Public Works Committee - Regular Meeting

Good morning. I like to call this public works committee meeting to order. I am chairwoman, alderwoman me, Lele a Cox. We are joined to my right by vice chair, alderman Lamont Westmoreland. We are joined to his right by alderman Robert Baldwin. We are joined to the left by staff assistant Carmen Roman. We are also joined to the left by alderman Alex Brower, and we are joined to his left by alderman Larissa Taylor. Item number, we're gonna take an item out

of

order. We're gonna do item number five first, file number 252060. Substitute ordinance renaming South Cesar Chavez Drive from West Mitchell Street to West Pierce Street, South 16th Street. The sponsors of this ordinance are Alderman Perez and Alderman Zamarepa. Mister president, would you like to start off?

Yes, I would. I I appreciate it.

As the news has stated when the news came out about Cesar Chavez immediately heard from community members and the bid on the street about changing the name as soon as possible. There was a consensus around returning the street name back to Cesar Chavez which we can do with 12 votes on the on the council which I'm hoping will happen by council day and feel confident about that but.

Back to 16th Street.

Back to 16th Street and then the community would go through a process through the street naming committee about a community engagement and a process to change the name if and when they wanted to to another appropriate reflection of the community. And with that said, I just wanted to have this be part of the what I consider the healing and acknowledging that the street name should go should those names should be taken down from the street and the bid is in the process of also changing their name and moving that forward. So we appreciate all the work that everyone's done to get prepared for that.

Thank you. Underwoman Zamarepa. Yeah. Thank you,

madam chair. I I was at some of the meetings that the president mentioned that the bid hosted and I appreciate them assembling stakeholders in the community and there is some healing that has to happen. Like like some folks, I have some trepidation about removing the name that was advocate ated so hard for to really represent the community. This is a super majority Latino population that Chavez Drive runs through. I will be removing asking to have my name removed today.

Again, I I support the community renaming the street to something culturally appropriate. Changing it back to 16th Street. I know it gives a lot of folks some heartburn. So, I know it's a unique request because this file does have to happen, but I I don't see that I need to be a co sponsor. I'd like to have my name removed.

Carmen, is there anything we would have to do for that? At the minutes Administrator one? Make that motion. Okay. Alderman Baumann will make the motion to remove Alderman Zadmaripa as a cosponsor of the legislation. Are there any objections to that motion? Hearing none, so ordered. Thank you. Is there any questions from committee? Alright.

Alderman Westmoreland will move for passage. Are there any objections to that motion? Hearing none, so ordered. Motion passes. Alright.

Back to the beginning of the agenda. File number item number one. File number 252010 resolution determining it necessary to make various nonaccessible public improvements at various locations and appropriating funds for these purposes With the city engineering cost estimated to be 1,515,000 for a total estimated cost of these projects being 17,800,000. We do have a proposed substitute.

You have chair on this file?

Yes. Alderman Baumann.

Does this file have embedded within it both today and at other times a lot of these traffic counting projects or those come to us

Are you speaking to the microphone, Alderman?

Hello. Emily Smith, Department of Public Works. So the community led traffic calming are often embedded into this file, but I believe the multimodal and other funds are not.

Okay. Very good.

Auditor Member would make the motion for a six step proposed substitute a hearing objection so ordered. Can you tell us the difference with the proposed sub and what?

Yes. So the sub is to set up additional funding to complete a design for a project that we're looking to get off the contract this year.

Any other questions from committee? Alderman Brower would move adoption. Are there any objections to that motion? Hearing none, so ordered. Item number two, file number two five two zero one one, resolution improving construction of nonaccessible public improvements at various locations and appropriating funds for these purposes with the city construction cost estimated to be $1,228,000 for a total estimated cost of these projects being $10,006,488,000 dollars.

Hello, Emiliesen at Department of Public Works. This file is to set up construction funding for various projects.

Oh, we also have another substitute.

Yes. There is a proposed substitute for this one

as Alderwoman Taylor would move acceptance of proposed proposed substitute a. Are there any objections to that motion? Hearing none, so ordered. Are there any questions on this up? Hearing that alderman, Baumann would move adoption. Hearing objection is so ordered. Item number three, file number 252074, appointment of Linda Elmer to the citizen advisory committee on the naming of public buildings, facilities, and streets by the mayor. Morning. Good morning. Good morning.

You wanna tell us a little bit about your interest in the committee?

I've staffed the committee for maybe fifteen to twenty years. I know it's had an issue getting quorum for those years. Deals with honorized street namings rather than official street namings typically. And I'm willing to serve and think it's good body that actually needs to meet so it can forward the files on the Public Works Committee.

All right. Any questions from committee? Just right.

Not sure.

Audeman Brouwer?

Yeah, Linda, thank you so much for continuing to be involved.

Oh, thank you. Mhmm. Alright. Alderman Brower, move for confirmation. Are there any objections to that motion? Hearing none, so ordered. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up, item four, file number 252075. Appointment of Esperanza Gutierrez to the citizen advisory committee on the naming of public buildings, facilities, and streets by the mayor. Good morning. Miss Gutierrez? Yes. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your interest in the committee.

I've been a resident of Milwaukee since 1960. I'm now 73. This is my home, and I think it's a crucial time timing that this came up. And I would like to add my voice as a Latina, as a Mexican woman from my daughter that from my father that did do the harvest from Texas all the way to Milwaukee that he decided to, invest his family's life here. So I think it's my time to give voice to them.

Any questions from committee? Madam chair. Alderman Zamorifa.

Thank you, madam chair. I'm not on the committee, but I just wanted to thank you so much for your leadership. And you can hear remarks that she is speaking to the file that you just recently passed around the renaming of the removing of Cesar Chavez's name from from Cesar Chavez Drive. And so I I look forward to her leadership and her role as we make sure that we don't just leave it South 16th Street, that we pick something culturally appropriate appropriate to reflect our community. So I can't think of a better person to to lead us in that conversation. Thank you, Esperanza, for your Thank you.

Thank you for your words.

Other questions or comments? Orderman Westmoreland will move confirmation. Hearing objection, so order. Thank you.

Thank you.

Item number six, file number 251984, substitute resolution relating to the acceptance of the average cost of replacing the privately owned portion of a lead water service line.

Morning. Patrick Pauley, our work superintendent. This is the annual requirement to establish the average cost to replace a private side lead service line which has will be set at $3,454 for 2026. This is a fairly significant reduction from 2025 where it was $3,999 This is the amount that property owners who do not qualify for the lead service line replacement program and the cost share that the city offers will pay. So and actually I should say either this cost, the lower of this cost or the actual cost to replace is what they will be charged.

So that is anyone who is part of the owner request program, residential buildings greater than four units, commercial properties, and industrial properties that have lead service lines replaced.

Any questions from committee? Has our owner's request increased in recent time or no?

The owner's request? Mhmm. We had over 900 enrollees. We are working through the list. We completed 75 last year.

We have got about 135 scheduled for this year. And then the intent is to offer the opportunity to 200 property owners per year. Although we may adjust that depending on how many property owners agreed to join the program and what capacity we have in the remainder of the program. But yes, we have not publicized it since early twenty twenty four, meaning we sent a postcard to everyone in 2024 and then the majority of those 900 enrollees responded to that postcard. We will probably be sending another postcard not this year but maybe next year to see if there's any more interest in it.

Madam chair.

Audit Woman two.

Is the price adjusted for those already paying the 3,999 to the is not adjusted.

It is not adjusted.

Already in the program.

Start paying that. They are subject to the price that's in effect at the time of the replacement. They so there's a benefit obviously to having us perform the work because it is less costly than if they would retain their own plumber and then they are allowed to repay that amount over fifteen years on their property taxes as a special assessment.

Okay. Thank you.

Any other questions on committee? Hearing none, honor woman Taylor will move adoption. Are there any objections to that motion? Hearing none, so order. Item number seven, file number 251985, communication relating to semiannual reporting to the common council by Milwaukee Waterworks and the Department of Public Works regarding lead service line replacements. This should be okay. Alright. Michelle Nottarajan,

water quality manager, Milwaukee Water Works.

Carmen, I may need your assistance. I'm gonna bring this up on on the lab. Okay. Thank you. All right.

Patrick Pauley, Waterworks Superintendent. We are here to deliver the semi annual lead service line replacement report. I will certainly questions are welcome at any time, but I am going to scan through some of the review slides really quickly, the lead basics, the drawing of the lead service line. We have been over these a number of times. Lead and water reduction efforts, I think of note is the LCR improvements were finalized in October 2024 and the effective date is approaching 11/01/2027.

The ordinance that went into effect in 2017 and then the adjustment to the ordinance in January 2024 removing the cost share for eligible properties are most important on this slide. We talked about the average cost. There was a significant reduction that is primarily associated with the neighborhood by neighborhood approach that was started in 2024 and a very beneficial contract pricing that we received initially in 2024 and 2025, I would say that this is probably the low water point based on the fact that later in 2025 pricing went up a little bit and early this year pricing has increased again. So, dollars 7,389 for a full service replacement is far below the national average. Some of some communities are are Chicago is well over $20.00 per Right.

Over 20 for service line replacements. Right. And there is a number of reasons. It is related to the permit fees. It is how they do their work. It is related to how close their water service is to the sanitary lateral. A lot of their properties don't have meters when they go in. But seven the industry average is a little over 10 or national average is a little over 10 from everything we hear. So $7,389 is a very competitive price. It likely will rise hopefully just gradually as we move forward.

I'm not sure. So how many contractors do we have doing this work? Is there a single bid every year or are they broken into packages? How are we bidding out this work? How many contractors are involved? Have we seen new contractors come into the business?

We bid out packages of varying sizes from 200 services all the way up to 1,000 to try to create the biggest bidding pool we can. There have been some new entries over the years, but the bidders most recently, just two to three And we have two primary companies doing the majority of work 2026, NPL and Five Star, which they are both companies that do a lot of gas or electric or fiber optic utility installations that have pivoted to industry because they can drill in the water service lines similar to how they drill in those other utilities. Some of our contractors that also work on water main replacement projects do bid occasionally on the lead service lines and occasionally they win a service line contract but the two five star and NPL which are new to our market, I mean they were not part of the bidding

Are Milwaukee companies or I suspect not?

They are both, they both work in many states. I believe Five Star may have a more of a look, I can't answer that. They both have, I don't know what their local presence or footprint is.

Okay.

Actually, know Five Star, I don't know if they are local to Milwaukee, they are local to the area because they often tell us that they have more staff here than they do in some of the other municipalities they work in across the Midwest.

Okay. Thanks.

Any other questions from committee? All right. No, madam chair. Audemember Hower.

Yeah, thank

you so much.

So again, just, you know, I'm really, really glad that we're moving forward with this and continuing to do replacements. It looks like how many replacements are going to

be planning on doing this year?

It's 5,000 total. That's great. Then

3,800 prioritized and then the base program, which is leaks, failures, child cares.

Got it. And then how many total do we estimate that there are remaining then?

There's a little under 65,000 remaining at this point. Okay.

And is that after the 5,000 or prior?

That's prior. As of right now. Yeah. Okay. As of

right now. Approximately 65,000 lead laterals and then we're so our our attempt overall as you as you've said before is to replace all of these throughout the city then.

Yes. Our intent and the EPA lead and copper rule improvements require full replacement by the 2037. Okay.

That's what I want. That's what I wanted to get out from you. Yep. By 2037. Okay. I know you said that before but I just, you know, I have constituents that are that are really concerned about this as an issue. I will just say to that I, you know, I'm also equally, if not more concerned, you know, about lead paint exposure as well, you know, and that's something that, you know, we have talked about at this committee prior as well, but all these things, you know, all this all this no lead exposure is safe for anybody in my opinion. So, I just I and superintendent, I really appreciate your work on this. Thank you.

You're welcome. Here.

I don't remember.

Are we still leaving the old service line in the ground? Yes. So that can be recycled?

Yes. You have mentioned that. And the last time you mentioned that, went back and made some calls. And actually, a company reached out to me about potentially collecting the lead we do gather recycling it for us. We do not take a lot of lead out of the ground. Just basically at the connection point in the street and then at the connection point in the home, there is a small couple feet long most

Because piece you of not trenching anymore, basically.

Because we are no, we are not trenching. The new service gets installed adjacent to but sometimes two, three, four feet away from the existing and drilled into the ground and so it would it would cost more to trench and remove that than. Yeah.

Do enjoy savings then from not trenching and just doing a a parallel reinstallment.

Yes. And that's one of the reasons the cost is way down is because the companies now are drilling from the roadway right the basement and they can hit a spot, you know, one foot by one foot to come up and connect so they can do multiple service replacements in a given day with a four or five person crew. Okay.

So What

what's the effects of leaving the land, though, over time? What's the effect?

Well, I may defer to Michelle, but one of the curses of lead is it's incredibly durable. It I mean, the reason we have lead service lines in the ground 150 years old and I believe there are some in Europe that are many hundreds of years old is it does not deteriorate. But I think slowly over time it will it will break down. Michelle, do you want to weigh in on this?

Sure. Yes, I mean it will gradually contaminate the surrounding soil, which is pretty deep at that point, so hopefully not a major exposure risk. But ultimately it's going back to kind of where it came from.

Question about that, I'm sure.

I remember I

want to.

Yes. I'm just imagining. Mean, I I really appreciate that question because I'm imagining that would be a localized contamination unless there's a mass lot filtration through the soil or something that would cause particulates in the future. I mean, this isn't happening immediately. I'm assuming we're talking decades, decades or hundreds of years in the future. This will yes. And if humanity is still around a hundred few hundred years, well, then we'll, guess, we'll to deal with it then. But there's not a risk. There would what you're suggesting is there wouldn't be an immediate risk to an individual either now or even at the point of deterioration because we don't you know, not everybody has a well that's drawing from below that in our house. We have a municipal service system. So, there would be minimal exposure risk. Is that kind of what you're what you're saying because of it's just buried in one spot and.

Right.

Based on the depth, it's not a huge risk to people interacting with the soil at the surface. Obviously, that's not a perfect system. Soil can get disturbed. You know, things get dug up. But it's, yeah, it's the only, like, most of the lead, if it leaches, is probably going to bind to the soil particles and maybe gradually work its way down.

But we're not, yeah, using groundwater for our drinking water source. So we don't have that kind of risk of contaminating our groundwater and it's not likely to move up substantially to be able to contaminate the soil. Now granted, we live in an urban area and many of the soils in our community already do have lead contamination. So and that could be from gasoline, leaded gasoline or other historic reasons. So that's not to say that the soil is necessarily safe. It should be tested and people should wash their hands after touching it. But yes, I don't think that the lead service lines specifically are a very dangerous contributor at this point.

Thank you. The service lines are in some the land service lines are in some concentrated areas, though. Right?

They're in the older parts of the city. Yeah.

So in your in your thoughts to that response to the questions we just had, I get what you're saying so far as, like, individual lines. But when you think of the totality of the neighborhoods that they're in, you still feel the way that you do about it?

I mean, think the alternative would be trenching them all and recycling it. And I think that comes with its own risks and and I don't know, trauma to the neighborhood for lack of a better term. So I'm not sure that it's worth it to dig them up. I'm not I don't believe that it presents an immediate risk because of how deep it is. And I feel like digging it up could present more immediate risks.

How much is trenching?

Well, I would speculate that it would add a minimum 50% to the cost because right now there is very little excavation associated with these projects. Are small excavation in the road, smaller excavation right in the front yard. We are talking about having them spend time to dig all the way from the road right up to the house basically and then pull that pipe out and backfill that area and then restore. So then we are working. And then in that instance we are actually digging on private property which brings a whole another level of concern related to liability and damage and because one of the so I would say a minimum of 50% more.

So $4,000 but that's and

The other cities that are also doing this kind of work, do they all do it similarly to the way we currently do it? Do any of them trench?

I believe Chicago may be trenching. I don't know if they are trenching all of them, but I know they are trenching some of them because of the difficulty of installing the service line and where the sanitary lateral they are required to replace both at the same time because they're so close together and because of their state EPA, for lack of a better rule, and their rules. So I think Chicago is open cutting some of theirs. I believe the great majority of municipalities are doing it the way we are doing it.

Thank you. Any other questions from Just

for reference, how deep is it are these lines? Right?

Yeah. They're supposed to minimum of five feet. Five feet. Most of them are closer to six feet. And say we were

to trench and remove, what is the risk or what are the cons to doing that? Potential Like, I know you said they're strong, but could point potentially, could they break in? Like, what are the risks?

So any lead that's already come off of those pipes is now being exposed as you're, you know, digging down to those levels and you're displacing soil that becomes airborne and then can get in people's windowsills and become more accessible to people consuming it. And then of course it's just very like as he spoke to you're digging on private property, you're disrupting large areas. If you think about doing these replacements block by block, I can only imagine the disruption that would cause to a neighborhood to just have every home, you know, have a giant trench in front of it. With the small holes that are dug now, we aren't able to fully restore them right away, it can sometimes cause a bit of a trip hazard or disruption to the neighborhood. Making that a much larger trench for every single house where we're doing this just seems like a safety hazard and a very unpleasant way for the community to live until that's restored.

But you say one day they would have to come out.

No. No. I didn't say that.

We're not saying that. No. So they're they're good.

We're. Forever.

Forever. Okay. Alright. Thank you.

Sure. Any other questions from committee?

Yeah, madam chair.

Audeman Brown.

Yes, no, I appreciate you guys filling these questions because this is such a hot issue in our community. Our constituents have a lot of questions about these. I've been for constituents that have reached out to my office. I've referred them to other times when you guys have presented. So I appreciate that.

And I think the immediate I mean, I can see the concern with just leaving it in the ground because we're leaving a contaminant in the soil. I think the given the fact that we don't have the resources to do everything we want all at once immediately in any case of any of the stuff we do here at City Hall or anywhere in this world. But you know, the most immediate danger with the lead pipe comes from the exposure that could happen with the water that's going through the pipe. So replacing the pipe with the copper lateral, I mean, it is the most immediate expeditious way to eliminate that particular lead exposure concern. So I'll just, you know, for that, I'll just, you know, throw that out there that I think like this, what you guys are talking about this trenchless doing, allows us to do more.

And so therefore, we have more impact and like can reduce the hazards. You know, and with the soil contamination, I mean, the lead paint and the remnants from gasoline exposure, you know, are all over the place. Mean, you can walk down any neighborhood in the 3rd District or or or, you know, the 14th or the 6th or the 4th or any of these areas or anywhere on the North Side too and see the, you know, the the lead paint cracks in a certain way and and then it's peeling off and entering the soil and there's a, you know, it's a huge exposure risk that, you know, we I mean, I'm not even sure how many billions of dollars it would tackle it would take to, you know, remediate that entire problem around this entire country or even here in Milwaukee, you know, with just the letting the paint exposure as well. But just wanted to offer those thoughts. Thank you.

Any other comments from committee? Alright. We we're not taking questions at this time. We're not taking questions at this time. Our demand bombing will move to place on file.

We were

not on file. Sorry. Go ahead.

That's a there's still, like, 40 slides left.

Well, there's not 40. And I'll and I'll just hit the high point. So our goal for '25 was 3,500 replacements. We did not meet that goal, 3329. That was partly due to the inclement weather in December. We lost ten days of work. And then the primary reason was we had less replacements in our base program than anticipated partly due to water main relays and paving projects. But we were well, I guess I will leave it at that. We did not meet it and we came close but didn't quite get there. The customer outreach, nothing has changed. I am going to turn over the scientific portion of the presentation to Michelle.

Okay. So I always like to start with this slide for anyone who is new to the committee or needs a refresher. Our water lead testing procedure generally involves a three bottle procedure. So the first bottle we ask the homeowner or the resident to collect the water after it's been sitting in the pipes for at least six hours. And the first water that they capture in bottle number one is intended to be the water that's been sitting in those internal pipes and fixtures.

So we have an understanding of where the lead is coming from. And for a lead service line replacement test, which is the majority of what we're doing, that is the most critical sample because we have already removed the lead service line and we are just trying to check to make sure all the construction debris is flushed out of their plumbing and that there isn't still a significant source from their internal plumbing. Sample number two is collected about 45 later and this is intended to be representative of the water that's been sitting in their service line and then sample three is three minutes later the faucet is running throughout this process and that's intended to capture that water that has coming fresh from the water main and has had minimal time in contact with internal plumbing or service line. And then the note above just highlights that the prioritization project that's implemented by our owners rep is only doing one bottle testing since it's all lead service line replacement. And so we are considering transitioning all of our lead service line replacement testing to that one bottle procedure going forward since that's the LCRI requirement.

Next slide. This is a summary of the testing conducted between July and December. We tested three twenty nine samples from almost 200 properties and you can see that the prioritization done by our owners rep is the same number of samples and properties because they're doing the one bottle test whereas the other internal tests are often three bottle procedures. So there are more samples tested and fewer properties tested. The first three categories on this table are all lead service line replacement related.

So those are all after the service line has been removed and the or not removed but the copper has been installed. And then the fourth category is for homes where children have elevated blood lead levels. So we can identify if water could be a contributing factor. And then finally, we have some kind of miscellaneous customer service calls where we do lead tests occasionally. We did test nine properties that currently have a lead service line.

And one lead service line sample was above 10 parts per billion. The rest were low. And I'll talk more about those in the future slides. So our average lead results for all the samples tested between July and December were all below three parts per billion. You can see the bottle one was higher than bottles two and three as you would expect because most of these are after the lead service line has been replaced. And that bottle one is indicative of the internal plumbing or any lead service line replacement construction material that may need to be flushed out of their plumbing.

We have no way of excuse me, Madam Chair.

Go ahead.

We have no way of determining what the pre lead service line level would have been.

We did do some pre lead service line replacement testing a couple of years ago. We unfortunately found that a lot of residents were if they complied with that testing, they wouldn't then follow through on the post testing. And we wanted to make sure that after construction, all the construction materials did get effectively flushed out. So we didn't continue that, but we do have some data previously from the pre testing.

As a general proposition, is replacing all these lead service lines actually reducing lead levels in drinking water that comes into the home?

It does reduce it to an extent, yes.

To an extent?

Yes. Is not I mean thankfully our lead concentrations before the lead service line replacement typically are not super high. We do our lead and copper rule sampling indicates we have ninetieth percentile of around five or six part per billion. So that's a little higher than what you're seeing here which these are mostly after replacement. So it is a reduction thankfully both of those numbers are below the 10 part per billion proposed.

But not in elimination. So they're still lead in the water in most residential properties.

Many especially many old homes have some fixtures or components of their lead plumbing that are if they're plumbing that contain

like millions of dollars we've seen a marginal decline.

Whether or not it's marginal would be I think for discussion with health professionals in terms of the health effects Some of those

are way up there. Mean you have 10 properties exceeding 10 parts per billion, right?

I think it was 12 properties.

12 properties.

Yeah.

I mean that doesn't seem to be a lot of improvement, I mean to be honest with you, unless that's still internal plumbing perhaps.

So it may be internal plumbing. The main purpose of this post testing is to make sure that their flushing done and was effective and so in some of these cases the resident didn't do the flushing that was recommended after the construction. So when we get these results we immediately call them and ask them to do this flushing procedure, remove the aerators on their sinks, do a cold water flush throughout all the faucets in their home and then we offer them another kit to retest and all of our retest results in this period have been low. So that indicates that typically if people do do the proper flushing after the service line replacement, it does bring the levels down. So typically when we see these high results, it's just that the flushing wasn't done enough or properly.

Sometimes people don't know how to remove aerators or even what an aerator is. So that is something we have been trying to find creative ways to communicate with customers more.

Okay. Thanks.

Sure. So yes, 17 samples from 12 different properties did have results above 10 parts per billion. Most of these were after lead service line replacement and bottle one is usually the highest. All of our child care lead service line replacement results were low, which is good. And like I mentioned, we did do flush and retest at four sites and all of those retest results were below 10 parts per billion.

This is just a table summarizing where those elevated levels came from, how elevated they were and then notes on retesting. But we have basically kind of gone through all these. So we can go to the next slide. This is quick graphs of our pH and orthophosphate results between July and December 2025. We report these to the DNR every month to demonstrate that our water chemistry is appropriate for maintaining the corrosion control treatment that we do.

So the picture you can see in the bottom right corner shows you kind of what it should look like when you remove a lead service line. You can see that the phosphate corrosion control that we add creates a lining inside the pipe to stop the lead from leaching into the water as much as possible. A couple other program notes. So our elevated blood lead level testing continues with the health department. Any time a child tests at fifteen micrograms per deciliter or over, there's a nurse going and doing visits. So the nurse brings a water testing kit and offers that to the family. We have had five properties follow through on that testing. Most results are very low. We did have one bottle, one sample that was 10.96 part per billion. So that was we did reach out to that family.

They did not accept a retest kit, but all other results were below five. So that's a good sign. And then the lead and copper rule sampling, this will change when the LCRI goes into effect at the end of next year, but right now it's an every three year requirement from the EPA. We test at homes that have a lead service line that have been testing with us for years typically. Although people move and things change and so we do have to every year kind of go through the list and figure out, okay, did any lead service lines get replaced on this list?

Do we is anybody being non responsive for decades? At a certain point you can remove them from the list and add new names. So we're going through that process right now of removing homes that are no longer eligible or communicative and adding new homes so that we can be ready to do the required sampling between June and September. And then we also did a pilot test between July and December working with MPS to test lead and water in 29 different schools. The LCRI requires five samples per school but we did seven because of some ambiguity in terms of where the samples are collected.

And so our average result from this testing was about three part per billion but there was quite a range. So MPS worked with us to remediate any sites where they did have elevated results. So they added filters or made changes to their plumbing as needed in response to the elevated results. And it was just a great opportunity for us to like develop contacts and work through the process of how we'll coordinate that sampling and testing and get the results out so that when the LCRi goes into effect, we'll be prepared to test at a more rapid pace. And this slide has been up in the last several meetings just kind of summarizing some of the LCRI changes.

And then the only change really was highlighting that, that pilot testing did occur in 2025. So we are taking lessons from that and preparing to hopefully start more school and childcare testing as soon as possible.

Madam Chair?

Alderman Brower.

Yes. Thank you. So going back just a few slides for the elevated blood level testing, like, okay, when we just for my clarification here, when we are testing these water samples at the home, when the nurse performs that or has the family perform that, I'm not sure exactly what you said earlier. But like, obviously, listen, one bottle sample number one was 10.96 parts per billion. Does that then cause that house to be on the list then for lead service replacement or how does that how does this elevated blood level sampling, I mean, obviously we can meet them filters all that stuff.

I mean, that's an immediate solution that people should implement. But does how does that interact with then our list of homes that are having their lead service lines replaced? I mean, especially if they're in one of our target neighborhoods or is the target neighborhood fully the priority? Could you kind of explain how that interacts, please?

Yes, absolutely. So we had set our threshold when the EPA action level was 15 parts per billion. And we also based on the three bottle tests, we figured bottle two would be the most critical since that's the water from the service line. And so we told at the beginning of starting this project, we said, okay, if bottle two exceeds 15 parts per billion, then we can discuss doing like an emergency replacement, like adding this to the list as 15 and so that was kind of the threshold that we set. Since the EPA has passed a law that will change the action level to 10 parts per billion so that may be worth revisiting.

But it is also worth noting that in this particular case it was bottle number one, which is usually more indicative of the internal plumbing. So I don't know if a lead service line replacement would actually resolve the issue for this particular home.

And what options are you aware of that a homeowner or a resident would have regarding their internal plumbing besides just paying out of pocket or a second mortgage or something?

As far as I know, that would be up to them or I think there are some city grants and stuff available for different kinds of home renovations, but I don't know the details of those. I think that the biggest problem with that is that most of these situations are tenants and so they don't feel like they have control over the situation.

Another mark against landlords in my opinion, but I continue. Thank you. Any other questions?

Alright, the motion by Alderwoman Taylor is to place on file. Any. It's done. It can

be done. I mean, I have.

I think most

My bad. Never mind. It's alright. Now two minutes. Most important related to funding is 2026 is the last year of funding from president Biden's bipartisan infrastructure infrastructure law.

When we met last night, hadn't received an award for 2025. We did receive $50,500,000 19,300,000.0 of which is principal forgiveness which will be used to cover the private side replacement for all the replacements done in 2026 and potentially some in 2027. We intend to apply this June we intend to apply for two years of funding and we have already made the DNR aware we are going put in a very big ask. Prioritization program is well underway. A number of you are probably aware of that because we have neighborhoods in your districts.

Next year we are going to increase by 500 and we talked about the owner request program in the last item. So that is it. That's our footprint.

What kind of what's the process for notifying neighbors that they are next up for 2026? So I see there's two in my district, it looks like, N11 and N7. I think your map is not too precise I

think that's the Cold Spring They received notices, I think, in January. And then we get their consent back then the next step in the process is when the contractor reaches out for a pre construction meeting and to schedule the work. If they don't consent to that first notice, the second notice is sent. We did hold town hall, in person town hall meetings and a virtual meeting for each package of locations that we did. So we have held six in person meetings and three

virtual Is that already? We have. We started things really

cold spring we did. Yes. There's a resident of yours that had reached out and she's invited us to speak at the cold spring annual meeting. Oh, very

good. Okay. So I was just that that's why I'm asking.

Yes so we will send I'm not available but we will send at least one rep there to discuss where we stand and when the work of

the company. Initially reached out about holding a neighborhood meeting then I never heard anything further so they've reached out to you direct and your people are attending the annual meeting?

Yes. Okay.

That's perfect.

Mr.

Chair? Alderman Taylor.

So we were just having this conversation because Alderman Brower brought us something about taking out a second mortgage to get those service lines replaced. And so we're looking at it. So that $3,454 I think is only for that service line on that one slide where it's coming from the street to the house. That's that's all that's gonna be replaced at that $3,454

The $3.04 $5.04 is just for the portion from the property line to the meter in the in the house.

In the house. Okay.

Yeah. The other half half the other segment in the roadway is replaced at the expense of the of the waterworks.

Okay.

But it your to your question it does not include any plumbing internal past the meter.

And that's all has to be done by the owner's cost?

Depending on the material

That's what he was referring to.

No. I mean, there's no requirement that it be done, but depending on on the materials

Okay. I just wanted to be sure what that $3,454 was because I was under the impression that the whole thing would be done. And if it was some replacement done inside to that, that would be done with that. Okay.

Mr.

Go ahead.

Yes. And just to further that, yes, I mean that's one of the issues. We're saying we're not operating with the presumption that any lead exposure is bad, which I agree with that, we have the service line. We're taking care of that with this program. We potentially have paint in the house. There could be soil contamination. There's and then there's the house's internal plumbing. And all the stuff in there that could be a completely that could potentially be original plumbing infrastructure in that house from when that house was constructed that could be lead as well. And then that I mean, and that's like completely out of our, you know, hands as far as the city government perspective is concerned. And that's just then if the house is owned by a landlord that doesn't feel like making lead exposure reduction a priority, well, that is unfortunately their choice because of private property rights in this country.

I think it's important though to recognize that the lead service line prevents presents the pie far the greatest risk to lead release. It is 100% lead for 40 or 60 feet long. The internal plumbing, there is risk associated there depending on what the material is and what the joint material is and what the but by far the biggest risk is from the lead service line itself. And then we talk about flushing for three minutes and Michelle mentioned that when we get to that third bottle and you are getting water from the street, there is typically non detect of lead or one part per billion. If we remove the service line and we are still going to be adding orthophosphate to the water to create that barrier inside the internal plumbing and we are still probably going be talking flushing.

And quite honestly, no matter what your service line is, I would think our water quality manager would recommend that you flush a little bit before you use the water in the morning because any water that sits stagnant and ages is not going to be as how do I say this? It's not going to be as refreshing as the fresh water from the main. So we are reducing the risk significantly by removing the lead service line.

Okay.

But you are correct, the internal plumbing, because I have done all this actually. And actually, the internal plumbing is way more expensive than the service line replacement.

Before on

your I mean, there's the compliance loan. Well, I don't know if that would help at all.

I I had a unique situation. We can get through DC.

It was about end up being

It was a compliance issue though. Because we don't have Yeah.

But I mean because

they did

And then there's revitalizing KE. Are they Long ago. Maybe they could. I don't know.

Yeah. Those are some resources that I've pointed people to in the past. But, again, I'm not those are not my areas of expertise. So I share with them some websites and some information and cross my fingers that they can find what they need. Oh, wow.

That's That was that was

Thank you so much for

doing this. Sure.

Internal plumbing can be very expensive to replace. Yes. Because you are going through walls, are behind walls, multiple floors, you are it can be very disruptive.

But to superintendent Polly's point, flushing is highly effective in almost every situation. So when we do this three bottle testing, when we were doing the testing before the lead service line replacement to get the pre and post results, we saw in the pre results when there was still a lead service line that, you know, whether you have a lead service line and or lead plumbing, you flush that water for three minutes and in most cases it's very, very low lead concentrations. So you know if there's one thing that everyone can do regardless of whether they own their home or not, regardless of whether they're in the prioritization area or not, they can at least flush their tap if it's been sitting stagnant overnight or while they're at work all day. Just flush that cold water for a few minutes before you actually use it for drinking or cooking. You can still use that.

You don't have to waste that water. You can use it to do your dishes and other things, but you just don't want to use it for cooking or drinking until you flush it for a couple

of minutes.

Mr. Yes, go ahead. Yes, thank you. And so no, no, and that's great. I mean, that's what I have told people as well as constituents that like flushing it. And it looks like from this diagram from one of these slides that if by the time three minutes hits a flushing, I mean, that's from the main. And I want to confirm, which I believe I know this, but I want to confirm that the constitution or composition of the main pipe, there is no, we are not aware of any lead that is in those at all. Those are a different material. And and I mean, guess maybe there's a historical reason why the main that we installed to be one material and the lateral would be made of lead. If you know that, I'd be curious about that, but the mains do not have lead in them.

Yes. They typically didn't make pipes of that diameter, like our mains are several inches in diameter, right, and they don't go usually above two inches?

Two inches is the largest lead service line pipe that we have

in Oh, our the diameter of the

Got Yeah, the diameter. And the water mains are we do have some four inches, but they are primarily sixeight for the residential and they are all cast iron or ductile iron. Okay.

Thank you. Sure.

Any other questions?

Okay. That was good.

Guys.

Third time is the charm. All

right. We are visiting that motion filed to place to place on file any objections here in unso ordered.

Thank you.

Item eight. Thank you.

Thank you both.

Two five two. Zero zero zero resolution authorizing the Wisconsin Department of

to

of of

We're

the the 4th Aldermanic District. Good morning.

Good morning. David Tapia, major projects manager. So, this is a port led project. They they got the federal the city owned property to basically roadway right of way.

So. Any questions? Motion by all their men bowman is adoption. Any objections? Hearing none so ordered. Item nine, two five two zero zero four, resolution authorizing the city comptroller to transfer funds to the previously established project for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the City of Milwaukee for cost participation for the procurement and construction of the bike share expansion project with a total estimated cost increase for the project of $2,007,400 and $74,395 Good morning.

Good morning, chair.

I believe there's a substitute. Yes.

For this file.

Motion to first accept proposal of other woman Taylor hearing no objections or order. Second now to adapt.

Who is this on the iPad? A technical correction.

The I can explain it if easiest. Yeah. The substitute just revises the language. It's not a cost increase to the project. It's just transferring funds to an already established project. We're not increasing cost.

Okay.

Oh. It should be there

on the iPad.

Yeah. It it hasn't been matching up. So I was looking at her agenda, and I'm like, I have her sentiment on one and mine is on two. Also on the

the

proposal.

There are no objections, we just have to accept what is there.

Adopt it. Mhmm. Okay. Motion by alderwoman Taylor to adopt the proposed sub.

Perfect.

Any objections to that order order? Any objections to that motion? There we go. You're in unso

ordered. No.

Go ahead.

Alright. Thank you. Good morning. Mike Ansden, transportation planning manager, DBW. This file simply sets up the procurement and construction costs for the already established project for the expansion of the Bubbler bike share system.

So this is Bubbler? Correct.

Okay. Any

questions?

Mr.

Yes, sir.

Yes. Could you just share what where some of these costs will be going and Yes, about the

Sure. So this grant is a CMAQ congestion mitigation and air quality grant that we were awarded, I believe, two years ago. It provides 165 new docking stations, so the individual docks, not the full stations, but the individual docks and 300 e bikes, the e assist bikes. So we'll be densifying the system, but also expanding the system and replacing some of the older bikes that have been in the system for quite some time with the electronic assist bikes.

That's really great to hear. This is really good to hear. Thank you so much for the work on this and so on. How many docking stations are in? I mean, was it like seven or eight, but when we make an installation?

Yes. So as part of what we're calling Bubbler two point zero, which is a combination of this grant and then a previously awarded TAP grant, we are actually kind of reimagining the entire system. We're expanding it out into new neighborhoods. We are looking at station utilization throughout the system. And with these new docs, are individual docs.

We used to have these large stations that came kind of as a set of at least, I believe it was six minuteimum, so intervals of six, twelve, eighteen. We are now able to customize the station size and be a lot more flexible in terms of where they are installed. So we really look at utilization trips, etcetera. And then we can make a station as small as four docks and as large as you go to Discovery World, we have upwards of 14 docks. So it can really vary.

Well, that's what we could hear. So we could look at a neighborhood that has less bike utilization and just put one or two down and say, okay, there's a couple of bikes and see if works and maybe expand and that could be the way that we could move towards, you know, less car usage.

Yep.

And all that stuff and just for people to to try it out in those in the neighborhoods where there's more car dependency. Absolutely.

Yeah, think we prefer minimum four just to be clear but.

Thank you.

We don't want the the station or the two docks being full all the time or empty all the time. Because

the bikes that we have, I mean, they have to be docked. Correct. For that for it to for it to complete the transaction and not the person stopping charged. Yep. And we, it's not, we're not about this in like, there's no way that bubbler does anything. We're like, what Lime is doing where somebody could just rest a bike, you know, blocking the sidewalk like all scooters do. But and I'd be a little silly there because actually not a lot of do. But, you know, they they can't just rest it. It has to be put back in a in a station if I'm correct, right?

Correct. Yep. That's how the bubbler bike share system works.

Cool. Thank you, mister chair.

You're welcome. Any other questions? Hearing us order.

Thank you.

Motion by Alderman Bowman. His adoption. Hearing no objections, so ordered. Item 10. Two five two zero one five resolution resolution authorizing a permanent limited easement and temporary limited easement with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation on the properties at 8505 West Appleton Avenue and 8020 ADJ West Appleton Avenue for the right to construct and maintain the sidewalk in the 2nd And 5th Aldermanic District.

Hi. Good morning. Good morning. Rosita Ross with Department of City Development. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation currently has a project in those areas where they need to utilize our city properties for construction of what they're doing for public like right away in those areas.

They are compensating the city for the permanent limited easement that they will be acquiring on one of the parcels which is about eight square feet and they will also be compensating the city of Milwaukee for the use of a temporary limited easement on about 62 square feet on a parcel that we currently have.

What's the compensation?

The compensation for both properties is about a little bit over $800 for those small pieces.

How do they determine what compensation is?

They did appraisals where they looked at other compensations in the area that and their appraisal company did supply us with that information and that's how they calculated the the cost for those temporarily temporary easements and the permanent easement.

Got it. Any questions? Motion by Alderman Brower is adoption. Hearing and seeing or any objections? Hearing and seeing none so ordered. Thank you.

Thank you. Mister Chair?

Yes.

Could you please I would ask to be Martinia affirmative of the files that I missed.

Sounds good.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Item number 11, file number 252020. Resolution directing the commissioner of public works to execute a document titled first revision state municipal agreement for a state led highway project with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for the programming design, real estate acquisition, and construction of Prospect Avenue. STH 332 from East Wells Street to East Bradford Avenue.

Good morning again. David Taffy, major projects manager. So this and the next item are just revisions to an already prepared state municipal agreement for those two projects. So it's basically the original SMA set up the design. This revision puts the construction dollars into it. So.

Madam chair. Audit involvement.

Is this design been agreed to?

There is no design. That's what we're we the original the first step was a small design contract to start working with them to kinda identify the scope, right? So verify that we're going to a pavement replacement. I think at this project we had some discussions about converting from one way to two way, ironed out those details and now

That's been agreed to?

It's been more or less I believe identified to leave as is and start moving the one way to one way pairs and so now we're going to get into the design of those two roadways.

And this is set for when. 2030 some time right

the what the department calls the department transportation calls an early PS and E would be in 2030. So there's the potential that by 2031 there'd be construction. The actual PS and E is May 2031 which would then lead to 2032 start of construction.

A portion of Prospect and Farwell are already part of the locally preferred alternative for the streetcar?

Correct.

Would this not be the opportunity to build that infrastructure at the same time if we're literally ripping up these streets to the subgrade?

It would be, yes. It would be a part of the coordination that will need to be taken into consideration as we move forward.

And there have been plans to extend that streetcar all the way to at least North Avenue and perhaps UWM area. Would this not be the time to do that work?

It's most certainly would be. So we're hopeful that those the players involved with that will be, you know, a point where we can coordinate and work together to get those at minimum at least what the plan is so that designs can take it at least into consideration ideally built at the same time but at least something. Because Washington DC did that on H Street

where they built track long before they had approval to even build a streetcar. But they built the track in anticipation and so that infrastructure was all there when eight years later the streetcar began operating, which has since been shut down I might add, but nevertheless they did do the track work in connection with a street reconstruction. That

is what we would hope could happen on this project, yes.

As long as it's on the radar, you know Aldrin Brower, you might want to weigh in. This is mostly your territory actually.

I was planning on it, yeah. Yeah. Whenever you're ready, Madam Chair, I'd like to speak as well.

I'd go.

Admiral Brown? Yeah. Thank you

so much. And then, this is, I mean, you know, like, I guess, a couple of different things about this. We've had some side conversations about whether one direction or two direction works for this area. I mean, it's nothing is politically impossible, but we are settled at this point on keeping these one directional. I think to all of involvement's point, one direction on each street potentially could make it easier for there to be a streetcar on those streets or at least on prospect for it to service other areas of the city, which I think in the end would be ideal.

We're just for some clarification here, we are prohibited by Act 12, I believe, from using municipal funds for the streetcar and maybe somebody here can correct me if I'm incorrect on that. But if we are able to like what would be the path, I guess, to Alderman Bowman's point, what would be the path to securing track being put there or other modifications that could encourage public transit as we move forward with this project because it doesn't seem like that would be that's a done deal whatsoever that we couldn't could or could not put in track on that road.

Correct and those decisions not inside my department sort of

control. Yeah.

Because anything is possible politically. I mean, it's a matter of the state and we have, you know, we unfortunately have some laws that restrict us and we have we have an election coming up in November that could change the cons composition of the legislature to allow and who sits in the governor's seat to allow for, you know, Department of Transportation and other things that support that kind of stuff and could potentially even fund something like this outside of the city's ability to do something like that. I another piece that I want to bring to this is I've been really appreciating DPW's social media game and everything that we're we're doing point. Think good piece point. So that's that residents are aware and can continue to patronize the businesses on those streets.

I mean, I do get when when businesses contact me about things the city does that are disruptive to their business, that is something that I do get from time to time from businesses is construction that delays, you know, that stops people from patronizing businesses there.

And I

would hope that any, you know, constituent, any resident walking who's listening, you know, continues to patronize their favorite businesses even when we'll

And

a few businesses, maybe less on prospect, but on on Farwell specifically is a is a big business corridor connecting North Avenue and even North Of North Avenue, there's businesses all the way down, you know, to to Brady Street and beyond on Farwell to where this would be reconstructed. So I'd like that's that's important that when this entire road is ripped up, that we just make sure we're messaging that, that we can make every business aware that they need to prepare for that and and that our social media is still and on some of the signage that we have, I appreciate that that actually has businesses logos and where people can go to access those businesses. I'd like to make sure that that kind of stuff continues as well throughout the construction this construction project. Is that something that you guys are looking at? Guess

It will be looked at. Once we get through what the design is and we move into final design, then traffic control and work zone traffic control and staging becomes that part of the puzzle. We're a little too early for that right now.

If we are able to one more question, madam chair. If we're able to install further traffic calming on either of those streets, I know Farwell has specifically been requesting traffic calming from my office, and we've been sharing the community led traffic calming packet with with residents and businesses on Farwell Avenue. If those things are installed, this project will when we talk about a replacement, this project will completely replace the street as it is at the time of construction. Right? Correct.

Can can you from that? So if we install traffic calming, this, you know, our this, you know, 75% cost that they're picking up will cover the cost of reinstalling and shaping the concrete to be as the traffic coming that we installed prior to the road being ripped up. Is that correct?

Yeah. I mean, so, right, the things that have already been put in will actually be able to verify that they have worked and can then be reinstalled obviously to the point of potentially a street car might change some of how that might work in the future. But yes, that and other traffic calming measures can be put into those design plans.

That's great to hear. Good. So now it'd be, I guess, when when are we, what is the timeline for the final design of the street and would that, like, what, I mean, let's say we, like, you know, the final design comes in because I don't know how these timelines works. Maybe you can clarify. But the final design comes in in one year and then, oh, well, oh, shoot. We put we put a curve bump out, you know, eight months after the final design was approved. Oh, well, that one's not going in now, and we're at the either rip something up in new construction, which constituents will rightfully see as absolutely ridiculous if we have to do that. But, like, as how does that play into each other with how we're do so coming.

Working off of their early PS and E of February 2030. In general, I would imagine that in about two years, we would have the preliminary design done and be moving into all the final design, needing time to do any real estate acquisition, utility coordination, etcetera. We're

it's still two years potentially three or

to more years away from that. Construction. It still might be worth implementing. Oh,

totally. Yeah. And I I I just want to clarify my message in the constituents is going to be like now is that if we want to do traffic calming and I have shared this businesses and residents on Farwell that if we do wanna do traffic calming there that like this is the time now because it'll be reconstructed when the road is reconstructed as well. So that's what I wanted to that's what I wanted to ensure as well. Thank you, madam

chair. For the disruption that's often caused when projects are done, I know that there's a isn't there a staff person that DPW has to deal with the businesses and affected folks while the project is going on? Who's in that position now?

Just maybe between you and Sarah pretty much. Sarah. Sarah.

What's Sarah's last name?

McClanahan. McClanahan? McClanahan. McClanahan.

Alright. Any other questions from committee? I I I brought I brought that up, Alderman Broward, because as the projects are being done, historically, that position has been very helpful with keeping those lines of communication open with business owners and affected parties to make sure that the issues that come up get addressed immediately. So they do have somebody who's devoted to that work. Thank you.

Because when I first started, we didn't have that position, and we had some bridges done, the Humboldt Bridge and another bridge. And it really affected businesses, and we got complaints. And so they created that position. That has been really helpful for years. Any other questions from committee?

Hearing none, Alderman Brower will move adoption. Hearing objection, so ordered. Item number 12, file number two five two zero two five, resolution directing the commissioner of public works to execute a document titled first revision state municipal agreements for a state led highway project with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for the programming design, real estate acquisition, and construction of North Farwell Avenue, East Bradford Avenue, SCH 32 from North Prospect Avenue Avenue to North Lake Drive.

So this is the the other pair of that. So

Alright. Any question for committee? Hearing now, alderman bombing would move adoption. Hearing no objection. So order Item 13, file number two five two zero zero seven.

Resolution authorizing the commissioner of public works and comptroller to execute a state municipal agreement with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for the installation of traffic signal improvements and to fund preliminary engineering for the project at 62 intersections in various automatic districts with a total estimated cost of $2,150,400 with an estimated grantor share of $1,720,320 and estimated city share of $430,080.

Good morning. Kyle Pfeifer, DW. As you just said, this is a authorization for the commissioner and comptroller to enter an SMA with the DOT regarding the last of our traffic controller communication grants. This one will finally get all of our controllers and have good communication and have new controllers, modern facilities for all of our hardware. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Any questions from the committee? Alright. Alderman Westmarna will move adoption. Any objections to that? Motion? Hearing none. So ordered. Item number 14, file number two five two zero two three. Resolution authorizing the commissioner of public works and comptroller to execute a revised agreement and transfer funds for the previously established project for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the city of Milwaukee for cost participation for traffic control improvements with a total estimated cost increase for the project of $0.

Right. So this resolution will be to essentially just correct a small error changing the project ID from 10602771 to 10602790 and then authorizing to move the funds from that number to the other number.

Are there any questions from committee? Hearing none, Alderman Brower will move adoption. Hearing no objection, so ordered. Item number 15, file number 251854, resolution relating to the expenditure of funds to be reimbursed by greater than anticipated revenue for the purchase of low emissions vehicles. This is supposed to be placed on file, so alderman Baumann will move to place on file.

It's no longer needed. Are there any objections to that motion? Hearing none. So order item number 16, file number two five one three eight one, resolution relating to the provision of support services for city events sponsored by Alderman Spiker. This is supposed to be placed on file and no longer needed. Alderman Westmoreland would move to place on file. Hearing no objections. So ordered without any further business. We are adjourned.