chili dpw presentation

Highway DPW FacilityHighway DPW Facility

Town of Chili

Department of Public Works, Highway & Parks

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Presentation for the Town of Chili’s New Department of Public Works (DPW), Highway & Parks Facility

• Who we are and what does your DPW, Highway and Parks Departments do for YOU?

• Why does Chili need a new facility for these Departments?

• How will a new facility benefit the Department and the Community?

• Frequently Asked Questions……

• The Proposed Facility

• Construction Estimate (State & Local Share)

• Path forward to meeting the needs of a growing community

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Who we are and what does your DPW, Highway and Parks Departments do for YOU?

Who we are….

• Department is comprised of a team of 46 professional, talented and skilled individuals.

• The Department is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in Chili

• We make every effort to maximize the efficient, effective use of your tax dollars and our resources in the support, maintenance and upkeep of the infrastructure, public lands and programs

• We are committed to public safety and providing prompt, courteous and quality service to the residents of this community

• We take pride in the work we do for the community

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Who we are and what does your DPW, Highway and Parks Departments do for YOU?

What we do….

Some of the major services provided by DPW, Highway and Parks include the following:

• Maintenance, repair, and construction of the Town's infrastructure, roads, buildings, equipment, and property

• Year round metal pickup, brush and yard debris pickup

• Over 8000 CY of leaf pickup each year and compost give back

• Drainage complaint response and street sign maintenance

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Who we are and what does your DPW, Highway and Parks Departments do for YOU…..continued

• Maintenance of over 2,000 catch basins, 500,000 LF of storm sewers and ditches, 65,000 LF of sidewalk maintenance, upkeep of over 115 miles of town roads and management of 35+ storm water ponds

• Street resurfacing projects and hazardous tree and vegetative growth removal

• Street sweeping of over 360 lane miles in the Town

• Maintain safe playgrounds, parks, recreation paths and public areas

• Snow and ice removal on over 360 lane miles of Town, County and State roads

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Why does Chili need a new facility?

• Current location decreases safety for users of parks facility and adds to congestion on Chili Avenue

• Limited size of the property negatively impacts operations and services to the community

• The existing garage building was built in the 1930’s with various add-ons over the years with no recent improvements for the Department to address the needs of a growing community

• Department is responsible for the maintenance of over 120 vehicles and major pieces of equipment with many being stored outside exposed to the elements

• The mechanic bays lack proper hydraulic lifts for heavy equipment requiring the mechanics to work on the floor during repairs or sometimes send equipment out or utilize jacks which are not as safe

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Why does Chili need a new facility….continued

• The equipment parts room is too small to keep a proper inventory of replacement parts and small tools

• The bays offer little room for tool storage and proper employee movement

• The lunch room does not accommodate the current workforce. The toilet facilities are inadequate and do not meet modern code requirements. There are no separate locker facilities for female employees.

• The building’s spaces are undersized and inefficient and lack basic environmental systems; such as ventilation and separation of people and vehicle exhaust. Severe lack of storage, work and meeting space, substandard heating/cooling system.

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• The gasoline and diesel tanks which service all municipal vehicles were installed in 1990’s and are nearing the end of their useful life. Significant liabilities and major environmental remediation can occur if the fuel tanks begin to leak

• Fire separation and safety concerns for employees

• Available salt storage represents only 10-15% of annual need; a major storm event could deplete our reserve

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• In adequate vehicle storage which leaves expensive equipment exposed to the environment. Some equipment is stored in an offsite rented location;

“The 2006 American Public Works Association North American Snow and Ice Conference recommended that as part of a community’s snow and ice program, winter maintenance equipment, as well as attachments, should be stored inside”.

New York State Highway Law §142 stipulates that:

“The town superintendent shall provide a suitable place for housing and storing machinery, tools, implements and equipment owned by the town and cause the same to be stored therein, when not in use.”

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How will a new facility benefit the Department and the community?

A comprehensive and detailed operation and needs assessment was conducted early in the process. Based on industry standards, interviews with Town staff and management, and the completed needs assessment a project was designed for 46 employees and over 120 vehicles. (Original plan called for a larger facility to allow growth but was downsized by 10,000sf ($900,000 savings) to address cost concerns. Current design represents the minimum sized facility necessary to meet the current needs of the community)

This facility will……..

•Provide inside storage of our most mission critical and expensive vehicles.

This is NOT a “nice to have” but is essential for safety, security, and efficient operations

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How will a new facility benefit the Department and the community……continued

• An updated facility would allow for more in-house vehicle maintenance. Vehicle lifts would decrease repair cycle time in increase safety.

• Result in less idling of vehicles because they are stored inside will mean less fuel used and less wear

• Be better for the environment. Avoid the cost of environmentally necessary upgrades or subject the Town to potential penalties for environmental violations that may currently exist.

• Provide a safer workplace for our employees following current building codes & standards that are consistent with modern values about how employees should be treated.

• Separates employee work areas from the vehicle storage and maintenance spaces, providing a healthier indoor environment.

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• Provide enhanced community services such as material giveback & leaf composting, material recycling program (millings, ditch cleanings, etc)

• Provide a savings in brush removal cost

• Improve response times to emergency situations & increase worker efficiencies.

• Improve site organization and circulation and create public spaces that are inviting and accessible

• Create new public features including voting and meeting areas; add program spaces including administration, engineering/GIS space & and an Incident Operation Center

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• Maximize the use of Town resources in support, maintenance and upkeep of the infrastructure, public lands and programs

• Maintains the consolidation of our municipal operations thereby preventing inefficiencies while removing the facility from center of town. Organizes the site and building elements to reduce light and noise, increase security, and improve vehicle circulation

• Creates a recognizable public entrance and provides off-hours public access to specific areas while maintaining a secure facility

• May collect storm water on-site and re-use it in the wash bay, street sweepers and for other municipal needs

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

Q. What determined the size of the facility?

A. The size of this type of a facility is generally driven by the size of the work force and amount of vehicles and equipment used. The Town’s infrastructure typically dictates the size of the work force, number of divisions, and the amount of equipment needed.. The current DPW, Highway and Parks facilities occupy approximately 28,000 square feet of floor space. The proposed facility will occupy about 55,000 square feet. Although this is a large increase, it is in proportion to other facilities around the northeast and is necessary in order to provide a consolidated, efficient, and code compliant facility.

Q. What’s the difference between this facility and the 2009 concept plan?

A. The 2009 plan was developed as a “progress concept plan” and was completed without the benefit of a complete needs assessment. That plan called for gravel parking areas versus heavy duty pavement, did not include the Parks division, had a significantly smaller mechanics and administration area, smaller salt barn, no cold storage, no security fencing, etc. Differences in costs between the 2 plans can be attributed to added cost of these and other necessary items and the steady increase in construction and material costs and the program developed as a result of the projects needs assessment. The cost of construction is climbing higher and has been steadily increasing since 2000. Historical cost data for DPW facilities exceeds regional and national escalation data, primarily due to their building materials, steel and concrete.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)…..continued

Q. Why should DPW vehicles be stored indoors?

A. The current facility stores a significant number of the vehicles and equipment outside. The proposed design addressed this deficiency and secures most of the mission critical vehicles and equipment inside. The vast majority of DPW’s located in cold weather climates store their vehicles indoors to maximize employee efficiency and production, increase life expectancy of the vehicles, reduce vehicle and equipment maintenance costs, minimize deterioration of rubber and tires due to sun and decrease response time to their communities during emergency situations. Most people would store their $15,000 car inside if they had the choice. Plow trucks, sweepers, loaders etc are a significant investment and can cost upwards of $225,000 each.

Q. Why can't the present facility be upgraded by refurbishing office spaces and maintenance bays and by building new vehicle areas?

A. The reuse of the existing office and maintenance facilities would not meet the organizational goals for this department since the spaces currently available are undersized and efficient. The building does not meet current NY codes and standards, has failing systems, a limited fire protection system, and inadequate environmental systems, lacks wall insulation and may contain asbestos. The site does not have the physical space necessary for such an expansion.

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Q. Do we need “Incident Operations Area” and why locate it here?

The administration conference room has been designed and located for multiple uses as a training room for Town employee, to serve as an Incident Operations Area on rare occasions and to be available for appropriate community meetings and activities when necessary. During a major incident (flood, ice storm, etc) it is likely that this facility will be a focal point and command center for any response. It is only logical that the design incorporate the necessary features to handle such incidents when they arise.

Q. Can any of the proposed functions, e.g., some mechanical repairs, be out sourced and thus reduce the size of the maintenance facility?

Some of the jobs are currently out sourced, such as oil changes for the small vehicles, but budget constraints and lead times would adversely affect the ability to perform required services.

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Q. Ogden built a new highway garage for only $4 Million. Why can’t we do what they have done?

Ogden’s DPW was built in 2004 and their fleet does not service the same lane miles and infrastructure as Chili. In fact Ogden has 30% fewer plow trucks than Chili and only half the lane mileage of Town roads. Chili has one of the highest lane miles per plow truck ratios in the County. Ogden’s facility did not include a fuel island, salt barn or yard construction as these were already in place or addressed with different funding. The full project cost was approximately $4 million. Applying inflation factors, that cost would be nearly $5 million in 2011.

Q. Is it possible to utilize portions of the existing facility to reduce the size of the proposed DPW, Highway and Parks facility?

Sure, just about anything is possible but there are consequences and impacts of such a plan. Depending upon what services/divisions remained at the existing facility these impacts might include inefficiency by duplication of operations, increased utility costs and increased fuel costs, increased facility maintenance cost, facility upgrade costs, increased response time and increased wear on the vehicles, decrease in coordination of services. Any benefits would only results in a short term savings which would be outweighed by the increased costs of moving the facilities later instead of now.

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Proposed Facility


Construction Estimate

2009: Concept Plan & $6 million NYS Grant

2010: Detailed needs assessment and design to meet the Town’s current and modest future expansion

Current Cost: $7,655,248 5% contingency No standby generator Standard insulation No Labor / Material Escalation through early 2012

Recommended Additions: 10% contingency

$414,930 Standby generator $248,958 Premium insulation $129,114 Labor / Material Escalation $99,693

$892,695


Construction Estimate / Municipal Share

$8,547,943 Cost with Recommended Additions- $6,000,000 State Share (Provided through a State Grant) $2,547,943 Municipal Share

$0.71 cents of every dollar will be covered by the State share. The municipal share is estimated to be only $0.29 cents on the dollar.


Estimated Impacts on Proposed FacilityWithout Municipal Share


Travel Route 2.4 miles Round Trip


Path forward to meeting theneeds of a growing community

A cost conscious approach was utilized throughout the process to develop a design that meets the minimum requirements of the Departments.

This is a quality project; it is the right project for the Town and now is the time to move forward. It is estimated that 70%+ of the project cost will be picked up by the State share.

The Town Board and community have historically understood and recognized the importance of the services provided by Highway, DPW and Parks and have always been willing to provide the necessary tools and equipment needed to fulfill our obligations to the residents of Chili.

The skill, talent and dedication of our employees is second to none but that will only go so far. We ask for the support of the Board in the development of this project so that we can continue to provide a high level of service to the residents of Chili both now and into the future.


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