08-15-18 Personnel and Finance (#3)

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.CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK the lamp post project. We worked with them and that resident helped immensely. We can look at the actual street lighting, though, and we will see. Committeemember Voorde followed up, And on curbs and sidewalks, we still have a crew that does that. As the cost of contracting and bidding goes up, I'm sure you must balance that against adding another crew? Because sometimes it seems like if we did it ourselves it would be less expensive. I know even just a few years back, there was a whole year back log. The $600,000 spent on 8 lane miles, is that a benchmark of what$600,000 will do? Ms. Boyles replied, It depends on what is happening. If you are just milling and filling the road, the width of the road matters. If there is striping, casting adjustments, or any other things can lead to a higher cost but I think, when we did that bid, we did various subdivisions and what we saw was, literally, anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 per lane mile. It just depends on different variables. Mr. Horvath stated, We typically see around $100,000 per lane mile when we outsource. When we do it, it is roughly $55,000 per lane mile. That does go up and down depending on what is going on. Even the cost of gasoline makes a difference. Councilmember Williams-Preston asked, So how much is allocated for sidewalks? Ms. Boyles replied, That number is $700,000 from MVH. So that is for the portion we bid out to the contractors. Councilmember Williams-Preston followed up, Is there any chance of increasing that? Mr. Horvath replied, We are getting there. What we have done is just do it with internal forces. In the 2019 budget we do have a fifty percent(50%)increase in allocation to every Council Member's allocation of sidewalk. You will all get an additional six hundred and twenty five (625) feet of sidewalk that you can allocate next year. We are adding another crew for that. We really have needs. We have other unmet needs in the other seasons that lined up really well. Jitin Kain, Deputy Director of Public Works with offices on the 13th floor of the County-City Building, stated, Every season we struggle with employees. We've tried bonus programs, wage raises, and everything in between. It is hard to get people to stay for an entire season. We would start with fifteen(15)people and would end with five(5).Leaf pick up is a big concern for residents and they want their leaves picked up multiple times a year so having the right man power is critical. We don't do much patching and sealing and that is an important part of preventing potholes from occurring. If we do more crack sealing, that could reduce the amount of potholes by twenty or twenty five percent(20% -25%). That is a huge thing for potholes. We have contracted some out this year but want to bring that in-house to do it for less money. Committeemember Voorde stated, Years ago, we could almost see this coming. Maybe it was looking ahead to the fiscal cliff, now curb, that Mayor Steve cut back on the total number of workforce. But in my mind, they did it from the bottom where they cut Street Department guys and those are the people actually doing the work. EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1227W.Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.91731 TTD574.235.5567 iwww.southbendin.gov 11