Public Works Committee - Regular Meeting

I call to order the public works committee meeting of January 12th, 2026. Uh okay. Um do we need any attendance? Are you good? You got us. You're good. Okay. Um so looking at the minutes from December 8th, any questions, comments, concerns, announcements? I move adoption. Thank you. Second. Second. All in favor? I awesome. Uh, agenda item number three,formational update and discussion regarding water main lead service line placement and community outreach strategic planning.

Yeah. So, I don't want to steal any thunder from the core team in front of us uh between Maxine and Brooke will be giving a presentation. It's more of anformational update on all the hard work that the team has been doing um not only over the months but truly over the years to try to gear up for more of a strategic plan going into a very massive undertaking of one mile of water main replacement and lead service line uh strategy moving forward. So, we have the presentation that we'll go through. Maxine will kick things off and I'm sure we'll have some color commentary between myself, maybe Kelsey as we move forward.

And I just got to say there was one hell of an impressive spreadsheet that Yes, we call it the matrix. Oh no, we're going to see it in person. It was we emailed back to you back and I was like, we've been geeking out over numbers and data for a long period of time. excited about it. Yeah. Yeah. I only saw it in the Oh, that's the PDF. Yeah. Just like a screenshot of what this is. Like I'm not zooming in. No, no, no. It It goes on for what? How many columns?

A lot. We're Yeah. We finished the alphabet and then we continue. So, it's like on the double. So, with that, uh Maxi Miller, our staff engineer, uh she will present. Oh, yes. Brooke, who is pre uh I know you have some slides as well, but if you want to switch when she's but do you want to introduce yourself of who you are first? So my name is Brooke and I work for the Northshore Health Department as probably many of you know. Um and I am helping with outreach and and um education in the community for the lead service line replacement in Whitefish Bay. I'm also helping Shorewood um and I'll talk a little bit more about it.

Welcome Do I just click Anna? Oh, sorry. Okay, perfect. Thank you. Okay, so to start, we have 47 miles of water mane in the village of Whitefish Bay and 86% of that 47 miles are 80 years of 80 years or older. And the life expectancy of a water mane is between 80 and 100 years. So given that there's a need to replace the aging infrastructure and the village plans to replace one mile of water mane every year and during that one mile of replacement private and public lead service lines will be replaced. The village has almost 4,800 water service lines and of that amount 2,494 are confirmed lead and 1,537 are suspected lead.

And that's of the inventory that was just completed for 2025 that we submitted to residents as well as the DNR with those numbers. So, as Matt was saying, um we we took that information that we had those data points and analyzed which locations would be best to start replacing first and which water manes and roads would be the best to have a reconstruction in 2027. So with that data that we have 80 85% of our analysis was based off of the road condition and within that the pacer ratings that annual average daily traffic um the material of the road the constructibility of the project location and the c the cost breakdown and then 15% was based off of the water so the age and material of the water man um the brakes per linear put and um the date of any breaks just like any any information that we could gather that was um included.

And I guess if I could jump in just slightly. So Maxine and I we spent the last I would say six over six months working with the rating score. So you see road ratings has 85% weight versus water at 15%. And at first glance, you're like, why why are you skewing the data to be 85% more towards road conditions? And we had it kind of more 50/50 split to begin with, uh, 8020. So, we played around with these numbers. And after we did our analytics based on all these different data, analytic points that we gathered within the spreadsheet, we quickly found that we have, it's a double-edged sword of our road conditions. Our roads have been on a mill and overlay program for a long period of time and what we don't want to do is rip apart nice roads. So that's where the 85% rating is to ensure that especially going for the first few years of our water main replacement. We wanted to value especially the residents of being impacted next to their residents to not come back after a few years of just having a mill and overlay program to rip apart a brand new road or a road in good condition. So part of our analysis was Maxine and I manipulating the data to see where we really want to put those uh those data points and leverage based on our criteria of not only doing a onem of water main replacement which is our key objective but ensuring that we're being uh conscientious of cost constructibility and all these other competing demands with a comprehensive project. So there's a lot of field visits ensuring that as we determine where we want to go, especially that first year, we want to try to be as comprehensive with our data, but also we just need to use our own common sense approach, right, of getting out there and seeing what's more constructible from a contractor's point of view as much as a resident point of view. So there was a lot of fields that

we were playing around with and we felt that this was a good balance of road rating versus water main lead service line and trying to check as many of those boxes as possible. I I also just want to quickly add that this will likely evolve, right? So this is the starting place and I think it's a very good starting place. I'm really happy with the work that Matt and Maxine have done. Um but you know in 3 four years it might make sense to start to prioritize the water man higher if we're not hitting the number of laterals we need to be hitting. Well, and one of the things that we talked about when we met ahead of time was the fact that if you have a stretch where the water mane keeps breaking, that means the road condition will deteriorate as well because we'll have to keep going in. Yeah. And so, we do that with Blackthorn. Yep.

About seven years ago. And how it just kept breaking and finally they said, "Yep, let's do this first."

And I I remember seeing that memo from our archives. And that's exactly right. That the spreadsheet that Maxine's next slide is if you want to go to that one. This is a living document. Um, so this is just a screenshot. Max is going to go into some of the details, but just keep in mind that all the data points will continue to be updated. So if we do have a stretch of water mane that is failing and it's block after block after block, that's going to make the data fields updated where maybe it was number 10 on our priority. Well, maybe it's number one after all those water mane breaks. So, this is going to be one of those things that we're going to hopefully integrate within our GIS and one will talk to another. So, it'll be a one-stop shop for determining future projects.

And and just so you guys know, the level of detail is every single line is literally a block. So, it's not like a whole huge stretch of a street. It's a block. So, it's block by block. Just incredible detail. Can we at some point either I'm not sure about having the data publicly accessible or at least a a a screenshot with my my purpose is there's so frequently comments made by the public saying I can't believe you're tearing this road up. it was just done three years ago or some comment like that and I would love to be able to have this documentation somewhere where we you know we can pull it up and we can explain like we really analyzed the living daylights out of this and here's the you said there were you know 30 columns of data like

I guess I would be concerned making this document public all the time because I think in a lot of cases people might find justification they'd be like you haven't done my road in 20 years or however long. Yeah, you're right. I I I I screenshot might be the right answer or at least an example or or something to say like we've got this amazing set of data that we're using to analyze. Well, this is going to be public. Yes.

This this particular presentation once it gets cleaned up will be public able to see. And and there's another point to Jacob's point is even though someone might interpret that data to say, "Well, my block is the worst," you got to think more comprehensive than one block at a time because it would be very difficult from a construction standpoint to be like a frog jumping around town trying to do a water mane replacement strategy. So, we have to look at things very holistically and and differently than a resident in front of their house. So interpreting data I you could probably tell a story from 10 different people based on what you see here. It's our job to determine what's best holistically from the village using this data.

And and I think just publicizing what is what they're looking at when they make that determination is really all that we need to do because the other thing is you don't want to publicize this and have somebody look down the list and go, "Oh, well I'm I'm number 10, so that means that mine's going to happen in five years." because we had we ran into that with the 15-year CIP that we had years ago that people were like, "Well, wait a minute. You said you were doing my street in 2018 and now you're not doing my street." Well, that's because we had catastrophic flooding. So, so Maxi, I don't know if you have anything else that you'd like to comment based on all your hard work and diligence that you put into this.

You just gaze at it for a minute if you want. Um I mean it is um like you said with like each one of these is a street. So this is the name of the street and then it's like from street to street and then here it gives the road rating. So like the replacement need of the road, the replacement need of to the water man. If it's like super bright green then it's a zero. So it doesn't have a water mane on that road. Um and then in this column we have like a combination of those scores. And then we have the pacer ratings and the Whistler depreciation. So we can predict what we think the road rating will be in however many years in the future. And

and the pacer rating that's just the road conditions that is done on every other year basis that we actually drive the roads. And then there's just it it's deducted every year based on a point spread for those road conditions. So that's also integrated into those fields for the the pacer rating as it's called. And then this spreadsheet kind of continues on to the right and then it factors in um the water man, the brakes per linear foot, the material of the water man, um the date of the brakes, um just like any piece of like quantifiable data that you can think of is included in here.

Yeah. So here we have our proposed 2027 map for water mane replacements, corresponding lead um water service line replacements and then the corresponding street resurfacing. So on this map right here is blue and then right here is blue. So that is from that's Hollywood Avenue from Henry Clay to Hampton and then Shorewood or Shorewood Shoreland from the middle of the block on 60 of the 6100 block to East Lake View Avenue. And that is all three the water main water service lines and the street resurfacing. And then the purple on the map is right here, which is just the top half of the 6100 block of Shorland um from Devon down.

Wait, where's the middle? Oh, I see the middle of the block at the top and then you're adding that on. Yes. Purple. Okay. So, we're not we're not constructing to the middle of a block anywhere. We're doing a whole block, right? We have another Devon person. I convinced her on Devon. That's my fault. I I used to like switch between cuz I wasn't sure. Yeah. Um but now I'm a Devon. Are you a different person? Devin like Kevin. [laughter] I've always said Devon too. Ridley. Yeah. I just And you live. Yeah. You get to you get to choose. I just feel more highbrow when I say Deon. It's like tier.

So at least the first year I I had a lot of conversations with Matt about trying to keep those stretches as much as possible. Maybe we'll scale back on that in the future, but I think the continuity of the construction area in terms of communication to residents um and just us getting our legs under us as we're going to be learning this whole process is really critical. Um but in future projects, we might feel comfortable hopping around a little more. Um but I think this is a really good place to start. No, I was only questioning stopping in the middle of the block. Oh, sure. All question. Okay. So, that was brought up because it has a newer section of water mane right there. Yeah.

No, that makes sense. And I'm glad you decided to add it in because optically it's kind of a weird thing to stop in the middle of the block. Just for the sake of this, um when when that when let's just take the northern stretch of shoreland. When that's constructed, there'll be a will there be a deep trench? Will will there be will still will people still have access to their homes? Like how does that work? Mhm. So one side of the street or both or

Yeah, it's typically that you abandon in place where the existing water man is and then you trench pretty close in proximity to where that old water man is because you want to tie in to those service lines or create new ones depending on if it's lead, copper or what have you. So it will be a trench mentality. It won't be directionally bore with this project. But accessibility to residents would be a requirement for the contractor to maintain. I can show you pictures of when we did Fairmount and and I can also tell you Fairmont was but it was similar but but there weren't many homes on Fairmont. I mean there are some but but not like Shoreland.

No. No. But but I will say that they were able to maintain access to your driveway for all but like three or four days. I mean so they they were pretty good about covering over and having their just your driveway. Imagine that it's 3 or 4 days. I I started looking at how like all right, let's say you lived on Bell and Shoreland or North Bell like you may need to park somewhere else. Is this alley or not? No. Okay. I'm not sure. You may need to park somewhere else. Yep. And if you have one, two, three, four and a half blocks, those east west streets are gonna have a lot of cars, you know.

So that' be the only thing in my head of like that's why you wouldn't do four blocks in a row is like you skip a block or something. Well, but you can park on the back side of the block and you can come people just walk through other people's backyards. No, but you've walked down and and I think the construction, at least in my experience, they were pretty good about, okay, I'm coming through because I got a load of groceries I got to dump and then I'll go park my car around the block. And okay,

it's 72 hours. It's really the curb and the sidewalk be the cure time. Everything else they're going to gravel in. You'll have access outside of if they're working right in front of your house. You'll get those complaints of somebody runs home for lunch and there might be a trust, but it it's really at the end of the project when they do that um curb and sidewalk. You can do like here early um concrete for people who like physically if there's extreme limitations and things like that, but it's more costly, so it won't be everywhere. It's pretty limited. Is the water line right down the middle or is it skewed to the east or skewed to the west? It's pretty close to the middle. It depends on like the street. Like sometimes it's like a little one way or the other way.

There's always like a short end and a long end as they call it with the with the service lines. So depending on which side of the road you are uh east versus west, one resident will have a short line is considered versus a longer line. So if you have a resident dispute, let's just say that you did your service line replacement and both residents or neighbors took part of that, you're going to get two different pricing because of that linear foot differential. So it's always kind of offset just a little bit depending on the street you're on. And I realize I misspoke. It's only places that we'd be patching in concrete. It's not even the majority of houses because we're not replacing curb and we're not update too. I do want to clarify too that is a full reconstruction. I know.

So that was like your base layer like that was this is a trench when you described it. That's the best way to think of it. It's going to be trenched in water mane and then they'll do the mill and overlay. It's not going to look as bad as I'm just saying fair amount as bad as Fairmont was, we were able to get to our houses um with mill and overlay or just the trench part.

Nope. Full mill and overlay. So that was part of that 85 is we wanted to tackle our mill and overlay plan to kind of be in conjunction. So we're doing different locations like this year is going to be Devon is just a mill and overlay because there's not water man that needs to be replaced within over 20 years. So we feel confident that we could do a standalone mill and overlay program with some streets versus others. And you'll see a pattern start to develop. East west streets would have more of a milling overlay versus north and south because north south you have a lot more service lines that run that way. So we're able to tackle a lot of service line replacement strategies where you'll see year-over-year north south roads becoming our water main replacement strategy versus east west being a mill and overlay program. We'll have to go back and catch up on those lead laterals for the

over time. It doesn't mean that we're ignoring, but it's it's trying to blend in optimizing service line replacements based on EPA and DNR regulations. Yep. When you go through and so again taking these north south stretches, um is there any opportunity to do in the intersections because there are there are there water mines going down the east west streets? There are there are some. Yes, there there. Yes, there are water manes that it's typically a grid. It's just that you don't have as many service lines that run east west as much as north south

because you know what I'm saying like you're you're opening up an intersection and then you're not replacing the east west legs.

So, that's a great question. Um I think once we get a design firm and we'll go into that within a a slide coming up shortly that we are already into requests for propo proposals for engineering firm services. So we plan on doing design in 2026 this year construction in 27. So those types of details we're hoping to contract out to make sure that we're optimizing our project scope and someone that specializes in water main relay. So, we'll be evaluating those and working together as a team that we're not making decisions just internally. We're really leaning on those engineers and professionals that do this for a living. Duke.

And I would say that we were almost spot on that our goal was one mile for replacement. We at 5,500 linear feet. So, we're slightly over our one mile of water main for proposed 2027. So, it just kind of worked out that way between those two sections that were able to meet our target. And with this plan, um, there are 145 confirmed lead laterals that will be replaced and 66 of those are in the Hollywood section and 79 are in the Shorewood saying Shorland section.

Yeah. just because I was thinking so 145 um did did what's the LCRI quota you know like if you're supposed to be doing you like are we anywhere near that quota

I believe we'll be close and it's you take the 145 uh this coming February 2nd we'll be bringing our PPI program that's also in conjunction with LSL replacements that's going to have between 33 and 42 replacements this year. We hope to continue that on an annual basis with our replacement strategy with that project as a standalone. And then we also get residents that do their individual replacements. And I think we had uh I could check back, but we had about I'd say between 10 15 maybe or so 15 I want to say independent people that just replaced their service line. Wow.

Let's just do some thought math here. I think we don't we don't know the answer. technically because the DNR just adopted the rules. We we're going to have a meeting with Tom.

What we the variable that is massive for White Fish Bay that we don't know the answer on is how they're going to treat the suspected lead lines in the the ratio of replacements because that ratio allows us to basically have more years to replace. And so we don't know what that target number is officially yet. Our hope is that we'll know it in the next couple months. Understood. But so I think from the slide a couple slides ago, I think we were at like 3500 um suspect suspect plus

um confirmed divided by 10. Let's just pretend is 350 versus 145 plus some extra. Let's say 200, right? So it sounds low. Not not that I'm advocating doing more because we we probably can't but I would say it'd be difficult to add more especially in our first year as we're trying to just you know just want to get a a thought on like what kind of progress we're actually

I'll just mention the EPA does have a guidance document on calculating um the rate at which your community should be doing replacements based on um like your it's based on a lot of different variables. But um I don't know if we've used used that yet, but it is based on the uh current legislation of the lead and copper revision rule. The second one, the LCRI, it's the with the improvements.

So what Brooke is referencing is that the original federal legislation that has at least mostly been adopted by the DNR, that's where we have to know what the difference is, allowed for a ratio. So it wasn't a strict 10-year deadline. You could extend it longer if you have a large number, which we obviously have. So it's not as simple as dividing by 10. We'll be getting more years.

It's I think the short of it is is based on Tom's initial read, we're a little bit low, but we're not alarmingly low in the first year, but there's a lot we still have to work through. And keep in mind that the LCRI as it stands right now, which we don't know for certain, that would start in 2028. So this is like a bonus year. So we can work out those kinks and making sure that we feel confident with constructibility, design, engineering. So this is kind of our gear up stage of this year going into 27. So then when we actually get more guidelines from DNR, EPA, at least we'll have started this process, which is bonus points for us. So the next step in the anticipated project schedule would be the engineering contract award and that would be at the beginning of February, February 2nd. After that, we would have the completion of the plan documents, which is anticipated to be just before Halloween. And then the public bid the public bidding would be held on December 14th approximately 2026. And then construction contract award would be about this time next year, 2027, and then the construction would start in the spring of next year.

I don't there's no way to know this. Um, but are all communities going through the same process? And are we going to wind up in a kind of a bidding war with I mean, pardon me, is there going to be enough labor to provide these services for not only our community, but all the other communities in the Northshore?

Um, I think that's a good question. Um, hopefully we could get ahead of it with this. Like you guys said, we're ahead. So I I believe that consultants always have their ear to the ground with contractors. They're always in communication. This year going through our PPI program, there's always those typical contractors that participate with all these types of construction projects. They will actually reach out to us, which contractors have already to meet as much as our design firms that they know this is on the horizon because they get to see our CIP. So it's a good engagement for us to be aware as far as are they even reaching out? Are they hungry for jobs? Are they going to sharpen their pencil because there's just not as much demand as they anticipated? From what I hear this year, which could change into next year, contractors are hungry for water projects. We are getting competitive bidding back. Shorewood is doing Oakland Avenue and they had their numbers come back positive for that one. So, I believe that there's enough contractors to make this competitively bid. And the only guidelines that I can offer is it's always best to bid early. If you wait until, you know, April or so, you're going to get higher numbers than if you bid in January. So that's why the cadence that we're doing right now by having our design start within early 2026 is to anticipate that we can get bids awarded or at least on the street by December of the end of this year. So in that way, contractors have us as front of the line. The quicker that a contractor can fill their schedule, the better off we are as far as that competitive nature of contracting.

And to be honest, it doesn't really matter because we are under the gun to do it. So even if we're going to have to spend more. Yeah. I don't know. I'm just still remembering like 22 and 23 when all of a sudden we get one tree trimming contract and it was 70% over what it was last year. Just blows a hole in the budget. And so I just am worried that oh yeah, we're gonna see something similar.

So just a a data point um la last year I remember reading something about it and I just confirmed it that um Milwaukee uh replaced about 3,500 lead laterals. So for Whiteish Bay to do 150, you know, that's a rounding error on their part almost. Um yeah, Shwood and I know like Glendel had five. They had five lead laterals. So it's when you say like, oh, the Northshore is going to get crushed, not so much. It's really we're mostly competing against Milwaukee. It would be Milwaukee, Shorewood, and ourselves are the top candidates for wet surface line and infrastructure project. West Dallas. West Dallas. Yes.

Yeah. I mean, there's probably smattering just Well, West Dallas a bunch. Yeah. I mean, a smattering around the ring of Milwaukee. So, isn't it great doing a presentation with us? [laughter] Because you do like 10 seconds and then like talk for five minutes. I kind of started so at least you're not talking to blank screen. I don't know. Talking to the audience.

Um, okay. So, in October of this year, we applied to the safe drinking water loan program through the DNR. So we applied to that for the project planning. And then in to anticipate this project, the DPW staff will inspect the storm and sanitary utilities throughout the project location to get ahead of any like potential repairs and just so that we're aware of like anything in the area. And then engineering consultants will do the same type of inspection for the catch basins within the project location. So although it's not a reconstruct, I'm a firm believer that we don't want to touch that road if all humanly possible after we leave that street and that will make everyone happy. So, we actually I saw it today uh within the CIP the village board approved upfitting for our uh televising equipment. And it's really cool that we use basically a robotic um televising on on wheels. And the upfitting is larger size wheels. So, we can actually use the crawler to get in our storm sewers. So, they're fairly large tires. So, now we're able to not only inspect our sanitary prior to commencing a project, but also the storm. So, if we see anything that looks like it may fail or that we actually need to excavate down and replace a section of pipe, now we're going to be working in conjunction with the engineering team to show them where that is and we could design a replacement strategy for anything that might need to be dealt with during this construction project. So, it's forward thinking. It's reassurance that we're looking at all utilities when we're within that project area. So those types of activities will be in conjunction with our engineering firm once it goes out and we get that project awarded.

Um I also included these photos just cuz I thought they were really interesting. So these are both from Whitefish Bay and this photo on the left. Yeah. So this isn't Whitefish Bay. This is a water mane. Um, this is an old section of water mane and it's cast iron. And then this is a newer section of water mane and it's httpe and this was actually the result of a water mane break that had a crack running down a section of it. So that's why they needed to cut out that section. But I thought it was interesting because you could see um the size of our water mane. It's like um sometimes it's 6 in and sometimes it's 8 in and then it's between five and seven feet deep. Um, I just thought that was really interesting.

That doesn't even look that big. That's smaller than six or eight inches.

And then here is a private um water service lateral from a resident in Whitefish Bay. So, I thought that was interesting, too. And it's HDPE. So, if you had to ask me out loud any what's our biggest probably challenge or area of focus going into this program, I think of the picture on the right. It's going inside someone's basement. And when you have 145 basements and 145 engaged residents about how this is going to affect a fully finished basement, accessibility concerns, landscaping, that's going to be a lot of communication that we want to make sure we get right because we know it's important to a resident that if we make that promise that this is your time, this is our our point for us to replace this lead service line, not only the public, but the private side, too. That picture says a million dollars worth of words to me as far as the amount of engagement that uh we're going to have as a team, a project team to ensure that the residents feel that they have someone to talk to to meet them on site to hear about their feedback, their concerns because that this will be kind of that make or break year going uh from maybe a Blackthorn property where it's still a big lift, but from that to a one mile is quite the transition, especially with Maxi and myself being knew that we're really gearing up this year to ensure that we have enough support not only internally but externally with what Brook's going to be talking about with her role within White Fishbay as well as bringing in an engineering firm that really understands the importance of communication, feedback, and resident engagement is going to be critical to the success of this program.

That's a great transition. Um, Brooke, I can leave pointer here. You can stay seated. Yeah, that one that mic works for you. So, feel free if you want. This is a question that might have an answer to, but have there been any studies on the high density polyethylene and whether or not they leech microplastics? Because I know that is becoming a bigger concern. And I just wonder if this is a situation where in another 50 years we'll be taking out all these pipes and bringing something different.

So I don't think there's anything officially as far as HDPE and plastic and residents still use it to this time. But and Brooke by all means she's going to probably be doing deeper dives when it comes into different materials. Um I will say beyond the question from a health we are scoping our project to be copper for the service lines and the main point of using copper because Shorewood and some others have done a costbenefit analysis and they actually speced out two line items to see the cost differential. Yes, it's a little bit more for copper but keep in mind that even my house that has lead, we ground our house using the service line. So the electrical grounding would go away if you went from PLA or went from lead to plastic. We already checked Joel checked with the state and you cannot continue to use your abandoned lead line to be your development.

Correct. So you would have to bring in a third-p partyy electrical contractor to have a secondary grounding by doing that. You still will have to have electrical electrician go and and put it onto the copper feed, but it's gonna be much easier to do so in that same approximate location versus finding a new grounding. So, where did this plastic go in? Where did this plastic? I don't know as far as Yeah. Yeah. I mean, was this part of Blackthorn or where was this? Um, I'm not sure which house it was from.

Okay. And so all of these are going to have a permit tied to them. So Joel, he's the one that brought this topic up as far as grounding. Every single house is going to have our building inspector review and ensure that it's properly ground. And he does that already. So if the photo doesn't show correct. So that's part of it's not a grounding wire, right? I believe so. Ground all the way all the way back out to the main. I don't. No, not not from that. No, absolutely not. I'd have to check again, but I'm pretty sure my house the water comes in on the front and the electricity comes in the back. Yep. And the grounding there's a grounding pole in the back. Mine is the same.

Yeah. And and so it's hard for me to even think who has electricity from the front. I just think that that's a pretty My guess is that's a minority chance. Mine comes in through the back, but then it's routed to my basement and then it does connect in the front near the water. Yeah, I think our We got a new service and then our new service would I certainly have my services.

So for the the purpose of construction and grounding and all that, we've already determined copper and I think that might help with some engaged residents that are trying to determine plastic over copper that we're kind of making that that choice for them. And obviously they know the um will they make an assessment of which houses have um galvanized because I know that there's a union issue between copper and galvanized. I think that's where Brooke's going to really be spending a lot of time with even materials once you enter your house and having her engaged with residents that even though you have your lead service line replaced to that water meter. If you see a pipe in the basement that's galvanized, what does that mean as far as it still has that leeching properties where that goes into the galvanized? And that's also a thing.

Well, there's that, but there's also the the issue with copper and galvanized being connected. And then there's that I forget what it's called. Union that you have to put in to stop it from colloding and Right. Okay. Right. Yep. Yep. So union I'm like this is not about labor is it? No it is. It's like it's called the joint. I forget what the union is called but it's a special one that you have to do if you're combining unlike Yeah. Yeah. There's an oxid oxidization that occurs between different materials and you have to prevent that.

So we'll be that's all going to be part of the scope of I think it's based on what you're saying. Yes, it should be. But at the same time, I got to be careful about where does our scope end and education start. So, our scope would end with the water meter and then a resident should be notified if there's other things beyond the water meter that they need to take care of. So, if it happens from water meter to water main, I believe that is something that we would replace. But if there's a union that happens on the other side of the water meter being the private side, I believe so.

But I I could make no one talk to consultants about what that means with previous projects that they've done with the city, with Shorwood, with other communities just to make sure we're doing best management practices as far as where that stops because after a while now you're going into the house. Right. And I and I think it's just where the connection is. So if it's if the water meter if it connects okay to the water meter I I don't know I just think we just want to make sure that we're not starting the process

right and part of it is I already talked to Bill Tuma our water technician and he's aware of this project of course and same thing with the PPI we're easing into the construction this year Bill this year in 2026 is replacing all water meters to be in conjunction with the lead service line replacement program because it's easier to get inside the house most of them are like 10 plus years older. So I I would assume that we're going to have that same type of meth methodology of replacing meters at the same time since we're already in someone's basement. So that union, the the meter, all of that is going to be taken care of as a part of our project focus. Beautiful.

Hi everybody. Um I'll just introduce myself uh one more time. My name is Brooke and I work for the Northshore Health Department. um and I'm kind of helping with education and support for the um community with the lead service line replacement program. Um so our key focus um of the program is reducing barriers for our residents. This includes providing clear education um pri prioritizing high-risisk households and um offering direct support through outreach and coordinating. Um the intent is to ensure that residents understand the process, their responsibilities and any available assistance. So what's been done so far? We had some um key activities and deliverables for the first three months of this project. Um the case manager, which is me, um has been hired and onboarded. Um certification and training. Um I do have a brief update for this. Um the lead risk assessor training was scheduled for January 9th through January 16th. Um however I did um receive an update from DHS. They sent an email today cancelling all lead hazard investigator classes um which is needed for the lead risk assessor um state exam. So they provide an estimate of 3 to 6 months until the classes would be available again. Um unfortunately I don't have any information past that at this time. Um this is pretty new information. I received it literally today. So, uh,

did you say 36 months or 326? Okay, you scared me for a second on 36, but DHS what what is that? Health and human services. Oh, and that's a that's a Wisconsin state. Um, so the one conflict that I see here is that I'm required to take my state exam um six months after I have had my initial training. Um and if we fall on the sixmonth side of things for the training training to be available again um my training that I have already completed would not I'd have to retake it. So we're still in limbo right now.

Which parts of your job can you not do until you have the license and the training? There's I have plenty to do. [laughter] Okay. I have plenty to do.

Okay. Um, and then for the development of outreach material, um, I've started to kind of make the outline for the toolkit for the community. Um, and I'll talk a little bit more about some of my ideas for the outreach in the next couple slides. Um, so a um, inventory was created for the community. Um, and currently there are some revisions to the lead service line inventory. Um, and we I'm waiting for an authoritative copy of that inventory that I can work with at this time. Um, and so once I get that copy, then I can move forward with kind of this proposed outreach strategy. Um, so what I would start with your um, lead service line inventory and then I would look at all the residents and divide them into three tiers. Um, tier one would be the immediate outreach. Tier two would be a high priority outreach and then tier three would just be a routine outreach. Um this is uh framed after the EPA uh requirements. Um and tier one is going to be led um galvanized requiring a placement and then unknown. Um that one is you know open to discussion for the unknown if we want to keep that in tier one or move it to tier two. Um, tier 2 is going to be service lines that are not believed to contain lead based on available records but have not been fully verified through field confirmation or complete documentation. Um, and these lines are to be rem or are should be remain to be tracked and um, we're looking to improve the accuracy of those records. And then tier three is going to be service lines that are not to not believed to be containing lead based on field confirmation or complete

documentation. Can you explain the blocks 100 63 and the children born?

Yes. Um so um when I split the initial inventory into tiers, I received a a number of about 2400 um in tier one that qualified for the um criteria under tier one. So that would not be feasible for my outreach. I can't reach 2400 people um all at one time. You know, that's not a great way to aggregate the data for outreach. So I um also mirroring the way that construction is done, I did it I split it into blocks. Um and so this way I was able to see geographically where there are concentrations of people who meet tier one requirements. And then also at the end of my um two years, I'd be able to include tier two and tier three aggregations um into my uh strategic planning and um uh like long-term uh implementation. Um and then out of those blocks, um I am using birth data um to include children uh who are in the homes that have been born within the last uh five years. Um, so these are children under six.

So in other words, you're prioritizing houses in tier one that have children born between 21 and 25 or 26, correct? Yeah. So um, and do you have a number of those yet at this point or not quite yet? Not an accurate number. I did use the original document um, for the inventory, but I'm waiting for a authoritative copy of their data um, for that inventory. you were gonna ballpark it based on that. I don't want to ballpark it. That's fine. That's fine. I just it was it a manageable amount. Was it a manageable number?

Um yeah. So um especially by uh when I look at tiers and then I I would be collaborating with DPW on their 2017 2020 2017 project and prioritizing um families in that area making sure that they understand kind of what that project's going to look like and there's and also being a liazison and support for those communities if they have any questions. Um one more question. So when you're going to your next tier, pri get what priority number one is. Does priority number two go does it follow the children or does it follow the color of the tier? So it would go tier one then it just aggregates by blocks. So that's just a geographic way. Y

and then and then it's going to go by children then we go to tier two. Um okay. So you'll do the you'll do all tier one would be done before you go to tier two and then at tier two you hit the children and then the rest of tier two act. Thank you. And you're factoring in the children because they're more at risk. Yes. So children children under six um are more at risk and they can develop like neur neuro developmental delays um if they're exposed to high levels of lead um really any lead. So yeah, that makes sense. Thank you.

Yeah. So, these are some of the outreach materials and um methods that I'm considering. Um I would like to um engage in some direct resident engagement, on-site, written and printed materials, digital and online, community level outreach and relationship building tools. Um some of the messaging, a lot of this is framed after the EPA's website. Um and all their guidance that they provide on there. It's a lot of great information. Um, so this includes impacts of lead and drinking water, what is in lead, what is in the lead and copper rule, what's the magnitude of the problem in their community? I think something that really speaks to people is is this a problem that I should be concerned about. Um, so I think providing really easily digestible um, visuals would be really compelling to the community. Um then I would like to provide information on expectations during a replacement avail a available financial assistance and how they can contact that financial assistance and then protecting health after replacement and then also frequently asked questions. There's a general list provided on the EPA's website for frequently asked questions that they have um come across. So I'll be addressing all of those in the um in the toolkit as well. that third bullet point there, the magnitude of the problem in their community.

Yes. You promise us not to freak anyone out? No. Okay. Well,

no, because I don't want to set, you know, unrealistic expectations. I think that lead is a misunderstood um topic in general. And my goal is to support the community as much as I can and to communicate the magnitude of the problem in their community as much as I can or as clear as I can and pair that with action that they can take this moment. Um, and I think that is something that um, residents will respond to very well. Yes, there's a problem that you need to respond to, but here's how you do it. And um I think that's really um a great way to

ju just the context that a year and a half ago we sent out letters and I know I know about the created you know a lot of questions about the magnitude of the problem and then we had tests taken like 300 I think over 300

over 300 and only one of them came up beyond the you know EPA levels um which was really good information for everyone to read and understand that like yes, there's lead in the pipes, but you know, we've we've got all this particular data for Whitefish Bay homes and it it turns out the the lead issue is is not a you know, we're not Flip Michigan, but we are Whitefish Bank, right?

Yeah. I want to make sure that I can support the community um in any questions that they have, but hopefully materials that I'm providing and my physical presence at projects and on-site and at their door um kind of eases eases the process for them.

And I think part of Brook's on board, not only to get the certifications and understanding more about Whitefish Bay is part of that process. And I'd like to invite Brooke to our Northshore water uh treatment plant. And you could see how we do the ortho phosphate as part of the water treatment in order to do our control inhibitor and ensure that we reduce the the lead levels when people take their tests. It's dramatically reduced because of the orthophosphate that um Northshore plant has been adding to the drinking supply water within Whitefish Bay, Fox Point, and Glendale. Part of that on boarding uh we'll set up some time to tour these plants and understand some background context that we're not starting from scratch with this project that this has been something that's been highlighted and managed over the years and we're just continuing that process part of our replacement strategy. So it's not that 2026 and 2027 is the first. It's just a continuation on our process to remove lead service lines and manage our aging water infrastructure utility at the same time. So, it's all about that communication, ensuring that the residents feel that the community is listening to them, that they're part of this project scope. And there's multiple ways that either you can take care of it now if you're not within our project of the water man and there's processes for doing that or guess what you're next in line and this is the area and we're going to talk about what that means to you as a resident. So hopefully by next month we'll be talking more about the PPI program and the 33 to 42 residents that that's going to affect and this will just be a continuation of our service line replacement strategy. Um Kevin, you mentioned about um also the matrix back then as far as getting residents to really see things. Part of the DNR grant is also GIS upgrades that

we're going to be doing um a lead service line dashboard integration into our GIS and that will get give live time as far as all of our project updates, health tips, documents, a pie charts as far as how we're progressing year-over-year. So, we're using and leveraging the the funding through the DNR to do a better job of communication where it's a one-stop shop on our website that'll uh be complementing what we have already created with lead service line information, but it'll be more user interactive where you can look up your own address and find out more about your property. So, that's in the works as we speak as well. One of our big goals is to make sure that the data that's presented on that GIS tool is accurate. And

that's a good goal.

And that's incredibly important to me and community members. I don't want um anybody receiving in improper information on any tool that we're providing. So um it's really important that we provide um we have an awful lot of unknowns. And and I would just say our recordkeeping, it's a work in progress over the last year plus of doing this inventory is that now that Brook's part of our team, that'll be one of the things on the front end is determining accurate data and information and reviewing past archives and making sure that that was transcribed onto our our GIS platform that once a project's done, we need to be [clears throat] more process driven of completion to integration within GIS. So our GIS talks to the inventory which gets uploaded on an annual basis to the DNR and our residents. So we really want to be strategic in how we are um collecting that data and sa saving that on our GFS so that can be part of our dashboard to the residents in the future then too.

Anything else on this otherwise we will move on to the temporary pedestrian safety.

I guess I have one brief question. Okay. Um I know we changed administrations a year and some change ago now. Um has the new administrations, the federal government shown any interest in addressing this either making changes, you know, reverting to previous standards. Has there has there been any change in this admin administration's policies from the previous administrations? I don't want to comment on exactly what the current administration's stance is on um you know lead service line replacement but um I think that if you pre you present um data about your community um there's pretty strong evidence that um it's a positive impact on your community to do the lead service line replacement um and you can usually um obtain funding for for your community.

Well, that'd be wonderful. Yeah. Yeah. Let's let's let's obtain funding. Let's obtain funding. Um I think they're in favor no matter what. I think we've all kind of talked about this. I do want to clarify though. So the federal because the state DNR has adopted the rules which still has to be finalized but it is a long ways down the track at this point. And because that's happened and the anti-backsliding law dealing with public health, even if the current federal administration decides that they would like to adjust or um

slow down the federal legislation, my understanding from multiple different people is that if if everything is finalized with the state, then it doesn't matter. And the people I talked to even gave some examples historically of when this has happened and the state had to go ask for permission essentially to be able to match what was happening federally and that could be very complicated and difficult. So essentially we at this point need to be watching what the state is doing because that's who's going to ultimately ensure compliance and requirements and all those things. I I would throw one other piece into that and that's um the litigation that began a year year and a half ago when LCRI came out. There was a collection of you know attorneys general who were going to sue the current FDA to delay change etc. Um and and so I'd be curious more about the litigation um and how that would impact both federally and state issues. We I have no idea where that has gone, but I know it was out there.

It is interesting. I imagine it impacts states, older communities first, right? So, you probably see a higher concentration on the east coast and south and then less as you get west.

And just to clarify, uh we are not eligible for principal forgiveness through uh the state funding. So that's where we are going to be discussing more about the special assessment process for the private lead service line replacement uh as based on our goals and then it would be the water utility that would take care of the public lead service line replacement and the water main that would go on to all users. So that would be shared amongst all residents. So that'll be part of our process as far as replacement strategy as well as the lowinterest loans that we'll try to tackle as well and go after that funding source.

Yeah. And all of these um financial go uh financial uh options is something that will be clearly communicated to um all residents and this is incredibly important because I think that is the largest barrier when you do talk about this is how am I going to pay for it? Um, and so if we can kind of get that out of the way, um, I can talk about why is this important? Because I I kind of think the first hoop I have to jump through is let's let's talk about how we're going to we're going to pay for it. One other quick question. Um, so you you work for the Northshore Health Department. Yep.

Is it it's funded through a grant that from who? Whitefish Bay Shwood or L7? No, just wifeish bands to I'm just thinking about like branding in terms of doortodoor outreach. So, um I'll be doing if it's I I'll I was going to do co-branding. Um I was going to do the Northshore Health Department and White Fish Bay. Um sure. Or not. I think individual to each community,

right? I think it was going to depend on the event. So, if there was going to be a chance that there were going to be people from both communities there, like a workshop, um, then I would do all three. But if I'm doing doortodoor outreach, I'll probably just have White Fish Bay on there. [laughter] I think so. I think we can fund that.

Okay, let's move on. Yep. Uh, the review of the 2025 temporary pedestrian safety improvements. So, I will kick things off and then Maxine will also uh add value to this topic as well. So, within this memo, we felt that it was a good check-in. Uh thank you, Brooke. Uh for us to kind of just do a summary of how 2025 went because there was so many different moving parts related to pedestrian and bicycle improvements. starting with the the adoption of our bicycle and pedestrian safety study uh that happened back in April and from then on it was almost month after month of from the the study being formalized to village staff going through and chronologically working alongside the public works committee and the village board to start to prioritize different projects. So within that, just quickly just going through the initial bullet points, the safe school zone signage uh inter um improvements, we are starting that out at the JCC. We plan on doing that over this winter month. That way we ease into it. We already have the signage uh in place that's been purchased. So now it's just more of a winter activity for our electrical and signage technician to work alongside Maxine to modernize and update those signs. We've discussed our safe school zone intersection improvements uh through a tap grant that we received through the village. So Santa Monica Bell, Santa Monica Day, Bowmont, and Santa Monica, which Maxine will talk about as far as those temporary improvements that have been made as well as Ardmore and Hampton, those are all physical improvements that are under design this year and that will transition to 2027 construction. Lake Drive, that's the overhead signs. Those are looking to be modernized and replaced as part of that project scope. Whitefish Bay High School special event safety improvements. I thought that was a huge success. Me and my my kids, we

actually used that area to throw around the football and watch the teams warm up. I have no opposition of trying again if the school district uh seemed to be in favor of it as well. So maybe that could be a continued thing year over year. Feedback from them was generally good. Yes, 100% uh positive from what I heard from the school district with that one too and from the public and I didn't hear any negativity so much from neighbors. Uh I reached out to a couple that I knew right on Kimbark and they were fine with it too. Good.

So I think that was a success for us. I think we talked about Sendex one or two times uh as far as those public improvements go. So everyone uh knows and has digested as far as how much of uh an improvement that will be for pedestrian safety within that whole entire corridor, every corner and then some is going to be touched and a lot of it is centered around pedestrian safety. So that's a huge win for us for design this year um and going into construction next year. Silver Spring Drive, we put some new bicycle parking and modernized what was there to make improvements. And the only thing I would say that we did not get to which is on the list for 2026 is our traffic calming policy. So, Maxine um feels confident that she'll be able to integrate that and be more formal as far as if a resident calls with uh four-way stop sign uh request or speeding concern or pedestrian feeling unsafe in an area that it's more of a transparent way of how we manage those concerns and working not only within DPW but uh the police department as well just so they can understand and anticipate now that I voiced this concern what can I expect as far as the evaluation? So, it just is more crystal clear because we we have a process, but are we transparent of how we do it as much as I'd like? No. So, I think it' be a good document to be shared with the public. So, that's a lot. I think I'm I I am very proud of the team for DPW and everything that we've accomplished within one year. and Maxine will be able to share um how we did some traffic calming temporary solutions within a few of our sites and we shared some attachments. So Maxine with that

sorry because of course we're going to interrupt your conversation. Um the bullet points about uh design in 2526 construction in 27 Lake Drive Santa Monica and Bell San Monica Day San um we we seem to have some success and gathered some interesting data about intersections this year. And so I guess I kind of thought that that was the new method going forward would be and and we we were basically creating bumpouts. So can you talk to the concept why for let's just pick on Santa Monica and Bell a day. Why wouldn't we put up temporary what are those called? Stansions.

Yeah, the delineators. Why wouldn't we do that this year?

Great question. So that that project is a tapled project and backing into it that tap funding originally was just for signage and working with the public works committee village board we leveraged ARPA funding because we didn't feel that it was 100% utilization of those resources financially just to go towards school zone signage improvements. So, it unlocked that $622,000 for those types of improvements for more concrete enhancements. [clears throat] I would agree that in the future going from temporary delineators and testing out areas is absolutely the way to go to get that public feedback and trying out a few at a time. But it just happened to be based on the TAP grant schedule and funding that we move forward more in a traditional method of public information meeting that we had. We brought this in front of the committees and boards numerous times as far as what it would look like. The conceptual renderings were shared by RA Smith. So that process is basically being moving forward where it's kind of too late to make too much design changes this late with those tap grant areas.

I mean the only one that I'm thinking of that we clearly had temporary and decided this was a bad idea was Hampton and Barbara. That wasn't one of these. I don't correct. I'm just thinking of the same concepts where turning radiuses and other issues will will Can we just How about this? Can you make sure that that doesn't happen here? Yes. And

yeah, that's all I care about. Clark Deetsz had a nice presentation for Senix if you remember about turning radius and RA Smith has the same uh process where they actually use their um their design to see how that turning radius would affect if we had a bump out and would that um would that large scale truck be be rolling over a stop sign or a curb enhancement or would they be able to safely make that lefthand turn from one one road to another? The engineering firms have done that with the safe school zone areas as much as the ascendic. So we feel a level of confidence based on those enhancements that the vehicle term movements will be successful. Are the

Yeah, that's pretty interesting. Um, so they have kind of like a computer program and you could put in there like a semitr that's this size that comes from like whichever grocery store. they can model it on the exact layout and you could see like where the tires would go. Um, so I found that really interesting. And I also wanted to add that they also are improving ADA accessibility um on those intersections. So they're improving the layout of the crosswalk curb ramp and the slope so it's not too steep if you're in like a wheelchair wheelchair or something.

So uh turning radius is one thing. The the other thing that we'll talk about in in a couple pages here um is congestion. And I like I I think about how I used to drop my kids off on Santa Monica and Bell or Day and how there's a lot of congestion in that area during pickup and drop off. Um and so I it I was anticipating a temporary delineators so that we could see what that comes out to be. I mean, I understand that the process the train has left the station, but I I I I'm worried about it. Worried about it. You would have

Well, I was just going to say, can we reuse the delineators when we because we're going on Santa Monica and um Bont, we're we're making that permanent. Correct. Correct. Like, are we able to reuse those at least on a temporary basis for

try for a couple weeks? There's anchor bolts that you place in there and once you have the hole with the anchor bolt, you can you can zip on and off the actual delineer. It's a two-part system where it's got the cap on the bottom and then the actual post up on top. So, yes, we can repurpose and I know Maxim is going to look into if we have additional um batch of additional delineators for 2026 areas where we'll be bringing that to the committee in the future of different zones that we want to try out. And keep in mind that we did enhance our um roadway safety fund. That's part of our levy and our annual budget. So we're able to purchase additional delineators based on our project scope for for future areas to try out.

I think what they're saying, Matt, is could we are we able to do that at Santa Monica and Bell and Santa Monica and Day, those two locations? We could, but again, keep in mind that we're already at 60% design and now we're we're doing the nuts and the bolts of the DOT. That's fine. accept. I want to find out sooner rather than later if it's an issue. You know what I mean? Like once you put the concrete down, then we're screwed, right?

So, we haven't we haven't paid the contractors to pour concrete yet. I I I hope I hope we find out good things, but I I'm very concerned that we're going to reading some of the comments particularly about what's in front of St. Monica's on Bow Mountain Santa Monica. um that that bumpouts might cause some issues that we are uh that we may not want to bite into. That's all.

I guess I'm going to agree with Kevin, but for very different reasons. I don't think congestion will be a problem. Actually, I pass the Santa Monica one regularly in the morning, too, and I actually think it's gotten better. But I do think it's nice to have those delineators out early because it gives people the opportunity to make their mistakes without hitting concrete. Um, and so just having even if it's just like a month or two, just getting like people psychologically ready for a change because I think so many people are either distracted while they're driving or they just get so accustomed to like this is my route. This is how much space I have. They're kind of on autopilot. Getting a bright orange stick in the middle of the road to be like, hey, something's changing does have value.

As long as they're not needed somewhere else. Yeah. that I mean if they're needed somewhere else

I I feel confident that we would have either an inventory or we could purchase additional and my my plan was to enhance future areas. So if that's already the discussion, I have no problem where Maxine and I can start to look at formalizing additional areas on Bell and Day in Santa Monica to put those out there because I think it is good for for both perspectives to it. If it's not too late, it's not too late and maybe we spend a little bit more to to do the design before it goes to construction if there's really some heartache over over what we assumed versus the reality of the situation. But at the same time, um, knowing that we have the funding, it just ties our hands to those project areas and it just gets tricky with the state involved. So,

and we got to get it right. Right. Yeah. Understood. What I heard is that they really like the process that you did last year and they want to utilize that again. And I agree. Absolutely. Kudos to you and Maxine. Definitely. Absolutely. And it's nice to have this much feedback. I mean, obviously some comments are like a page long, some comments are just like don't like it or like it. Um so it's but it is nice to you know to have that data. It was interesting. Are you sharing this data with um St. Monica especially because that whole thing about crossing guard and the principal or the vice

principal and the change of time you know all of that I whether they got that because that popped up quite a bit. The fact that St. Monica's changed their start time to coincide with Richard's created a lot of congestion. Okay. That was very insightful when I read that comment and it was it was well written where I I do believe that that was an impact

up a number of times. Yeah. And also just for not only uh the private schools but for the public schools and the crossing guards to share that with the wreck program and their director about when [clears throat] when is it appropriate to stop traffic flow versus pedestrian safety and maybe they're holding up traffic unnecessarily when you have another 15 seconds per se and you can let some cars through. So I think that the visual of the delineators gets people to trigger about overall dissatisfaction of traffic cues and wait times and my kids go to Cumberland. same deal like that 15 20 minutes it's a thing right it's a thing for everyone but now that they had a point to talk about the drop off and pickup I think we're seeing comments very broadly about just that congestion to that point but also gives good feedback as far as that timing and maybe we can be creative beyond the traffic control within our rightway but also from a plan and adaptability of the school districts how to accommodate that traffic flow because I I do agree the more people are annoyed, the worse decisions are made of your own children letting them out mid block, right? So, we don't want to create where it's so so much of a cue where parents busy for work and they're late with their kids for school are making a wrong decision that they will forever regret and we don't want to create issues that way because that's an unintended consequence. So, I do agree. I I love the process that we did last year. I think we gain a lot of information. We learn a lot uh with village staff as well through that process. So long story short, I think the tap grant is an anomaly from here on out and that we'll be more process driven based on temporary improvements to really get that engagement with the public, with the committees, with the board. So it's not a rat race, but it's getting a familiarization about is this going to work for the long haul and not have to spend a lot of money to do so.

So sorry, Maxine.

Okay. [laughter] Um, okay. We already kind of like touched on the process during the delineator setup. Um, I was just going to recap that to first test the delineator layout. We put out the tall orange traffic cones, set those out, kind of observed the turning radiuses of trucks and the response to the traffic, if they're slowing down, if they are comfortable with it. And oh, so there's a picture of it. That's uh Bulma and Santa Monica. And then we removed cones if we felt um didn't fit or didn't work well with turning radiuses turning radiuses. And um then we installed the delineator posts in the locations that worked.

And I'll add one comment. Um, I'm actually really happy that we kept these out through winter because I think we did learn a lot with our DPW operations, especially with the early snowfall and just getting the engagement of our DPW staff as far as plowing. Again, going from delineators to potential concrete, there's a lot that we were able to have internal discussions about how to do it, what works best, uh, from curb to actual delineator, what piece of equipment can fit in there, like our sidewalk machines. So, um, did we lose a couple? Yeah, we did. But I think it was still value added to have them out and also that awareness and for people to feel confident and comfortable. Doesn't mean it's going to work every time and we get 12 plus inches and it's just not working for us. That might be a thing too. But for now, I think that we still gained a lot of feedback, especially in our first year of having them out more year round. Mhm. And going off of the feedback, um, we also like talked about this already too, but we did create the public feedback surveys at the two intersections that we moved forward with, which was this one and then the one right outside the high school at Marboro and KFax. And we had those accessible through the QR code that was laminated on a cone at the intersection. And this is the um like the raw data from the surveys. And then here's the pie charts from each survey question. I can go through those quick.

Those were helpful.

So for the first intersection, which was outside the high school, we asked, "Do you feel that pedestrians have enough time to cross the street with a new crosswalk push button?" And we got a response of 65% of people said yes, 4% said no, and 31% said undecided. We asked, do you feel that improvements at this site make the intersection safer? 80% said yes, 20% said no. We also asked if using the crosswalk at night, do you feel that the lights created a safer pedestrian experience? Se uh 57 said 57% said yes. 9% said no and then or 34% said I cross the street during the day.

And also note that those lights I don't know if anyone had had the opportunity to use the push buttons in the evening. But also at the library we added those this last year for additional lights to be on the crosswalk when you hit the push button. So it only activates during the evening hours through our solar panels. But it does do a a great job bringing more awareness in the evening hours. And we actually had that for our pumpkin fest before that activity. So I was able to see a lot of uh pedestrian crossings and that additional light just really captured and made even someone wearing darker clothes more aware during that crossing. So I thought that was a nice enhancement for both locations now at the high school as much as the library. We also asked, do you believe that the yellow traffic calming delineators cause cars to slow down? 69% said yes, 23% said no, and then 8% said undecided. We asked how safe do you feel crossing this intersection with the new traffic calming features? 26% said 10.

Please don't read all that. Okay, we've got it. So, you guys have the raw data. So, I guess I would be curious not to keep interrupting you. Where do you consider like success? Is it like everything north of five? Do you consider like that's pretty they feel more safe than less safe? Um you only consider like above. Six and above. Yeah. What is what is a passing grade when it comes to these metrics? Teachers it's 80%. Oh well I think we give ourselves a little more grace than that. Um, is there an engineering standard?

I don't think there's an overall engineering standard because I think that every person would have their own level of comfort. Like same with driving. Um, some people like are way more comfortable taking risks when driving even though they're in more of a dangerous situation. So, I would say it varies hugely. I I would just say like that's the beauty of qualitative versus quantitative in our world that the qualitative to these surveys, you really do capture a lot of that emotional response or how people feel and we should really take that to heart. And then the quantitative side is if I asked our chief how many accidents were on this intersection and he would be able to pull up data and we'd be able to determine why and how and through those types of analytics to get a different type of response. like over 10 years there's only been one, but maybe eight out of 10 people feel that it's unsafe, but the actions don't really drive that type of decision-making bias. Still good to have both, but you have to decipher what that means and just use more of a logical assessment of is it worth our while uh to make this a priority within this area of concern. Um, I also felt like it was interesting that the one outside the high school I felt like there was more green and I'm kind of like associating that with the RFB because I feel like it adds another layer of like safety and like visibility. Um, so that's kind of like what I correlated that with.

So what's next for these two? So, this is in my opinion, we just wanted to check in. This was informational only. A couple things to consider as we start to engage more in 2026 about next steps because this is going to just be a continuous process improvement for all of our pet and bike safety. The village board approved $200,000 for permanent improvements. So, we don't have recommendations. There's no action item. It's more of a check-in just to start to digest all this information with what we tried out this last year. But there might be an opportunity in 2026 for Maxine um and engineers to start to look at if we don't have a permanent improvement like our ones on Santa Monica for instance, those are already in motion. the high school with Marorrow and Kofax. Is there a desire by the public works committee to start to hone in into a project area or just say, well, let's let's try a couple more and what's the rush and we're gathering a lot of information. Let's do more delineators. Let's put up some more trials and we can capture more areas to really make the best decision. So, I don't have an opinion as far as the utilization of the $200,000 and having that rushed into 2026, but it's an opportunity to do so. So, as far as like next steps, this was more of anformational check-in. We plan on bringing other temporary areas to the attention of public works committee to try out some more delineators.

This year, yep. Yep. So, we'll have some new areas of of concentration based on the pet and bike study. So, we want to use that as kind of our template, our our road map, per se. So, we'll go back to the drawing board and see what's next on the list. And then we'll have a discussion about temporary improvements, traffic calming for 2026 using delineators. But I just put that out there that on top of our plan for temporary traffic calming solutions. There is funding that was approved by the board and $200,000 to do something additional if that's the desire of the committee.

In the meantime, we'll leave the delineators out, though. Yeah, I I believe so. Yeah, we'll leave them in the existing locations where they are. I think that it still adds value unless someone tells me otherwise, but I think we heard very positive comments on especially by the high school overall. And I think that people should get used to the ones over on um Santa Monica and Bulmont because we know that that's right around the corner for construction. So, I I plan on sharing this information with the design team that's doing the the design of Santa Monica and Bowmont. I think there's some lessons that they should hear about as far as the public feedback just to keep them as they're going through their design process. So, this is more considered a check-in for everyone. So, it's not so overwhelming that we're coming with too much information and too many recommendations that it's just good to see where we stand for 2025 before we truly make that transition to 26 with additional temporary improvements. especially

I guess my comment is um I'm I'm wondering how much more information we need before we would make a call. And I'm I'm not I'm not sure what that is. I I I think we've got a lot. And so my inclination is to make decisions, you know, to to move things forward instead of having delineators. I mean, the delineators are nice. It just I I always thought that they were the temporary proving grounds for and and we did that on Lake View in front of Target where we had the the boards up for I don't know month and a half and then we said, "All right, let's do it."

These have had actually a much longer run time of and and multiple seasons now of uh test grounds. Plus, we've got a whole bunch of comments and whatnot. Um, I I think the KFax uh high school one is a is a go unless somebody else I mean I I didn't really see many negative comments other than people who lived on KFax and were having trouble taking lefts and rights. Um

although some were recognizing the fact that it was really hard to turn left. I guess the only question is is there if we were to say go ahead on this then that means that anything that they put anything up that's temporary now wouldn't be able to take priority with the 200,000 with the correct I mean your your kind of goal is to say is there another area we want to look at and then make a decision

for our CIP 200,000 is the only thing that's been approved between 25 26 and 27 other than the Santa Monica like the safe schools zones and the Sendix areas. So, if it's not in the CIP, then those temporary improvements as of now, if we did some new ones in 2026, there may not be funding for that to transition to permanent. So, you correct that that would have to be added in a future.

I get it. Um I I'm just always nervous about timing and how um right, it's January right now. We're not going to do anything until May when concrete can cure and then we've got a fivemon window. And so I I would prefer to have decisions made before May so that we can hit the ground and spend that 200 grand and and otherwise suddenly we're talking about it in August, right?

And we can't do anything. And that's why I just wanted to dip my toes in with that comment because if there's an overwhelming yes like for the high school Marorrow KFax that's great because we can bring back more of like an actual schematic plan with like what it would look like renderings for permanent installation at a future public works committee meeting even know let us talk about this because I just wonder if with Clark DS let's see do we need to the level of design necessary given that they could go out do field measurements and Oh Sure.

Um, you know, if is this group opposed to like just bids coming forward? I mean, you've seen it. Do you need bid do you need to see design documents and such if they have capacity to be able to move forward? We're done deliberating, delineating. Okay. Yeah. I think the nice thing is you have shown them in a visible way that schematics wouldn't. Well, that's one less meeting to There's a little bit of precedent in that Lake View project. I mean, that that went Yep. very rapidly. I mean, that was a win on 10 different levels. Well, if we have our marching orders, then we have our marching orders with that. So, the next time you'd see it is when we're ready to integrate that into a project bid and scope and award.

I also sort of think some of the data you have here skews more negative than it needs to. When you look through some of the comments too, it's like the best solution would be to teach people manners. I agree that it would be great but like that is unrelated to you do that. I mean was this though in your work plan for the year though I guess is my bigger question that we didn't discuss about the meeting.

So just a little insight this was always in my mind to do something this year. Was it technically on a formal plan? No. But the chronological sequence of doing something especially at the high schools, not tipping our hat, but the Millan overlay program will most likely be part that part of Marorrow, that section. I I can't remember the intersection from what to what I've seen as far as Marorrow goes, but it's within that that Kfax area. From a construction standpoint, it's best to do concrete this year if we're planning mill and overlay the following year in 2027. So in that way the contractors as far as that mill and overlay they know where things are. They can bid on it with the pin downs for instance where they are with the concrete. So from a constructibility now would be an appropriate time to focus on putting something on Marbor and KFax to back into our bill and overlay program in 27.

I apologize I keep interrupting. I think you go ahead. Um, I I guess I'm always thinking about that Lake View project and how John Edelbeck ran it as, hey, we've got excess capacity from our contract guy that or our concrete guy. They'll just make this happen for us. And I don't think he went through this long design process of getting documents and bids and all that. Like I think that's exactly what Kelsey's Yeah. What's the difference between making it happen and Yeah. You know, so I guess I

20 extra percent. I I plan on having Sorry, Maxi, I'm presenting this to you, but we do our annual sidewalk uh program using concrete. And the same contractors that did the lake view was the same contractor that did the sidewalk program that year. And the same contractor that did the schoolhouse park with uh the water fountain area. So, we were able to add on either after the fact, but we had the contractor, we're under contract, easy enough to roll those projects in based on funding. This one it's just reversed that we know it's coming so we can get more competitive bidding and we could just do schematic drawings like do this and it's part of our annual program. It's put into the mix. Got it.

So that way we have it bid formally but we get better pricing because it's part of a bigger project. Bids and pricing are great. I just get a little nervous when we start getting engineers and drawings and Well, yeah. But this this is a lot more than that little island over there. It is. It it depends.

Okay. It depends on which and we'll look at this internally. Um there's two different ways to do it. There's a SendX way of doing traditional bumpouts, but every time you do a bump out now, you're actually moving your storm manholes, catch base, and things like that. So, there's a lot more engineering and there's more cost. There's things called pindowns, similar to what those islands are, where you just pin some rebar right in the middle of the road, pour some uh concrete within your forms, and call it a day. And those are cheaper and you don't have to worry about storm water. So you could do a pin down as a bumpout and I'm sure you've seen in the city of Milwaukee that you still allow that water flow on a curb pan and then you still get the traffic calming and pedestrian safety but you're not spending so much money doing so. So we'll look at cost benefit of what solution is best based on our funding based on the long term and that's just how we'll do it. But we don't plan on overengineering by any means.

Agreed. But I also don't think we're in a raging hurry. I mean, I I don't want to skip steps because you want to make sure I mean May is a ways away. We've got some time. I want to put pressure on what he's describing is the same. If you've driven all over Wawosa, they've been throwing these up everywhere. They're doing the same thing. They're doing Hinden construction. Oh, Milwaukee is doing the same thing. So, this isn't, you know, what he's describing is is common right now for these traffic measures when you're not doing full road reconstruction. So, I think it'll be fine. We'll look at it. We won't skip steps. I don't want you to feel Yeah. Oh my god, this has to get done right now. We sure got some. We appreciate that. Yeah, agreed. But okay,

awesome. Maxine, was there anything else you wanted to do in your presentation since we hijacked it? Yeah,

I was just going to like briefly touch on the no parking signage on the corner of ID Wild and Henry Clay. Um during that development at 600 Henry Clay, um there was some sighteline issues with um between cars and pedestrians and then between cars and other cars when they're coming up to the stop sign and then trying to look both ways and pull out. Um so we have the temporary we had the temporary no parking signs. um that kind of created like intersection daylighting. So that's like to make that permanent you're saying or it would be eligible for permanent no parking signage.

So that's something we can bring back. Oh, formally we would have to go through a resolution to the village board. Um, so it it's worth noting that it it was I'll call it a cluster as far as construction and constructibility of that site and it created a lot of resident response and engagement on multiple levels from Kelsey onto down to Maxine really handholding to try to do our best based on that project. But the silver lining is that we were able to really take that as an opportunity for that sight lines, put up temporary uh no parking, have a lot of PD presence and their feedback and it just it does seem like a good uh candidate for extending that 15 ft where it's typical for no parking and extend that slightly so we have improved sighteline visibility within that intersection. Okay.

I' I'd nominate Henry Clay as a a street to have some temporary delineators or some some some traffic calming thing. That's a part of what was in the Yeah, I mean I think what you're using is the guiding document. I could review and see how much Henry Clay is mentioned within these intersections. Hollywood comes to mind right by Idol Wild. So there is there any opposition to the no parking because like you mentioned that's a changing the parking map and so we can prepare that but don't want to if there's concise. I have no objection. I have no objection other than

what's happening to the residents who live there around those apartments and whatnot. Are they pissed off that they're those spots are gone or so the residents in the neighborhood were the ones that suggested it originally is my memory. Maxine our chief can confirm in the houses not the apartments would have wouldn't have been there at that time. We haven't I haven't heard any big enough feedback as far as not just the new apartments but the old apartments. So we didn't have feedback from people. No, I did not receive any

we for a little bit put no parking on one side of entire the entire block and that was also at the request of the residents and some loved and some did not. that was divisive. But those specific daylighting areas, I don't recall any concerns, but we can confirm with Chief. And there have been a lot of people who have complained about the pedestrian safety walking across that. Not only pedestrian, but just your vehicle merging on to Henry Clay. And I live way too close to that site that I deal with those intersections daily. It it is tough, especially when you do have multifamily and they're parked on Henry Clay. Yep. It's tough to see and you're kind of making a gamble on Idle Wild, especially trying to make that lefthand turn movement on the Henry Clay.

The dumpster's gone finally. Yeah, that's a bonus point. Yeah. Um, okay. Moving on. Uh, discussion recommendation of the refuge vehicle purchase. This will not we will not make million questions on that one. This it's basically very similar to what we had a discussion as far as our hook lift. What we're Thank you, Maxi.

Thank you, Maxi. We're we're trying to integrate our CIP process in order to move things forward. Um given that there's about a year waiting list on our equipment, timing is of the essence. It's like a hurry up and wait mentality when it comes to vehicle orders for DPW public works, our fleet. So with that, within our 2026 to 2031, we are starting to be on a cycle and a rotation of our refuge truck replacement program. Recently, this last month in December was our brand spanking new refuge truck that we now integrated into our fleets. So, that has already been shown to be extremely helpful with not only our existing fleet one, and we have one that goes and and breaks down and we have to have our mechanic spend time on it. We still are full operation because when previously a vehicle went down for our side loader, we would have to use a rear loader to supplement. And using a rear loader means an additional service worker that you're taking out from another project. So now that we have four side loaders, now we're going to be in a cadence of a replacement model as they start to age out that when the new one comes in a year from now, we will be auctioning off our oldest one that has the most issues, the most repairs that are needed. So this will really help keep our streamline service levels higher than what they were before. And there's going to be a lot of operational efficiencies having the four side lords versus a three. And we can do better job at maintaining our existing fleet too. For instance, now that we received our new one, we had no issues of outsourcing our side load or our older one to have well needed and deserved service without con concerns of what that would mean as far as impact to our service levels with our day-to-day uh refues and recycling pickups.

Is this the only place that we can get them from?

No. So it the benefit of what we're bringing to the table today tonight is this has been a year in the works process to try out multiple different refuge trucks based on size, capacity, turning radius. We were able to actually have vendors bring vehicles for us to try out for weeks at a time. And that's how we were able to get our brand new vehicle is we went through that demonstration demo process originally to see what would work best for our urban environment within Whitefish Bay because we have unique alleys for instance. We're using a very similar duplicate to the truck we just received to the order in front of us today. So that way it's tried and true and we used it for the last four to six weeks where we got to work out some slight kinks and integrate it within this order. So our refuge truck drivers feel very confident with what we're ordering and we were able to try it out for a longer period of time. For instance, the one that we ordered didn't come with an additional camera. It went from we only had four cameras installed where it should had five. So that was a thing that we're able to include within this proposal. So we had that opportunity to refine look at things as far as tweaking it to present something that the team feels very confident. So, but just to be clear, so as specked out the way we want it, there's only one vendor that we could get it speced out exactly the way you want.

Every I I would say that there's different suppliers work with different vendors, right? So, depending on what you want, you have to work with that vendor. So, our now I'm I'm wondering more about competitive bidding. Yeah, she's wondering why you don't have three bids. Uh we don't have to do that for per state stat. No, I understand that like but just like best practice. Are we getting competitive pricing? Yes, I would say yes that they're always comparable, but it depends on what you want at the same time. So, this this meets our needs to the best of our like our fleet and our operations and that's the lens that we looked at is from that's the priority versus getting something that maybe we're not able to do as much as far as capacity or turn radius and

then then it's more of an operational challenge. So, we looked at it through the lens. The answer is yes. This is the only place to get the one that you want. So, not the one you want. That is correct. That that's what I was trying to get. Sorry, that was a long way to say yes. Okay. Battle Motors is a awesome name. Um, but also I you might have already said it. Will we be maintaining any rear loaders? Like, will we keep any of those in our will just be for emergency situations or for other like larger refues and things like that?

We have three. We'll be going down to two once we get our hook lift because we're able to optimize some of what that third rear loader was able to do with like leaf collection for instance now that we're going to have the vac on there. So, we will not need to keep that third rear loader, but we do need to keep two of them. So, it's our it's still our intent to keep two rear loaders plus the four side loaders as part of our fleet. Okay. Any other questions about trucks? All right. Then you do you need a motion from us on this one? I need a recommendation. Yes. Recommendation. Make the recommendation.

I move to recommend the village board to purchase the refuge vehicle as shown in the attached memo in the amount of $420,000 change. Yeah. Anyone have a second? Second. Okay. All in favor? I. All right. At what point does it not be change? Does it not change any when you round us? When you round down. So you know what? We used to do a lot of not to exceed. So in this case it was like $421,000 not to exceed 421. And so that kind of fixes a lot of the dollars and cents nonsense and gives you a little bit of leeway.

All right, moving on. Public works committee status reports. Is there anything you want to highlight or do we I don't want to keep people longer than they have to. So, if there's questions, I would just say that I met with uh Art Solar today for the library project. So, that one's moving pretty fast. I would say they were flying a drone and I said, "Man, you should have told me. I know our village president would have been more than happy to fly a drone for this project. So, we're looking at March construction for installation of those solar panels." So, I just heard about that. They'll try to fit us in sooner, but they're already in motion with what they need on their end. And then once they're constructed, how quickly do they start actually producing? Are they online pretty quick?

They work in lock step with Wii Energies as far as that meter. Um, so as soon as they're online, I believe then they're online. Cool. Now, given that it's March, I'm sure that output's going to be different versus July. But still, yes, we will start to see the dividends of that sooner than later. Awesome. I just had one question about the library boiler replacement. I'm sure you've thought about this, but there's potential for other uh construction to be done in the basement. Are we just making sure that um we would be coordinating things so we're not going to build something that we then have to remove uh to put those boilers in there? Also, when I think of boilers, I think of like the old school like take half the basement.

Yeah, they're not massive boilers. I'd be more happy to give a tour to anyone, but there's a mechanical room within the library that's separated by doors, like partition like concrete walls that would be off limits for anything that would be on the other side of that wall. So, that basement is heated regardless of what is down there. Correct.

The there's a new section in here, sanitary sewer main lining. Um, and I don't have a problem or question about that. It's actually a few months ago we had Mid City come out with reports on our outfalls and um other miscellaneous areas that needed attention. Do we have any um projects this year to deal with any of the issues that they

So great question that is in motion behind the scenes preliminary I'd say that it's kicking off where I had a Northshore uh public works meeting with other uh directors and there's been some recommendations of different firms that we can work with as far as taking that the next step as far as you have to design something in order to make those uh corrections or maintenance or repairs. So, it's we're trying to source out a firm that would be able to guide us along that process based on the mid city report and then hopefully that will put in motion that to be one of these projects this year where we'll do our preliminary assessment, scoping, cost estimate, design, engineering. So, would that actual construction happen this year? I don't think so. But I think the design and the planning and making sure that we feel like we have a good cost as far as the fee structure of what would be occurring with those outfalls and prioritizing accordingly that will be in motion in 2026. And then as I I mentioned before, us having uh better equipment for our storm water utility with these crawlers and the CCTV, we're going to have more opportunities for eyes on our utility system to keep on planning and then converting that over to construction.

And my memory of the timeline of that was that he was not saying any of this was we need to do this ASAP. Yeah. It wasn't because I was worried about that exact thing. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. But it is one thing within our CIP. So I'm trying to follow that CIP and you'll keep on seeing more and more red as far as these updates as we start to have more contracts, more engineering firms involved to start to have that cadence of of these updates. So you're seeing old stuff come off from 2025 and you'll see more red going into Yeah, I think you ought to have a section on storm. Yep. That's all.

Anyone else? All right, then. That happened. Yes, indeed. Um, then I would look for a motion to adjurnn. All right. Do you have a second? I'll second. Yeah, he's got it. There you go, J. All right. All in favor? I I Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.