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CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK
<br /> pockets of private developers while we let these things deteriorate and not maintain them and grow
<br /> them. Again, I think our budget has poor priorities and I repeatedly want to see those priorities
<br /> change. One (1) of the things about the curbs, at least in my neighborhood, they paved right over
<br /> the curbs. There is now no curb and, hence, there is no water drainage. So, the City did a really
<br /> poor job of doing that and I want to know if that will be remediated. I'm glad to see the Olive area
<br /> being redone. I think there are a lot of trucks with steel coils on them and so I'm wondering if that
<br /> area where the steel warehouse is, if those roads need more reinforcement to withstand the wear.
<br /> I'm glad to hear we are doing something different with the filtration. When I turn on my tap water,
<br /> it is like pool water coming out with the chlorine. So, I'm hoping we can do something for that.
<br /> I'm wondering, last year, we reported only twenty percent (20%) of the sewers being done, what
<br /> is that percentage now? Has it gone up? Again, that is a priority for me over lining the private
<br /> pockets of other people. Last year, it was mentioned there was a pilot program to scan the roads to
<br /> see the condition of the road. I'm curious about what happened with those scanners because that
<br /> could help us monitor the condition of our roads and help them be better maintained. I'm
<br /> wondering if there has been an increase in minority contractors in these contracts since last year.
<br /> I'm wondering how many more bonds are on the horizon to cover what we need. I would like to
<br /> see another utility update session. I know I'm always into the infrastructure,but I would really like
<br /> to go more in depth. Like for example, some of our wells have three(3)feet of rust in them because
<br /> they hadn't been maintained over the years. I would like a special session on key things like that,
<br /> that are critical that have sort of gotten shoved back and now are costing us more money. So, I
<br /> would like to see a special session. The renovation of the bathrooms, I'll bring this up again, our
<br /> opioid crisis means we have a lot of people doing drugs in the parks. That is an unfortunate reality.
<br /> I'll bring it up again, it would be nice to have those needle drops in the wall for sharps. It could
<br /> also be for people who are diabetic and other reasons, too, but my concern is that there should be
<br /> an easy place to put sharps instead of in the trash or where kids could get them in the park. So, I
<br /> would like to see something done with that. On the public restrooms, I also wonder if there will be
<br /> some nice features like charging stations for phones, or something like that.
<br /> She continued, On the sustainability, I'll bring this up again, I think there are over fifty (50)
<br /> buildings in the City, I want to say. I don't know the exact number, but I think it would be great,
<br /> and maybe this is a good intern project, but study all the roofs of the City buildings to see if they
<br /> need more insulation, if they could have solar panels or be a green roof. Something like that. I
<br /> would like to see a break-out to see how much is being spent on professional services. Which
<br /> projects,and who are getting those contracts?Again,that is kind of a minority one(1)too,but I'm
<br /> curious as to who is getting the share on those.
<br /> Committee Chair White asked, Sue, I'm going to have to ask you to wrap it up, if you can. All
<br /> your additional questions,please submit them to us(which are available in the City Clerk's Office),
<br /> we will make sure they will get answered, as well.
<br /> Ms. Kesim continued, Ok, I also wanted to know where we are in the EPA lawsuit. And, the
<br /> backflows being installed that help with the flooding, not the personal ones in people's basements
<br /> but the City ones for the big sewer drains, I would like to know about the backflow things being
<br /> installed there because I'm sure we will get another flood. And, I would like to know which
<br /> projects have had cost overruns that we didn't fund well enough.
<br /> Committee Chair White stated, Thank you, and thank you for spending your birthday with us.
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