06/12/1978 Board of Public Works Minutes

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151 REGULAR MEETING JUNE 12, 1978 go to a nearby Donut Shop, and this also ties up crossings. Mr. McMahon said the Board intends to take action through the Public Service Commission to correct the situation. He noted that a public hearing would be held before the Commission and he asked that the residents support the City by attending the hearing to give pertinent information to the Commission. He said the City would request that Conrail restrict blowing of whistles to the crossing only and not blow them continuously through the crossing area and would also request that the whistle blowing be kept at a low level at night. Mr. Miller pointed out that there is a State law requiring that trains blow their whistles. Mr. McMahon made a motion that the Board request the Traffic Engineer to make a study of the traffic count and accident rate at the Conrail crossings involved and the City Attorney's Office be asked to proceed with the necessary action to initiate a petition to the Public Service Commission. The motion was seconded by Mr. Mullen and carried. SALE OF CITY -OWNED VEHICLES APPROVED Chief Michael Borkowski submitted a request to advertise for the sale of city -owned vehicles. Fifteen vehicles are to be offered for sale by bid and bids can be submitted on a single unit or block of units. The Chief requested that the Board advertise the sale of the vehicles on June 16 and 23. Bidders can see the vehicles on Tuesday, June 27 between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. at the Municipal Services Facility. Upon motion made by Mr. McMahon, seconded by Mr. Brunner and carried, the Board approved the request to advertise for the sale of vehicles, with sealed bids to be received on July 10. ANNOUNCEMENT OF MEETING SCHEDULE Mr. McMahon made a motion that, because the County -City Building is closed on Monday, July 3 and Tuesday, July 4, there be no Board of Public Works meeting that week. All business will be scheduled for the next regular meeting, Monday, July 10. Mr. Mullen seconded the motion and it carried. APPEARANCE OF RESIDENTS RE: ORANGE- COLFAX CONNECTOR A group of citizens was present to discuss the proposed Orange- Colfax connector. Floyd Carter, Vice President of the Near West Side Neighborhood Association, read the following statement: "The Near West Side Neighborhood Organization firmly believes that the City has an obligation to improve the City streets, including Orange and Colfax. The press erroneously stated that I wasn't willing to go with federal funds for street repair. I have no objection to the federal funds for such. Ply objection was that the City has a responsibility, federal funds or no federal funds. Near West Side was led to believe on the May 23, 1978 meeting that unless federal funds were forthcoming, the streets of Orange and Colfax could not be repaired. Some 49 residents bought that logic, pending the written details. Then after receiving inadequate details on June 3, 1978, the residents voted 68 to 2 to reject the compromise plan. The Near West Side has on numerous occasions stated that we oppose diverting traffic from State Road 2 and 20 to the residential streets of Orange and Colfax. We believe that State Route 2 and 20 and Bendix Drive offers adequate traffic routes for the Bendix Corporation which is less than six blocks from both Route 2 and 20 and traffic routes for the Industrial Park. The Sewer Separation Project was financed partly with federal funds and Orange and Colfax was part of that project. The catch basin on Orange and College is completed under that project with the exception of the storm sewers to divert the water to the basin. This work