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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 01 AIS Infrastructure System Needs and FTE Proposal {00015156:1} AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Meeting Date: 2/18/2020 Meeting Type:Work Session Staff Contact/Dept.:Niel Laudati, Staff Phone No:541-726-3780 Estimated Time: 50 Minutes S P R I N G F I E L D C I T Y C O U N C I L Council Goals: Maintain and Improve Infrastructure and Facilities ITEM TITLE: INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEM NEEDS AND FTE PROPOSAL ACTION REQUESTED: Approve/Not Approve system maintenance and FTE proposal. ISSUE STATEMENT: The steady economy and higher volume of public and private developments over the past decade has stimulated considerable growth in the City’s inventory of public infrastructure across our street, stormwater and wastewater systems. During this time, staffing has remained level. The Finance and Development and Public Works departments request City Council review and provide direction on a staffing proposal that will add seven (7) additional staff to address outstanding public-facing program needs across the department without the need for additional revenue. ATTACHMENTS: Attachment 1: CBM Instructure System Needs and FTE Proposal Attachment 2: CBM Instructure System Needs and FTE Proposal Presentation DISCUSSION/ FINANCIAL IMPACT: The passage of HB 2017 resulted in the City receiving an increase in the State apportionment from state fuel taxes and revenue from vehicle registration fees. The City began receiving the HB2017 revenue in the fourth quarter of FY2019 which has provided an increasein Street Fund reserves. The current fiscal condition of the Wastewater and Stormwater Funds are also healthy. Given the magnitude of City owned infrastructure the Finance and DPW departments request City Council to review and provide direction on a multi-fund staffing proposal to expand services to the community and contain long term asset costs. This request can be implemented within the current street, stormwater, and wastewater funds and will permit DPW staff to implement focused work activities in program areas where preventive maintenance has been deferred. The specific workplan will touch street surfaces, wastewater pipelines, subsurface and surface stormwater pipes and bioswales, and provide a way for council and staff to connect with community members to communicate work taking place in their neighborhood. Staff identifies several targeted goals and prospective benefits if implemented:  extend the useful life of City infrastructure by re-establishing preventive maintenance treatments  improve the operational functionality of streets, wastewater conveyance, stormwater quality facilities  address Community Development and Operations communication, engagement and outreach objectives through coordinated and consistent citizen interaction. Improve staff visibility and citizen confidence by demonstrating solid asset management and stewardship.  protect community assets while saving the resources in the long term If approved this will allow hiring 7 additional staff to address several outstanding public infrastructure systems and program needs in Capital Engineering and Operations. The total implementation cost estimate of this proposal is $817,000 for personnel, materials and services. {00015157:1} M E M O R A N D U M City of Springfield Date: 2/18/2020 To: Mary Bridget Smith, City Manager Pro Tem COUNCIL From: Niel Laudati, Interim Assistant City Manager Nathan Bell, Finance Director Brian Conlon, DPW Operations Deputy Director Tom Boyatt, DPW Community Development Deputy Director BRIEFING Subject: Infrastructure System Needs And FTE Proposal MEMORANDUM ISSUE: The steady economy and higher volume of public and private developments over the past decade has stimulated considerable growth in the City’s inventory of public infrastructure across our street, stormwater and wastewater systems. During this time, staffing has remained level. The Finance and Development and Public Works departments request City Council review and provide direction on a staffing proposal that will add seven (7) additional staff to address outstanding public-facing program needs across the department without the need for additional revenue. COUNCIL GOALS/ MANDATE: Maintain and Improve Infrastructure and Facilities BACKGROUND: A major charge of the Development and Public Works department is to provide for planning and construction services to support public and private developments, and to accept ownership and maintenance responsibilities of public assets in those developments upon Council acceptance. The DPW Operations Division is responsible for the day-to-day operations, preservation and maintenance of the City’s infrastructure systems; the Community Development Division is responsible for reviewing, permitting and recommening acceptance of public improvements, and capital improvement and replacement of these systems. The City Council is well informed of the Street Fund challenges the City has encountered over the last decade, which came about as the costs for personnel and materials and services began to exceed revenues due to a loss of the Lane County road fund revenue sharing commitment ($1M in 2008). Additionally, state highway apportionment revenue was not keeping pace with inflationary factors, and fiscal impacts from the economic recession in 2008 created additional staffing challenges. To respond to the fiscal realities, budget reductions were implemented across DPW department programs, resulting in personnel and materials/services cutbacks to maintain minimum Street Fund reserves and operating levels. Also as the City has developed during the last decade, the City’s infrastructure (streets, wastewater, stormwater, etc.) has grown in size and complexity. At the same time, existing infrastructure has aged, compounding maintenance, repair and replacement needs. Established research shows that investing in the preventive care and maintenance of these essential systems can extend their useful life, delaying the higher costs of capital rehabilitation or replacement to provide significant savings over time (e.g. deferring preventive treatments leads to future system rehabilitation needs that can be 10 times as costly). Attachment 1, Page 1 of 4 MEMORANDUM Page 2 {00015157:1} Street, Stormwater, Wastewater Program Needs and Opportunities: With the passage of HB2017, the City began receiving an increase in the State apportionment from state fuel taxes and vehicle registration fee revenue in the fourth quarter of FY2019 that has provided a needed boost in Street Fund reserves. The current fiscal condition of the Wastewater and Stormwater Funds are also healthy. Given the magnitude of infrastructure operations and maintenance responsibility of the City, the Finance and DPW departments request City Council to review and provide direction on a multi-fund City staffing proposal to expand services to the community and contain long term asset costs. If approved this proposal will add seven (7) additional staff to address several outstanding public infrastructure systems and program needs in Capital Engineering and Operations. This request can be implemented within the current street, stormwater, and wastewater funds and will permit DPW staff to focus work activities in program areas where preventive maintenance has been deferred. The specific workplan will touch street surfaces, wastewater pipelines, subsurface and surface stormwater pipes and bioswales, and enhance community communication and engagement objectives. This initiative will literally hit home with citizens as much of planned field work will be done in their neighborhoods and with their engagement. Staff identifies several targeted goals and prospective benefits if implemented:  extend the useful life of City infrastructure by re-establishing preventive maintenance treatments  improve the operational functionality of streets, wastewater conveyance, stormwater quality facilities  address direct citizen communication, engagement and outreach objectives through regular interactions with community members, the council and the media.  improve staff visibility and citizen confidence by demonstrating solid asset management and stewardship.  protect community assets while saving the resources in the long term Work Plan Specifics The following bullet points identify and describe specific maintenance needs and their operational importance, and detail planned work activities if this proposal is approved:  Street Maintenance: There is a significant backlog of residential street maintenance needs due to the decade long Street Fund revenue challenges which resulted in the need to place higher priority on the operations and maintenance of arterial and collector streets. Unfortunately, this resulted in the residential crack and slurry seal program being suspended. Street surface crack sealing is an effective preventive maintenance treatment that keeps rainwater from eroding the street structure. There is high value when this work is done in combination with contractual slurry seal applications because it extends the wear-life of residual street surfaces up to 10 years. Staff will focus a 4-person crack seal crew in residential neighborhoods during spring and summer seasons in preparations for capital contractual slurry seal projects. This work also aligns with HB2017 State funding revenue targeted to assist counties and cities in preserving street/road assets.  Water Quality: The City’s inventory of surface stormwater water quality facilities (WQFs) and subsurface storm pipes continues to grow with each new development. The Operations and Environmental Services Divisions obligation for operations and maintenance of bioswales now exceeds 100 facilities. Many of these WQFs are functionally inefficient and have been identified as “eyesores” by residents due to ineffective maintenance. Although City stormwater WQFs facilities, including pipes and bioswales, are being maintained in a way that meets current regulatory requirements, a new MS4 stormwater permit has been issued by the DEQ which will require additional investments in system Attachment 1, Page 2 of 4 MEMORANDUM Page 3 {00015157:1} maintenance and community education. The new permit is being contested by a number of Oregon communities so the total impact is unknown at this time, but it is certain that additional work will be required. The focused work supported by this proposal will be scheduled for summer/fall/winter and include underground pipe TV inspection, bioswale and ditch/channel sediment management, trash, and invasive vegetation removal, and facility redesign and construction.  Wastewater: In FY2017 DPW implemented a flexible and industry standard asset management tool titled Capacity, Management, Operations, and Maintenance (CMOM), that sets a strategic plan framework for City’s management of wastewater assets. The plan guides fundamental wastewater program elements that support sustainable and comprehensive capital management and maintenance of local conveyance system, to meet a primary goal of the DEQ and EPA to eliminate sanitary sewer overflows. The focused work will be scheduled for fall and winter and include underground pipe and manhole repair/construction, TV inspection, flow monitoring and higher frequency conveyance system inspection.  Capital Improvement Program (CIP): The CIP identifies, plans and constructs the needed capital repairs and rehabilitation for all public infrastructure assets. Engineering also assists the Operations Division with project design and construction for work undertaken by City crews. This essential support includes street crack and slurry seal projects, stormwater repair/maintenance, the design work associated with ADA compliance, sidewalk repair and other street preservation work completed by the Operations Division.  Community Outreach: Operations and Engineering will also rely on a Communications Engagement Specialist to make the connection between the street improvements and maintenance and how the work directly benefits the community. This position will be charged with being the point staff providing details on the important work taking place, explain how public dollars are spent and serve the essential role on the ground, in neighborhoods and in public meetings sharing information, providing media stories and using numerous outlets to share the city’s story. This position will provide regular updates to the council and ensure the council is aware of projects in their ward and city-wide. The position will also manage effective full public engagement program and covering important community outreach and information related to capital project delivery. Proposal and Funding Staff submits the following prospective personnel resource request outline, which if approved will provide to the resources necessary to address several outstanding public-facing program needs in Capital Engineering and Operations. The requested personnel resource aligns with goals and objectives outlined in this proposal to bring more services to neighborhoods and reduce long term asset costs.  Design/Capital Project Staffing:  Add four (4) entry level maintenance apprentices in the Operations Division. The 4 operations apprentices represent a visible team of employees who would work during the spring and summer season on crack sealing and street surface repair projects and would shift to bioswale maintenance, and sewer and sanitary pipe maintenance in the late summer, fall and winter.  Add (1) Community Engagement Specialist whose primary focus will be to provide outreach and communication to the community for and Operations division maintenance and preservation projects and to assist with new Capital Engineering projects and other Attachment 1, Page 3 of 4 MEMORANDUM Page 4 {00015157:1} outward facing Council initiatives.  Add one (1) Engineering Technician and one (1) Engineering Assistant in the Community Development Division to support the design and development work related to street, wastewater, and stormwater repair/maintenance, as well as the design work associated with ADA compliance, sidewalk repair and other street preservation work completed by the Operations division. Fully Loaded Costs $523,000 in Personnel Services + $294,000 in Materials and Services Total Cost of $817,000 Funding Distribution The funding for the positions listed above would be split across the Street, Wastewater and Stormwater funds through allocation of the planned work – staff estimates by fund approximately 26% Street Fund, 37% Wastewater Fund, 37% Stormwater Fund. The street bond funds will not be spent on this proposal because they are designated for other specific street projects. The additional annual costs of approximately $817,000 would not require new revenue and would utilize the following funds allocation strategies. Overall, we believe that increased maintenance in all three asset groups will extend the replacement life of these assets, maximizing the value of every dollar spent on the systems. Street Fund:  In the 1st fiscal quarter of FY2019, HB2017 revenue started coming in providing a much needed funding boost. The beneficial result of this additional revenue allowed for a FY2019 Street Fund reserve of 37% at the end of FY19, measured against the annual total operating budget. A healthy reserve is 20%.  The street fund has adequate revenues from HB2017 to support its share of the proposal for the next 5 years. Wastewater & Stormwater Funds: The Sanitary and Storm funds share results by redirecting capital contributions from the operating funds and do not add an additional increase to the rates. In the longer term, having a longer replacement interval reduces annual capital contributions by spreading them over more years’ of maintenance and maintaining existing assets for a longer period before replacement. Spending dollars on asset management is much more cost effective than paying for asset replacement and will better position the City to comply with the new MS4 permit requirements when they become effective. No Change Without any changes, DPW can continue to operate as status quo, prioritize operations, and continue to defer maintenance. This will result in higher repair, maintenance and rehabilitation costs in the long term as well as increased costs for system replacement. REQUESTED ACTION: Provide guidance to staff on adding additional FTE to maintain public infrastructure. Attachment 1, Page 4 of 4 Niel Laudati, Nate Bell, Tom Boyatt & Brian Conlon CMO, DPW & Finance City of SpringfieldAttachment 2, Page 1 of 10 Street Condition Beyond Preventive Treatment Attachment 2, Page 2 of 10 Residential Street Crack Sealing Attachment 2, Page 3 of 10 Unimproved Street Repair –Thin Lift Overlay Attachment 2, Page 4 of 10 Storm Sewer Curb Inlet Repair Attachment 2, Page 5 of 10 Overgrown Bioswale Attachment 2, Page 6 of 10 Properly Functioning Bioswale Attachment 2, Page 7 of 10 Channel Maintenance Needs Attachment 2, Page 8 of 10 Root Removal from Access Point Attachment 2, Page 9 of 10 Questions CMO, Finance, and Development &Public Works City of Springfield Attachment 2, Page 10 of 10