The Public Works Committee heard a resident’s long-running complaint about living on gravel streets, then moved toward a “survey-first” process that could put 100% of paving costs on nearby property owners. Staff also flagged broken school crosswalk flashers—some possibly dead for a decade—and said the city doesn’t even have a reliable inventory of them.
Staff said Safe Step LLC expects to start sidewalk inspections in mid-to-late June, with work running into July, and that the contractor schedules work first-come, first-served. For residents, this is basically a timing heads-up: if your sidewalk is on the list, you may not see activity until summer.
Staff said the resurfacing contract paperwork still isn’t fully assembled and the city is waiting on WPS work before DPW can finish concrete curb/gutter and related replacements ahead of final paving. Translation: the schedule is dependent on outside utility work, and the city isn’t ready to lock in the final paving step yet.
Staff reported several school-area crosswalk flashers are no longer working, and some may have been out for more than 10 years. More troubling, staff said the Electric Utility couldn’t provide a complete/accurate inventory and the city may still be paying electric charges at certain locations even though the equipment doesn’t work. Staff said the old single-flasher style is no longer acceptable under current standards and they’re evaluating what signage/flashers are actually required at the listed locations.
Staff said updated pricing from TAPCO increased slightly to $128,012, and the lead time is still unknown until the city accepts the quote. Staff expects the main funding to come from one or two TIDs in the area and said they’re starting the WisDOT permitting process. This is still in the “lining up money and permissions” stage, not a final go-ahead to build.
Staff said two new DPW employees will start May 11, and that a retiring mechanic position will not be refilled; instead it will be reorganized into a WDNR-required Collection System Operator role, with an internal employee willing to take it. Staff also said the Engineering Technician vacancy has drawn little interest, and the department is falling behind on lower-priority work because of it. For residents, this is a capacity warning: delays on projects and paperwork are likely until staffing stabilizes.
Staff raised the need for a clearer, consistent process for resident-requested infrastructure upgrades—because the hard part isn’t the request, it’s deciding who pays and how much neighbor buy-in is required. In response to the gravel-street paving request, staff said they will send a postcard survey to adjacent owners stating the project would be 100% assessed to them, with non-responses counted as support; the committee indicated at least 50% support would be needed to move forward, though City Council could still postpone or cancel later. This approach puts a lot of weight on a mailer and a default “yes,” which residents should pay attention to if they live near unimproved streets.
Staff said a private utility has been placing notification markers in city rights-of-way and DPW plans to revise permit conditions to prohibit those markers. This is a small but real quality-of-life and streetscape control issue: the city is tightening what private utilities can leave behind in public space.
Staff reviewed a request to reduce or cancel a sidewalk snow-clearing invoice from the Feb. 6 storm and said photos show the homeowner had already cleared part of the sidewalk. Staff calculated an adjusted charge of about $66.25 based on the remaining length cleared by city crews. The minutes don’t show a committee vote here, so it reads as a staff recommendation rather than a final committee action.
Staff said a request may be coming to place an accessibility ramp in the public right-of-way and that DPW is waiting for more discussion with the Commercial Building Inspector. This is an early heads-up item: it signals a likely future decision about using public space for a private building’s access needs.
Staff said DPW and other departments may take a bigger role in event safety, including using larger DPW vehicles along parade routes or at events as protective barriers. This reflects a shift toward “hard perimeter” planning for public gatherings, which can affect traffic control, staffing, and how events feel and function.