on like paint and must cure for 24 hours, which is where the additional traffic control came in. Kedron had some small surface patching and cracks which seal coat would cover but not completely. He said thin lift did not have much strength, so the road must be in decent shape to use it. He also pointed out that seal coats usually would not stick on a road surface more than six years old and required a tack coat in that case. Rorie commended Miller for recommending thin lift over seal coat on this project. Madden asked if FDR meant ripping up the whole surface of the road, and Miller confirmed that, and said it was more economical and quicker than the previous method of removing all asphalt and the base, then adding new rock. In FDR, a mixer mixed cement and the remains of the base and asphalt to become the new base. Madden asked how long that took, and Miller said to FDR Kedron, it would have taken a week. Madden noted that FDR was much more costly and more City Council Minutes April 19, 2018 Page 7 time consuming to motorists. The lesson, Miller said, was to do the maintenance, so the roads did not have to be ripped up. Rorie said if the City wanted to FDR all 19 miles of the backlog, it would carry a price tag of $7 million. City Finance Director Paul Salvatore told Rorie that at a 3.75% interest rate over 10 years, the City would pay roughly $852,000 a year on a 10-year bond. That would amount to a millage rate increase of .383 mills. It would be easier to maintain this asset that belonged to citizens and taxpayers, Rorie concluded. Prebor asked for an assessment of seal coating vs. thin lift. Rorie said HAS seal coating was done on Commerce Drive, a highly-travelled road. This involved filling cracks and adding a one-eighth inch coat. He said it had held up well in some areas. On Kedron, three-quarters inch of asphalt was added. Rorie said the seal coating cost $30,000 and involved one-eighth inch coating, plus crack filling and tack,while the thin lift was only the three-quarters inch of asphalt.Thin lift improves ride quality, Miller noted. Prebor asked when it was better to use seal coat and when thin lift was the best option. Miller said it really just depended on the situation, and noted that asphalt prices fluctuated. Prebor said he was pleased with this report and felt it would be a useful tool for the City moving forward. He noted that it was interesting to know they should had been approaching road repairs in the opposite way from what would be most effective. At Rorie's request, Miller demonstrated the map viewer feature on the IMS analysis. It had several layers,and Miller turned on the one that showed pavement condition of all roads in the City. Rorie asked him to show the condition of Dividend Drive and SR 74 South.The intersection was rated 64, although some areas of Dividend were at 89 and 80. The difference was attributed to variations in loading. Rorie said it was good to be able to see these variations from block to block. He asked to see Kelly Drive in front of the Public Works facility. That was rated a 28. He said concrete should be installed in front of the Public Works facilities when Kelly Drive was redone. Rorie noted that heavy trucks were responsible for wearing out the road there. Miller pointed out that the map viewer showed striping. Prebor asked if citizens could see this feature. Rorie said that would not be a good idea from his perspective because the citizens might not understand why roads with lower ratings were not being paved when roads with higher ratings were getting maintenance work. Fleisch noted that the City went many years without doing any paving at all,and Miller said this was probably the reason there were a clump of roads on the cliff. Miller also demonstrated that the sign icons on the map would show what type of sign was there when clicked and what type of post it was on. He said each sign had an identification number that would be useful to Public Works. Clicking on various points on the map displayed photos of the area. Madden noted that this was so important but did not get much attention because maintenance was not sexy. Bridges over spillways, new nine-acre parks on Spyglass Island, pavilions, he said, were sexy. It was important to explain that protecting the City's $206 million asset was vital. It was important to keep up with maintenance, and Rorie noted that 2.5 mills were dedicated just to road maintenance, so it was a big deal. Madden said he wanted to return to the garbage truck issue. Miller said firetrucks and school buses were also culprits, but garbage trucks were heavier and their axles were different. Madden City Council Minutes April 19, 2018 Page 8 noted, too, that there were not three different fire departments or school systems making the rounds as there were with garbage haulers. Fleisch asked Public Information Officer/City Clerk Betsy Tyler how many haulers there were in the City, and Tyler answered there were three. Fleisch said Code Enforcement's number one complaint received was garbage cans left on the street too long. With so many haulers working on different days, she noted, it was a hard issue to enforce. Rorie said he planned to create a quiz or fun fact section on the City's website and Facebook using some of the information from the IMS analysis, such as "how many street signs are there in the City?"The idea would be to get people to understand this was big picture stuff for the next 60 years. Madden asked if any waste haulers picked up limbs and yard debris. Tyler said there were supposed to offer it, but it carried an extra cost. Rorie said his hauler told him he had to bag it. Madden said if the City ever decided to negotiate with one hauler, they could mandate that they offer yard debris. Rorie said they were looking at discussing service delivery strategies for the May 1 Retreat session. He said he expected some backlash from this, but Fleisch said they now had quantitative objective data to support using one company. Fleisch continued that the IMS analysis showed what repetitive truck traffic did to a road. Dividend Drive, for example, was paved in 2012, and the Mayor said it was interesting to see the degradation of that one section after just six years, even though asphalt was supposed to have a 15-year lifespan. Miller said the road's rating should be somewhere in the 80s after just six years. Council noted how many trucks traveled this stretch of road. Prebor asked if a truck stopped, whether it would wear out the asphalt faster than if it kept moving. Miller said asphalt bent like a paper clip, and trucks made it bend more. He said the rebound caused it to crack. Stopping should not have an effect; it was just the amount of traffic. Rorie thanked the City's engineering team for their work.Miller added that concrete trucks caused wear and tear on the roads,and that was why the City asked for a two-year warranty on the road when new subdivisions were built. Executive Session King moved to convene in executive session for threatened or pending litigation at 8:09 p.m. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously. King moved to reconvene in regular session at 8:37 p.m. Madden seconded. Motion carried unanimously. There being no further business to discuss, Madden moved to adjourn the meeting. King seconded. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adj J.Aneds�t 8:38 p.m. Martha Barksda e, Re ording Secre .' Vanessa Fleisch, ayor