Public Works for March 17, 2014

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[module type=”aside” width=”half” align=”right”]AGENDA
Monday, March 17, 2014 (City website)
DELEGATION REQUESTS
DELEGATIONS REQUESTS

4.1 Delegation Request from Ryan Huizinga respecting the installation of a 4-way stop at Powerline Road and Lynden Road
4.2 Delegation Request from Alan Hansell respecting Stewards of Cootes Watershed

CONSENT ITEMS

5.1 Minutes of Various Sub-Committees (FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY)
(a) Glanbrook Landfill Coordinating Committee – November 25, 2013
(b) Waste Management Advisory Committee – October 8, 2013
(c) Hamilton Cycling Committee – October 2, 2013
(d) Hamilton Cycling Committee – November 6, 2013
(e) Hamilton Source Water Protection Committee – December 17, 2013
(f) Hamilton Source Water Protection Committee – January 28, 2014
(g) Keep Hamilton Clean and Green Sub-Committee – January 21, 2014

5.2 Ontario Clean Air Alliance /request the Province enter into an electricity supply contract with Hydro Quebec (PW14024)
5.3 Access to Private Garage from Bull’s Lane (PW14020)
5.4 Petition requesting Bell Canada relocate infrastructure on Quigley Road to permit new Railway Arm Installation (PW14029)
5.5 2013 Annual Drinking Water Report (PW14022)
5.6 Legislation Governing Mobility Devices (PW14023)
5.7 The 2013 Annual Smart Commute Hamilton Report (PW10062(b))

PUBLIC HEARINGS / DELEGATIONS

6.1 Delegation by Mr. John Vesprini respecting flooding on Lake Avenue Drive
6.2 Council requested delegation from the Ministry of Transportation respecting Area Transportation Projects

PRESENTATIONS

7.1 Closed Landfills
7.2 Accelerated Remediation of Illegal Sewer Cross Connections

DISCUSSION ITEMS

8.1 Truck Route Sub-Committee Report 14-001 – February 25, 2014
8.2 Standardization of Iteris Brand Traffic Signal Control Equipment and Materials
8.3 2014 Special Events Requiring Temporary Road Closure Approval
8.4 Food Service Vehicles in City of Hamilton Parks – Permitting Program
8.5 Coordinated Street Furniture Program
8.6 Publication Box Annual Permit Policy
8.7 HSR Bus Advertising – Contract Extension
8.8 Employer Commuter Transit Pass Pilot Program
8.9 HSR TransCab and Scheduled Shuttle – In-House Bid for 2014 Request for Proposals

MOTIONS

9.1 Investigation of Sidewalk Snow Clearing Program
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DELEGATIONS

– John Vesprini, is back at Committee regarding ongoing flooding issues on Lake Avenue Drive. Recent road work’s replacement sod has not taken, leaving large pools of water on the road during rain events. Vesprini originally spoke to Council on October 7.
– The Ministry of Transportation is delegating – at the request of Council – on projects the Ministry is working on in the Hamilton area.
– Delegation request from Ryan Huizinga who is requesting the City install an all-way stop at the intersection of Powerline Rd and Lynden Road for safety reasons. Mr. Huizinga says that high grasses and high speeds make it unsafe for vehicles using Powerline Road to cross Lynden Road.
– Delegation request from Alan Hansell to update committee on the work of the Stewards of Cootes Watershed.

CONSENT ITEMS

5.1 Subcommittee minutes for information

A series of sub-committee minutes, without any action items, are being presented for information.

– Glanbrook Landfill Coordinating Committee – November 25, 2013
– Waste Management Advisory Committee – October 8, 2013
– Hamilton Cycling Committee – October 2, 2013
– Hamilton Cycling Committee – November 6, 2013
– Hamilton Source Water Protection Committee – December 17, 2013
– Hamilton Source Water Protection Committee – January 28, 2014
– Keep Hamilton Clean and Green Sub-Committee – January 21, 2014

5.2 Ontario Clean Air Alliance request for Ontario to enter into electricity supply contract with Hydro Quebec

In November, Jack Gibbons, chair of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, spoke in front of committee asking the City to request the Province of Ontario to enter into an electricity supply contract with Hydro Quebec.

Staff were asked to look into the request, the conclusion from staff: “It may not be appropriate” for the City to make determinations on how the Province fulfills its long-term energy planning.

5.3 Bull’s Lane

Bull’s Lane is a private access road that was created when the Claremont Access was built. The City maintains the access road which replaces a previous municipal road that was removed for the Access.

Residents of Searle Street, which back onto Bull’s Lane, are requesting access to the Lane for private garages.

Staff, after reviewing the history of the Lane, state any access for Searle Street must be agreed to by all residents with access to Bull’s Lane and changes to the legal agreements in place.

5.4 Quigley Railway Crossing and Bell Canada

Staff say, in an update report, that Bell Canada’s permit to move its infrastructure at the Quigley Road railway is still open. As of February 18 work had not begun and City staff report that Bell Canada planned to complete work by mid-March.

Bell needs to move its infrastructure to allow CP to install “wig-wags” to protect the Quigley Road rail crossing, something the local community has petitioned for many years to have installed.

5.5 Drinking Water Annual Report

Hamilton’s annual drinking water report for all five water systems is being tabled. All is well with the systems overall. There were issues with the Freelton system this year, but the infrastructure of the system is sound and this was an isolated precautionary boil water occurrence.

5.6 E-Bikes on Trails and Scooters in Bike Lanes

City staff were asked to report on the legal status of the City’s bylaw that prohibits motorized scooters from using bike lanes instead of sidewalks, and to review if e-bikes are allowed on the City’s trail system.

Motorized scooters are personal mobility devices and must use a sidewalk when there is one available.

Ebikes are being ticketed by the Hamilton Police Service when using local trails. There is some confusion regarding if ebikes are “power assisted bicycles” or a “motor assisted bicycle”. The former is allowed on trails, the latter is not. The City of Toronto is considering asking Queen’s Park and Ottawa to clarify the rules surrounding ebikes and to establish two categories for them: those that resemble bicycles and those that resemble motor scooters.

Staff are recommending Hamilton monitor this process, with no changes to current practices in Hamilton for personal mobility scooters and ebikes.

5.7 Smart Commute Annual Report

The annual report of Smart Commute for 2013 is included in the agenda.

Three new employers have joined Smart Commute in Hamilton, car share is growing, and 2014 will see the beginning of bike share in Hamilton.

PRESENTATIONS

7.1 Closed Landfills

A presentation on “closed landfills”. No report or summary has been posted on the City website regarding this presentation.

7.2 Accelerated Remediation of Illegal Sewer Cross Connections

Hamilton Water is asking Councillors to approve two new positions – to be funded from Water Reserve Funds – to accelerate finding illegal sewer cross connections in the City, with a goal of improving water quality in local creeks where storm sewers outflow.

Illegal sewer cross connections mean household wastewater is being dumped into storm sewers instead of sanitary sewers, and this is a leading cause of high e-coli levels that appears at times in creeks such as the Chedoke and Red Hill.

Staff, if approved, will report back in 2016 as to the effect of adding two staff to the program.

DEBATE ITEMS

8.1 Truck Route Changes

– REMOVE: Garth Street north of Stone Church Road will no longer be designated as a truck route
– ADD: Concession 5 (Flamborough) between Brock Road and Highway #6 is now a truck route
– Further study regarding Westover Road (Flamborough) being a truck route and if a truck route can be restricted to agricultural use only.

8.2 Standardization of traffic signal control equipment

A housekeeping item to change supply of some traffic signal control equipment.

8.3 Event Road Closures

A housekeeping item to approve road closures for the following events:

– Lynne’s Legacy Run (May 3)
– Waterdown Arts and Music Streetfest (Highway 5 btwn Hamilton and Mill Street & Main btwn Parkside and Barton – May 18)
– Acclamation Bar festival to mark Portugal Day (Mulberry Street – May 31)
– Feast of Maria SS. Del Monte (St. Mary’s RC Church – June 21 & 22)

8.4 Food Trucks in Parks

City staff, based upon a motion from Ward 5 Councillor Chad Collins, are recommending allowing food trucks in five parks as part of a one year pilot.

The five parks are “City-Wide” parks that are offered staffed and can be easily monitored to ensure only licensed food trucks who’ve paid a daily permit fee are serving in the parks.

The daily fee will be $50, and special events take priority over allowing food trucks – permit event permit holders may bring food trucks into their event separate from this pilot.

There are five parks in the pilot:

– Bayfront Park
– Pier 4 Park
– Heritage Green Community Sports Park (Upper Stoney Creek)
– Turner Park (Rymal and U. Wentworth)
– Sam Lawrence Park.

There is an opening for food trucks to be in other parks, the Manager of Parks and Cemeteries may allow for other City-wide parks to host food trucks on a case-by-case basis.

City-wide parks are:

Staff are seeking to hire a consultant for $55,000 to renegotiate the current contract for street furniture advertising across the City to get new street furniture prior to the start of the PanAm games in 2015.

The current contract expires on December 31, 2015. Staff are hoping to negotiate a new ten-year contract and get the investments from the private advertising company in the first year.

This will break a plan (to be reference in another item on the agenda) to have all the City’s outdoor and bus advertising contracts to expire at the same time.

The contract for outdoor street furniture had been extended – without competitive bids – in June 2009 to have the contract expire at the same time as the bus shelter contract. Bike racks are scheduled to expire at the same time.

The City’s contracts for bus shelter and bike rack advertising do not allow for early cancellation, meaning that – if passed – this motion will mean they remain separate from street furniture for another decade.

Toronto’s various outdoor advertising contracts are unified under one contract, Hamilton staff say Toronto is seeing benefits from having consistent standards for bus shelters, bike racks, and street furniture.

Staff are considering 10 year term, with possible renewal options, for the Hamilton street furniture contract.

8.6 Publication Boxes

City staff are consolidating former Regional Municipality and City of Hamilton policies for publications boxes – the common newspaper box.

Staff are recommending that all boxes be licensed, and are looking to set a user fee of $45 in the first year, and $30 per year for renewals. The current fee is $19 per year.

Staff estimate there are 530 boxes across the City.

8.7 HSR Bus Advertising

City staff want Council to approve extending the current bus advertising contract with StreetSeen Media, despite the company failing to meet beat ad sale goals, and two other companies seeking to bid on the new five-year contract if the City follows proper procedure by tendering the contract.

Under the current contract, the City gets 60% of net revenue for advertising on the outside and inside of the City’s approximately 220 HSR buses. If the company fails to make $708,333 in net revenue in a year, the City receives a minimum of $425,000. In 2013 the City received the minimum.

StreetSeen approached City staff in June 2013 asking the City to not put the contract to competitive bidding. Staff responded in December 2013 offering a 21 month contract to StreetSeen – without starting a competitive bid process or following Council’s Procurement Policy 11 that guides non-competitive bid processes.

StreetSeen is offering the City an increase in the minimum of $15,000 per year.

Pattison advertising, which successfully runs advertising for many GTHA transit agencies including the TTC, and Corus Entertainment both approached the City seeking to bid on the contract when it went to competitive bidding.

City staff cite good relationship with StreetSeen, a desire to further evaluate bringing bus advertising sales in-house to be run by City’s Corporate Services Department, and the expiration of the bus shelter advertising contract at the end of 2015 as reasons for not following procurement.

Among the benefits of the current contract, according to staff, is that the City gets “any unsold advertising space free of charge” on city buses. Staff note that many programs are advertised on city buses due to the amount of surplus ad space available.

Staff also cite a commitment by StreetSeen to working with local businesses to get them advertising on City buses.

If Council chooses to seek a competitive bidding process, Council will need to find funds to cover the lost of advertising on City buses during the bidding process.

The current contract expires on March 31st, and it is only now being brought to Council’s attention.

In 2009, the contract was extended for five years without competitive bids. At the time, Council was notified and approved the extension well in advance of the contracts expiry.

8.8 Employer Commuter Bus Pass Program

The City’s employee commuter bus pass program pilot is under budget, and staff are recommending using the surplus funds to continue the program by extending it’s availability to Mohawk College and adding up to two other employers.

The employer must be or become part of Smart Commute.

The current surplus is $33,325.

The program involves employers paying a portion of an employee’s bus pass, and the City matching that contribution up to 20% of the cost of a monthly pass.

51 Mohawk employees have used the program, 18% of whom were primarily community by private motor vehicle prior to the program. The peak was 40 users in February 2013, which dropped to 26 in April 2013.

8.9 HSR Transcab

The HSR and the union representing HSR employees want to bid on the City’s Transcab contract. The City’s contract with the Amalgamated Transit Union states the ATU is entitled to operate any “Alternative Service Delivery” if the ATU bid is no more than 10% higher than the lowest other bidder.

The ATU has unsuccessfully bid on the contract in the past.

Recent changes to Transcab, the adding of a scheduled shuttle service to the Red Hill Business Park could make an ATU bid more competitive than in the past.

Transcab is a taxi service that connects with HSR routes in areas where population density does not allow for cost-effective traditional bus service. HSR passengers pay $0.50 in addition to regular transit fare, the City pays Hamilton Cab between $5.75 and $9.00 for each passenger trip.

HSR estimates there are approximately 120,000 Transcab passenger trips each year.

In 2012, the Transcab service to the Red Hill Business Park was upgraded to a scheduled shuttle service. City staff state the service has approximately 60,000 passenger rides each year.

The City’s transcab program started as a pilot project in 1998 to serve Stoney Creek, north of the QEW.

9.1 Sidewalk Clearing

After a difficult winter, public opinion is amenable to the City taking responsibility for sidewalk snow clearing and adding it to the property tax bill.

Ward 1 Councillor Brian McHattie is moving to have City staff investigate costs for sidewalk clearing opinions and requesting the City’s legal department include a report on claims against the City for slips and falls resulting from snow and ice-packed sidewalks.