Village of Riverlea Committee on Infrastructure
Meeting minutes
October 7, 2019
The Riverlea Committee on Infrastructure met at 7:00 pm on Monday, October, 2019 in room 119 of Thomas Worthington High School. The meeting was moved to Room 126 since the meeting room was locked and unavailable for use. The meeting was posted and open to the public. The following people were in attendance: Marc Benevento (Chair), Bill Charles (Street Commissioner), Chad Lowe (council member), Greg Ross (volunteer), and Scott Flores (volunteer). Eric MacGilvray (Mayor) and Jim Dippel of Burgess and Niple attended as a guest of the Committee to share updates on the infrastructure project design work.
The following agenda was shared via e-mail prior to the meeting:
1. Approval of August minutes
2. Tree program review
3. Street project: grass replacement plan, drainage at 5690 Olentangy
4. Lift station: results of inspection & next steps – Jim, all
5. Asset management: schedule / next steps – Jim
6 New business
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm. The chairperson volunteered to take minutes. Meeting minutes from the August 2019 meeting had been circulated ahead of time and were approved as written.
1. Tree program review: The chairperson thanked the committee for their work on the tree program that resulted in 21 households ordering a total of 31 trees. Scott Flores was commended for his work identifying and liaising with suppliers. Scott was asked to confirm the tree delivery timing Peabody and that Peabody would be contacting OOPS to locate underground utilities prior to installation. Marc Benevento offered to procure stakes for distribution to homeowners to mark the installation locations. The committee discussed the need to inspect the selected locations to be sure they conformed with program guidelines and the possibility of conducting a full or partial inspection once stakes had placed by homeowners.
2. Street project follow up
a. Grass replacement. The contractor is expected to place lime this week to improve growing conditions in the previously laid soil. A topsoil & seed mix is expected to be placed the following week. Fescue seed will be used at the recommendation of a grass expert. The Village is managing a list of property owners who elect to forgo soil adjustments and/or seed.
b. 5690 Olentangy drainage issue
Council approved up to $4000 for raising the apron to correct the flow of water away from the sub-grade drive at the property since a cost estimate was not available at the time. The estimate subsequently came in at $2385. Council was also supportive of correcting the crown of the street at the contractor’s expense.
At a subsequent site meeting, the contractor and sub-contractor both felt the issue would be corrected by raising the apron alone, and recommended against changing the crown of the street if possible. The effectiveness of this solution could be validated by flooding the area with water from a truck or hydrant. In their opinion, cutting into the street surface would create seams that could cause premature cracking at these locations. Since a storm sewer lies directly beneath the apron, the possibility of adding a trench drain to the apron was discussed. Following the meeting, the contractor provided a quote to raise the apron and install a 8’ long trench drain at $4550, although they felt that raising the apron alone would solve the problem.
Since the amount to raise the apron and install the trench drain was above the amount approved by Council, the approval of Council would be needed to authorize this expense. Furthermore, because the contractor felt that raising the height of the apron alone would solve the problem, and they could demonstrate the effectiveness of the solution, the Committee discussed and agreed that inclusion of the trench drain should be at the homeowner’s option and expense. The committee chairperson agreed to provide this information to the homeowner. If the apron corrections did not resolve the flooding issue, the street grade would be corrected thereafter.
c. Other: Committee volunteer Greg Ross commented that he had been unable to locate the water valve on his property, and asked if it could be located or added if necessary.
The mayor indicated that water may be draining across the intersection of Falmouth and Frontenac after heavy rains, rather than staying in the gutter. He asked if the grade of the street could be checked in that location
3. Lift station inspection report & next steps
Jim Dippel of Burgess & Niple summarized the inspection report that had been provided in advance of the meeting. The concrete slabs of the lift station were inspected by a team of engineers from B&N. The vertical slabs are in good condition, but the top horizontal slabs had degraded and exposed reinforcing rods are rusted. B&N recommends that the horizontal slabs be cleaned of rust and dirt, and coated with a protective paint to extend their life. B&B estimates a 10-15 year life of the concrete slabs of the lift station.
The committee asked about the options for repair or replacement of these slabs once they reach the end of their life, or if the station would have to be replaced in entirety. B&N will provide options and cost estimates. The committee will take this into consideration as they develop a recommended course of action to Council. However, it is still desired to add a backup generator to keep the station operating during power outages to prevent sewage overflow. An estimate to install a generator will need to include the cost of the generator, a concrete slab to support it, a natural gas line and connection, and a security enclosure of some sort. Security enclosures that include some sort of sound abatement would be desirable.
Options for the generator location and security were discussed. Due to a steep slope on the south side of the station (away from the adjacent home) and a manhole and sewer lines to the west of the station (“behind’ the station relative to the street), these are not likely to be viable options B&N will evaluate the site along with the Street Commissioner to develop possible locations.
The Mayor also asked that B&N check with Worthington to make sure that plans for relocation of the Worthington sanitary sewer line had permanently abandoned. At one time, Worthington had considered relocating their sanitary line to a location that would allow for the elimination of the Riverlea lift station. Jim Dippel was not aware of any renewed discussion of this option, but agreed to check with Worthington.
4. Asset management: B&N has completed data compilation and have begun assembling the report. The next step is to interview Village officials to understand priorities and how the information is intended to be used to inform the proper assembly of the report. An option for this meeting in lieu or the next regularly scheduled Infrastructure Committee meeting on Monday, November 4th was discussed. B&N will inform of availability.
5. New Business: A resident had inquired about the criteria used to determine which trees had received root treatment during construction work. The resident wanted to know why trees on their property had been skipped. B&N will follow up.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 PM.