Ozaukee County, Wisconsin - Minutes - Highway Committee

"DRAFT" September 30, 2004

Port Washington, WI

Chairman Kaul called the meeting of the Ozaukee County Highway Committee to order at 9:05 a.m. Present were committee members Kaul, Grosklaus, Uselding Hilber and Kletti, Commissioner Dreblow, Account Clerk Learned, and Dave Schwengel, retired rail safety analyst for Office of the Commissioner of Railroads. Moved by Uselding and second by Grosklaus to approve the minutes of the September 16, 2004 meeting as printed. All members present voting aye, the motion was adopted.

Moved by Kaul and second by Grosklaus to change the order of the agenda to allow Dave Schwengel to speak, regarding railroad crossing safety. All members voting aye, the motion was adopted.

Dave Schwengel appeared to discuss railroad crossing safety issues. This was his second appearance before committee and he presented a letter that outlined his recommendations regarding rail crossings in Ozaukee County. He is asking for committee endorsement on proposed installation of signals, vision corner clearing, & clearing of excessive brush. Schwengel had letters from Barb Dickmann, Village President of the Village of Saukville and Les Bartel, Jr., Chairman of the Town of Grafton in agreement with this under the condition that State and Federal funds will be exclusively used for the crossing upgrades, so no local funds would be needed. Schwengel distributed a draft letter outlining new signals and gates at various locations at a cost of $135,000 to $150,000 each. Kletti requested Schwengel revise letter to have it relate only to the rail crossings at County Trunk Highway locations. Once the revisions are made, it is to be returned to the Highway Committee for consideration and formal action. At that time committee will act on letter and authorize that it be sent to DOT and to representative Glenn Grothmann and Paul Dirksen, D.O.T. Schwengel left the meeting at 10:00 a.m.

Dreblow reviewed the following correspondence and communications.

Letter from Dennis Kenealy (Clapper settlement) – Dreblow read letter from Kenealy to Juan Ramierz, Attorney, regarding Clapper settlement previously authorized. After receipt of the stipulation for settlement, a check for the balance of the settlement amount will be forwarded to Clapper.

Discussion regarding $85 for motel rooms at conferences. – Due to the recent action by the Finance Committee to disallow exceeding the room rate cap for the latest conference attended by the superintendents, the committee discussed the $85 cap on room allowance for conferences. The committee would be interested in considering the necessary ordinance change to remove the cap for attendance at conferences.

Construction and Maintenance projects.

Dreblow presented the "follow-on" Discretionary Maintenance Agreement from Wisconsin D.O.T. for $100,000 of funds for the Waubeka Salt Shed. Because this project spanned two calendar years, the DOT needs this agreement executed to allow the carry over of the discretionary funds that will pay for the building. Moved by Grosklaus and second by Kletti to approve signing the DMA. All members present voting aye, the document was signed.

There was discussion of the status of the 2005 budget submittal. Uselding suggested deferring CTH B project. Dreblow recommended all committee members revisit CTH. B to determine if this can be delayed and possibly free up funds for the CTH I project.

Dreblow reviewed Wisconsin D.O.T. proposed agreement to fund the CTH I project using Hazard Elimination Safety funds. Under the proposed agreement, DOT would fund two projects. The first is the intersection of CTH I and STH 33 that was previously approved. The second would be funding for the balance of the road from STH 33 to Cedar Sauk. A total of $1,157,660 would be provided for engineering and construction. Right of Way acquisition would be funded using $164,376 of CHIP money. The remaining local cost is estimated at $1,424,716. Of this, $600,000 is contained in the 2005 budget request. The balance would need to be budgeted for over the next two years, as the agreement requires that the project be let prior to August 30, 2008. Kletti expressed concerns about being able to assure that funding the balance of the project will be made available. Moved by Useldingand second by Hilber to authorize Commissioner Dreblow to execute the agreement for the Hazard Elimination funds for the CTH I project. Motion carried 4-1 (Kletti).

Dreblow read an e-mail from Todd Becker, Wisconsin D.O.T., regarding the proposed roundabout on STH. 33 at CTH LL. Mr. Becker is asking for highway recommendation and input on this project. Mr. Becker offered to appear before the committee to review the round about issue. The committee requested Dreblow contact Becker to arrange an appearance at a committee meeting to discuss proposed roundabout prior to the committee taking any action on the proposal. Moved by Uselding and second by Kletti to request Mr. Becker to attend a future meeting for discussion regarding the design of the intersection of STH 33 and CTH LL. All members voting aye the motion was approved.

Accounts payable batch #38633 in the amount of $16,200.00, batch #38634 in the amount $33,513.95, batch #38672 in the amount of $5,218.67 and batch #38673 in the amount of $89,088.91 were reviewed. The labor payroll of September 18, 2004 in the amount of $71,695.21 was reviewed. Moved by Grosklaus and second by Kletti to approve the accounts payable and labor payroll. All members present voting aye, the motion was adopted.

Moved by Kletti and second by Grosklaus to adjourn the meeting at 11:50 a.m. All members present voting aye, meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Dreblow

Highway Commissioner