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February 7, 2011 MinutesCITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES February 7, 2011 After determining that a quorum was present, the City Council convened in a Work Session on Monday, February 7, 2011 at 11:30 a.m. in the Council Work Session Room at City Hall. PRESENT: Council Member King, Council Member Gregory, Council Member Engelbrecht, Mayor Burroughs, Council Member Watts, and Mayor Pro Tem Kamp. ABSENT: Council Member Heggins. 1. Receive a report, hold a discussion and provide staff direction on street pavement conditions and recommended maintenance funding requirements. Stephen Smith, IMS Infrastructure Services, presented an update on the state of the roadways in Denton. He stated that the network average was acceptable but the backlog of repair was going to need work. There was a steady decline in street conditions since 2003. He reviewed where the money was spent with the most of it going to the surfacing of the roadways. Concept of pavement management - the concept of pavement management was a balanced approach among (1) City objectives, policies and budgets; (2) understanding of the condition of the roadways; and (3) priorities, analysis techniques and reporting. Why do pavement management - the main reason was to obtain the best roadway at the lowest cost. Investment in preventative maintenance was more cost effective than reconstruction. After several rehabilitation cycles, streets still needed to be reconstructed. It was critical to not let streets deteriorate past their overlay rehabilitation limit as that caused large jumps in costs and inconvenience. When pavements started to show cracks, rehabilitation was already past due. Pavement Condition Score - the score was on a 0-100 basis with 100 being really good and 0 being really bad. It was important to intercept roads at the very good to good stage. The condition rating focused on cracking and rutting; distortions, weathering and flushing; patching and potholes; and roughness. Denton's network average was 64 and a typical roadway network was 60-65. Denton did not have a typical distribution of conditions with a big backlog of roads to work on. Smith continued with a review of the results by pavement type. Concrete roads were in the excellent category but most of the asphalt roadways were in the very poor condition. In terms of Functional Class, the collectors were in the worst condition and comprised 19% of the network. Residential streets had the highest rating. They also formed the greatest percentage of reconstructs. Arterials were the most costly. In terms of arterial strength of the roadway network, many streets came out under strength which meant they could not handle the load that was required of them. Reasons for that included the street had not been built strong enough to begin with, there was too thin an overlay or the core was not sufficient. Looking forward on how to solve the problem there were several factors to consider (1) Funding was not $0 nor was it unlimited; (2) Denton placed a value on its roadway network; (3) Identify an annual budget to maintain the current OCI; (4) Examine the effects of the current funding levels; and (5) Prevent ongoing deterioration in pavement quality. City of Denton City Council Minutes February 7, 2011 Page 2 Steps to be considered in the process included (1) Step 1 - identify the magnitude of the current deficit. Considering the overall condition of the network and if there were unlimited funding, $158 million dollars would be needed. The bulk of those funds would be spent on asphalt road reconstruction in terms of overlays, surface treatments, and routine maintenance. (2) Step 2 - estimate annual steady state costs. An estimated annual cost would be $10.6 million. (3) Step 3 - set priorities and operating parameters. Develop predictable models on how the streets would deteriorate. Put an emphasis on arterials and more emphasis on asphalt over concrete with urban roads over rural roads. Tailor what each street needed. (4) Step 4 - complete a 5-year budget analysis. $10 million was needed to stay the way the roads were today, $15 million to get back to the target score of 69. (5) Step 5 - examine results. Doing nothing was not an option. If funding was done at the current level, the City would still be behind. $3.9 million did not take care of any of the backlog but the goals would be met at $10 million per year. It was important to keep in mind that the figures did not include inflation or network growth. Recommendations included (1) Target the OCI to be between 65-70 with a backlog under 20%. This equated to a $13 to $16 million annual budget. (2) maintain an OCI at 63 and a backlog under 20% equated to a $10 million annual budget. A budget of $3.2 million was inadequate and resulted in an OCI of 55 with 26% snowballing backlog. (3) Additional long-term funding needed to be secured. Borrowing/bonding would not provide a full solution due to growth and inflation. (4) Maintenance only deferred eventual reconstruction. (5) The following business processes should be reviewed - pavement mix design and specifications, structural cross-section, constriction inspection and testing, and GIS data management. Keith Gabbard, Street and Drainage Superintendent, stated that the numbers in the budget did not include the OCI or work such as sanding, etc. Council Member Watts asked about the difference between concrete and asphalt. Smith stated that concrete was about three times as much with the life of concrete 2-1 over asphalt. Mayor Burroughs stated that funding was always the issue. Smith was suggesting a large increase in the General Fund budget. Smith replied that funding needed to be a process to look at alternatives, select one and proceed. Mayor Pro Tem Kamp stated that Utilities paid a franchise fee to drive on the roads and asked how much of that went to repairing or rebuilding roads. Howard Martin, Assistant City Manager, stated that the current annual expenditure was $13 million with $5 million for streets. At the upcoming Planning Session, staff would be discussing with Council financing and sources of funding. Mayor Burroughs asked if the priorities of the roadways included the amount of traffic on the roads. Smith stated that was included in OCI figures. He stated that a five-year horizon was to stop the deterioration and maybe willowing away at the backlog. City of Denton City Council Minutes February 7, 2011 Page 3 Council Member Watts asked about quality testing on roads. Tim Fisher, Division Manager-Water Administration, stated that the contractor hired someone to inspect the roadway as it was being built. Council discussed the pros and cons of quality testing of the streets and who would be best to do so. With no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 12:55. MARK A. BURROUGHS MAYOR CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS JENNIFER WALTERS CITY SECRETARY CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS