City of Kalamazoo - November 7, 2024 Planning Commission Meeting

Updated 1 day ago

The City of Kalamazoo Planning Commission meeting on November 7, 2024, focused on discussing the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) presented by James Baker, the Director of Public Services. The CIP outlines major projects and expenditures for the city's infrastructure, including water, wastewater, streets, and facilities. Key projects include water main replacements, lead service line replacements, and updates to the wastewater treatment facilities. The Commission also discussed the alignment of these projects with the city's master plan and strategic goals. In addition to the CIP, the meeting covered updates on various infrastructure projects, including parking system improvements and street conversions. Public comments highlighted concerns about local law enforcement and judicial practices. The meeting concluded with a review of upcoming city planning events and an acknowledgment of the hard work by the city's election team.

Chapters

Approval of Agenda (00:00:55)
The agenda for the meeting was presented, and no changes were made. A motion to approve was made and seconded, with all in favor.

The meeting began with the presentation of the agenda. There were no changes to the agenda, and a motion was made to approve it. The motion was seconded, and all members present voted in favor of the approval.
Approval of Minutes (00:01:15)
Minutes from the previous meeting were reviewed with no comments or questions. A motion to approve was made and seconded, passing without opposition.

The minutes from the regular meeting were reviewed. There were no comments, questions, or feedback from the members. A motion to approve the minutes was made and seconded, and the motion passed with all members voting in favor.
Communications and Announcements (00:01:44)
There were no specific communications or announcements, but updates on the city planner's report were mentioned.

The chair asked if there were any communications or announcements. There were no specific announcements, but it was mentioned that updates on the city planner's report would be provided.
Public Comment (00:01:54)
There were no public hearings scheduled for the meeting, but an opportunity for public comment on non-agenda items was mentioned for later in the meeting.

It was noted that there were no public hearings scheduled for the night. However, an opportunity for public comment on non-agenda items would be available later in the meeting.
Discussion and Action Item: Capital Improvement Plan (00:02:04)
The CPED department presented the capital improvement plan, detailing major capital expenditures like streets, wastewater, and water systems.

The CPED department presented the capital improvement plan to the committee. This plan, usually reviewed in December, was brought forward to November. The plan included a list of major capital expenditures for the city, such as streets, wastewater, and water systems. James Baker, the director of public services and city engineer, provided a detailed presentation on the capital improvement plan, explaining the process of its development and its alignment with community and city commission goals.
Water Infrastructure Improvements (00:32:54)
Discussion on success of lead service line replacements and water main lining projects led by chief engineer Anna Crandle.

A lot of success with live service honor replacements. There's a lot of success. That, that we can attribute directly. The support that we get from the city commission, the city manager's office. And just a lot of hard work and dedication by staff, I'm gonna name Anna Crandle our chief engineer in water. As, as kind of the, the guiding light and leader of that program. That's the program that Anna Ron she's been in charge of that her whole time as an engineer here with the city. We've got when we started this program. Total lead service line replaced here in September. So we're halfway through that goal. Lead service lines either already under contract or funded. So those contracts, that's already approved by the city commission. That work starts here in November. That order is actually starting to happen. Those dollars, that still has to get bid out. That still has to come back to the city commission for award, but the funding is already there. Something unique that we're gonna do in Norwood starting this year is water main lining. You heard me talk earlier about sewer main lining. But we can, that same technology is available to us for water main. We did a project two years ago in Millwood that lined a bunch of water main and. It was a project. So there's, you know, impact from that. We actually have a temporary water main that's above ground that runs in the turb lawn. Or along the, the edge of the curb. And then there's like literal hoses that come out of that, that come into where your hose bed does your house. So they actually have little signs that say, do not turn off ho do not turn off, do not remove hose. That's how we put supply the house. And then what we do. We excavate holes and we go in and we cut open the water main. Valve ital. So it's not under pressure anymore. Cause we're up on a temporary line set from hydrants. And then a pipe within a pipe. And it's after certified, it's almost like a, a fiberglass pipe then goes inside that pipe. A robot goes into the main and then cuts out. The services where you have a service. And then we put it all back together. And then you get, it's like brand new water main. But it's, doesn't involve. Everything you see on the west edge in whites road and all that kind of stuff. So it's less impactful. It's more affordable and there's areas. We can't do it everywhere. The one of the challenges is we've gotta be in an area that does not have lead. You know, so it's something where we're not gonna change up the services and we can do all the work from inside the pipe. The pipe diameter has to be the pipe diameter. That's gonna continue to work for us. So if we're in a situation where we need to upsize the pipe, we're undersized diameter. We can't do it. So, you know, we really like to, to do it in areas that have eight inch main. And the main that was installed. After, you know, that switch over the copper. So, you and so this is a huge area, huge area of know what's gonna get this work done. Improvements are continuing to happen at the treatment plan for optimized frozen control. We've got system reliability improvements, kind of all throughout, you know, that's, that's things like generators. Things that just making stations more reliable so that when they run, they can run in all other conditions. And that this is redundancy. For those things as well. One of the things that one of the big, big, big projects that's really driving. In four project areas. I talked about the letter already. Two other areas are PFA S water main extension. Out in the township and then another project is. And then build a new station with iron removal, manganese removal, and PFAS removal. For that work. And so they're. Kalamazoo water meets all current standards for, for P F a S. PFAS we're well below Michigan M MCL. MCL, but Michigan is continuing to, to reduce T FFAs levels in response to. Federal changes that have happened. The, the feds have lowered those limits as well. So we've got a few stations that. Would be that could be potentially over. New federal regulations when those were to come out. So we know that we're gonna have to have PFOS treatment. On on some stations to continue. To use those reliable to, to reliably use those stations into the future so that project's gonna support. That work and new stations, some interesting. Facts about station five, station five is our oldest. Continuously operated station. That station has been in service since so it is Dover new one. And in that time, you know, we've learned a lot about. Station design, reliability, you know, treatment. And so this new station's gonna be built. You know, just for this years into the future.
Public Comments (00:48:06)
Public comments were made regarding issues with local law enforcement and court practices, including allegations of falsified documentation.

Public Comment period. Mr. Praedel. Yes. Hope everyone's feeling somewhat frustrated after a couple days from election. The national election and local elections. That leads me to, I just wanna take a moment to really thank our city clerk office team. I cannot convey how hard that team works just in general, but during these elections that are that contentious as they are whatnot, the amount of work that this puts together, I mean, from. Coordinating all of our coworkers. Coworkers to early boating, absentee processing, and changes with that. You have drop boxes all over the city as well to manage. I'm just really, really want to thank them. And I hope the community appreciates how hard that team is working to make sure that we have a really. As close to flawless selection, practice as possible. Right now. And those are two survey opportunities right now with the public can take part of if you've got your trans your pencils. If you want to jot this down, but at Kalamazoo city.org, what slash goal survey is a page you can go to, it gives you a chance to actually review. And provide feedback on our current strategic goals to help guide the next forms that we look at as well. On that same page. There's also an imagine it survey as well. So there's two surveys on that one page that you can access. What will really help us with the process as we start getting further along and the those. Thank you all for being here to tonight and hope you have a great, so. Of the week. All right. Thank you. Planning Commissioner comments, any comments from planning, commissioners? Mm-hmm. All right. Well, we're entering the end of the year. I'm to reflect and be thankful. So everyone enjoy that period. Hopefully the. Weather gets a little more normal. Enjoy and when have a nice month of November and we'll see you in a few weeks. Agenda is done. So this meeting's adjourned. Hello. Sorry. What should we make of the projects that just don't have any. Just a few, they might so that they, they could be projects that have already. Been completed, like they were funded in. And so they're just still showing up there for some reason as like a past project. Or they're funded way out. And they're funded. They're they could be funded in the future past. That five years have update. So that, that is a possibility. Thank you. A couple things. I just want to. Say, thanks for all the background and the detail. Impressive impressive work that every year. Rare to see this level of continued investment. In infrastructure and a traditional urban. Communities of kudos to your team, kudos to the city commission. For this continued dedication to our. Sometimes over a hundred year old. Infrastructure in particular, the link to the master plan. And that's. That's particularly rare to see the two sides marry like this. But those of you that don't know the reason we're receiving this is because of that. Link as something that came about and a law changed and so they wanted to bring the capital improvement plan to planning commission to make sure. That there was alignment with the master plan. So they bring it forward to the planning Commissioner, the keepers in the master plan. Make sure. Counts are a better example that you're not building a water line in the middle of an area. You have dedicated to preservation, for example. And so you you see that marriage? You see that on mind? There. So having said that I might ask attorney bear, is there a particular motion or a particular. Type of approval. We're asked for. This evening, do we make. Are we approving this? Are we recommending approval or are we just. Receiving it and saying that kudos. Kudos. Okay. All right. Last chance. Any other. Feedback. Okay, thank you very much.