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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-25-19 Utilities for,s. _7,,,,U ^- 2. w PEACE f ,, � a isss ,,". OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK KAREEMAH FOWLER, CITY CLERK UTILITIES MARCH 25, 2019 4:20 P.M. Committee Members Present: Jake Teshka, Sharon L. McBride, Regina Williams-Preston Committee Members Absent: Oliver Davis Other Council Present: Tim Scott,Jo M. Broden, John Voorde, Karen White, Gavin Ferlic Other Council Absent: None Others Present: Kareemah Fowler, Graham Sparks, Bob Palmer Presenters: Maggie Beggs Agenda: Update- AEP Committee Chair Jake Teshka called to order the Utilities Committee meeting at 4:20 p.m. He introduced members of the Committee and proceeded with the meeting. Update-AEP Maggie Beggs, Community Affairs Manager for I&M with offices located at 2929 Lathrop Street, stated, We've got some work we're going to be doing in the network area that is going to start in July. Those are a more routine kind of inspections, taking a look at our equipment and looking at our equipment to be sure everything is up to par. At that point,you might see some activity if there are repairs on things that need to be made. We've got our Central South Bend Reliability Project that you guys may be aware of. That is the substation on Colfax. That will be an underground line that will kind of weave its way around the business to the west side of Niles and it will continue along by the dog park and along the trail up to Angela. It then goes west on the north side of Angela,underneath the St.Joseph river,go down Elwood and then go to a new Muessel substation that will go across the street from where our current Drewrys substation is. So, we are working on that right now where we basically are doing some preconstruction activities. So, you might see our right-of-way agents out talking to landowners and things of that nature. The demo for the Colfax substation will start this fall, probably around September. It will last until about May of 2020. The underground line, like I said, we've got preconstruction activities going on now, but the actual construction will start in the next three(3)to six(6)months.We will be sure to communicate when we assign an actual contractor. At that point, we will have a plan and will be communicating with the City on the details of what that is going to look like such as traffic control plans and things of that nature. We are anticipating to get some information out to the public through a media release once we get to that point, so, a little bit closer to the dates so folks don't forget. That will start in INTEGRITY' SERVICE'ACCESSIBILITY JENNIFER M.COFFMAN BIANCA L.TIRADo JOSEPH R.MOLNAR CHIEF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1227 W.Jefferson Blvd.I South Bend,Indiana 46601 I p 574.235.9221 I f 574.235.9173 I www.southbendin.gov CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK the next three (3) to six (6) months. It will start at the Colfax substation and then work its way up to the new Muessel substation.We anticipate that whole project to be done in the summer of 2020. She continued, We also had the South Bend 138AD Rebuild Project. We got a new line that we basically rebuilt from our German substation to our South Bend substation. I mentioned to Councilmember Scott, the work there has already been done. At this point, we are just doing restoration work which we have to wait until the weather cooperates. It is looking pretty promising now, finally, so, that portion of the line has been done. It is energized, like I said, we are just waiting on the restoration to be complete there. There are two (2) other segments that are part of that overall project. The line actually starts over in New Carlisle and comes over to our German substation, then there is another piece that goes from our South Bend substation and goes to our Twin Branch substation. So,those two(2)segments are going to start. Likely,the first(1St)segment will go from New Carlisle to German, and that will likely start this summer. So, folks will see, basically,those last towers going down those new steel poles going up.Voltage is staying the same on those. She went on,Went Councilmember Teshka and I had touched base,he had asked that I provide an update on the street light situation and where we are at with those. If residents call and report streetlights, typically, they call and report it to the City. Marsha Qualls is who gets those and then she reports them over to us. We just got forty-three(43)reported last Wednesday and we actually got those fixed in the twenty-four(24)hour turnaround. Those are pretty good. We try to fix them between twenty-four(24)and forty-eight(48)hours.That is our goal.We don't always meet those, especially if they happen to be underground problems and it's not just changing a lightbulb out. Those tend to take a little bit longer,but it depends on workload and if there are outages or things of that nature, that would take priority over a streetlight. Does anybody have any questions? Councilmember John Voorde asked,On those transmissions towers,going from one(1)to another, what is the advantage there? Ms. Beggs replied, The steel towers right now are just old and outdated. The conductor is old, so, replacing those definitely improves the reliability in making sure that we are being proactive and not just waiting for something to fail and replace it later. Councilmember Tim Scott asked, Are you guys stringing new cables, right? Ms. Beggs replied, Yes. Councilmember Scott followed up, The Elwood Station,what is the timeline for that one(1)?You said Colfax was May 2020. Ms. Beggs replied, So, it will be called the Muessel, and the sitework is starting now and that will be completed in September of this year. That new station has to be up and running so we can take some of the load transfer. Councilmember Scott stated, Maggie, Tim Corcoran and I talked, and they are going to do more of an ornamental fence,too,so it's not just the chain link.That will help it fit into the neighborhood. Also,that lot,do you think you could find someone to clean that lot up? I rather ask you than Code. EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227 W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f 574.235.9173 TTD 574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov 2 110 CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK Ms. Beggs replied, Yeah, preconstruction work is going on now, so I imagine they are doing it, but I will look into it. Councilmember Jo M. Broden stated, I have a couple questions. I'm the fourth (4th) District Council Member. Are there any trail closures related to the reliability line that is going along the East Bank Trail? When do you anticipate those? I'm sure they will be part of the communication plan but I'm just trying to get an idea. Ms. Beggs replied, I don't know exactly when we'll be at that point where we will be at the actual trail. We are not going to tear up what we can't fix that night. We don't want open trenches that folks could get hurt in. I don't know, exactly, when we'll be at the trail, but we have been communicating with the City. All of our projects do have project websites, but we will have a website dedicated to the trails, so folks can go on there. We will work with the City so that trail users are aware. Those details will be communicated. Councilmember Broden followed up, Ok, thank you. And then will the building at your Colfax substation remain? Ms. Beggs replied, Yes. Councilmember Broden then asked, Ok, is that an historic site or not? Ms. Beggs replied, It is not considered an historic site right now, but we've talked to the City and they really wanted us to keep it. Councilmember Broden stated, And then you mentioned the quick turn-around on the forty-three (43) lights reported. Was that a backlog of reports? Ms. Beggs replied, We got the forty-three (43) reported on Wednesday, so, I don't know if the person who reports had a back log. I don't know. I just know we got forty-three (43) reported in and had a pretty good turn-around on getting those fixed. Councilmember Broden stated, That is an awesome turnaround. Thanks! I appreciate it. Councilmember Voorde stated,I know you've got crews out there that assess the need for trimming of trees or whatever needs to be done. A couple of fellas knocked on my door and they were very nice. They said they would be in my backyard. Councilmember Scott stated, During the Polar Vortex, we had a power shutdown. Was that due to everyone running power at one (1)time? Or were some of these substations outdated? Ms. Beggs replied, The outages for the Vortex were not related to any problems as far as our systems or any potential overloads go, or anything of that nature. So, no. Our system is built to handle that. There was a power line that came down at one(1)point but that wasn't an overload. Councilmember Scott stated, We are working on another part of Light Up South Bend. So, it's looking like the first(1St) District and the fourth(4th) District might be part of it. The one(1) thing we have reported with 311 is the online process. Getting street lights turned on and fixed, the EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION j INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227 W.Jefferson BvId'South Bend.Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f 574.235.9173 TTD 574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov 3 0CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK online website works really well because I know it creates workorders directly to you guys. So, we have to preach that as well. Councilmember Broden stated, I have three (3) quick ones. Back to the East Bank trail, there has been a lot of tree clearing on Hillside. So,if you're up at Niles Avenue, and then we have a wooden trail that ramps up to Niles Street, and then, of course, the asphalt trail. I don't know if you guys are responsible for that clearing but it appears that it goes all the way down to Angela Boulevard. But, since that is bank area, and it's actually a rather steep slope, I'm just wondering about plans to replant vegetation there for stabilizing that slope. I've had some concerns and have had some constituents ask about that. And then similarly, and I think this is you guys, along the railroad tracks behind the Armory by the YMCA, I'll get you a map, but there is an area, and it is kind of similar,the same thing is going on, I think on both sides of an elevated railroad track. That crosses Twyckenham Avenue. But when you are in the neighborhood and you pass that, either way, you get the same denuding on both sides of that. Again, it is a sharp slope. It could be railroad work, but I thought maybe you all would be responsible for that in looking at the overall lines. And then my last question is with regard to off of Portage Avenue, Elwood, are there houses adjacent to that to the north? Councilmember Scott replied, There's a lot. There is a backyard that comes up to it. Councilmember Broden followed up, I'm just questioning the adjacency of that house and what type of buffering or muffling could be provided to those residents. Thank you. Committee Chair Teshka stated,And Maggie,if you want to email me as you gather these answers, I'll get them back to Council. One(1) last thing, if you would, we talked a lot about I&M's Green Energy Initiatives, could you send those updates to Council? Ms. Beggs replied, I can send you that information. With no further business, Committee Chair Teshka adjourned the Utilities Committee meeting at 4:35 p.m. R ectfully ubmitted, leop ake Teshka, Committee Chair EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f 574.235.9173 TTD574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov 4