HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Public Works Committee - 03/20/2017
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CITY OF KENT
PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE
Summary Minutes
March 20, 2017 Kent City Hall
4:00 p.m. Council Chambers East
Kent, Washington
1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 4:04 p.m., by Council President
Dennis Higgins.
2. Roll Call: Committee Chair Dennis Higgins and Committee members Dana Ralph
and Brenda Fincher were present.
Absent:
3. Changes to the Agenda: Hayley Bonsteel and William Ellis were unable to attend
the meeting so item 5 was removed.
4. Approval of Minutes, Dated March 6, 2017
Committee member Fincher MOVED to approve the Minutes of March 6, 2017. The
motion was SECONDED by Committee member Ralph and PASSED 3-0.
5. Information Only/Sounder Station Access Improvements
Lacey Jane Wolfe, Senior Transportation Planner introduced Sandra Fann, Project Manager
– Light Rail Segment and Chelsea Levy, Government & Community Relations Officer at
Sound Transit.
The following top four alternative project siting’s were discussed:
1) a vacant lot on the north side of James Street on the east side of the BNSF railroad tracks;
2) the Kent Station surface parking lot on the south side of James Street to the west of 1st
Avenue North;
3) a site combining the cold storage facility and parking lot on the south side of James and
west side of Railroad Avenue, and the Sound Transit-owned surface parking lot on the south
side of James and east side of Railroad Avenue; (Sandra noted that this site is an Historical
site) staff asked her to get confirmation as it was not previously known.
4) a site combining Kaibara Park and a portion of the King County Library parking lot.
The next steps include a Technical Advisory Committee Meeting on March 15, and a
stakeholder group meeting likely the week of March 27.
Ben Wolters, Economic and Community Development (ECD) Director noted that the same
presentation was done at the ECD Committee meeting; there were no issues with the sites.
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Information Only/No Motion Required
6. Information Only/Additional Street Repair Work:
Tim LaPorte, P.E. Public Works Director presented a brief PowerPoint noting the following:
Proposed Street Work for 2017:
Grind and inlay on 76th Ave – Grinding will be across both lanes for a length of
approximately 1,500 feet at the lowest spot and will do a permanent patch. It will
last long enough for us to figure out how we will clean out Mill Creek.
Grind and inlay at the intersection of Reith and Military Road – in addition the inlay
work crews will be paving/fixing 1,500 ft. of roadway asphalt edges/shoulders on
Military and 500 ft. on Reith Rd.
Note that the above locations were not on the Council adopted B&O list. Funding for the
work is proposed to be charged to the B&O. It was noted that the B&O fund is currently
doing very well and will be able to fund these projects in 2017.
LaPorte also presented a Pothole map. The noted that crews have filled over 1,200
potholes since December 1, 2016. The areas with the highest occurrence of potholes were
discussed. Below are upcoming projects related to potholes:
80th Ave S – A contract was awarded by Council for concrete work to be performed
this year.
212th at 72nd Ave – Intersection to be rebuilt this year
SE 248th St by Morrill Meadows Park – Potholes will continue to be filled while plans
develop for the new YMCA
240th Street from 144th to 149th – Crews will continue to fill potholes. Grind and inlay
work will be needed in the future.
SE 256th Street – Potholes occurring in two locations will continue to be filled.
Central Avenue – Curb lane potholes, street crews continue to fill (this is State
Route and their responsibility)
132nd North of 240th – Crews will continue to fill potholes
Information Only/No Motion Required
7. Information Only/Meet Me on Meeker Update
This item was postponed.
8. Information Only/Quiet Zone Update
Chad Bieren, P.E., Deputy Director / City Engineer noted that the Union Pacific (UP)
discussions are continuing. There’s been some back and forth discussion on the
engineers estimate. We expect a visit from a representative from the UP in April.
With the Burlington Northern (BN) we have had some discussions with them but
most of the discussions have been centered on the crossing arms. We’ve had a
number of questions from citizens about the increasing number of crossing arms
that are down for long periods of time with no trains in site.
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LaPorte was directed by the Mayor to draft a letter that will be sent to the RFA every
time there is a preemptive closure in Kent. Staff is working with representatives in
Washington DC and has made strides in getting the word out about these closures.
Higgins would like to see the radio station 1610 AM used as another tool to notify
citizens.
Bieren noted that there were 29 railroad related fatalities statewide last year; down
from previous years. One fatality of interest happened on Ruston Way, in Tacoma in
a Quieter Zone.
Bieren noted that he saw a couple of idling trains last Thursday night in the North
Park neighborhood. Bieren will request that the trains move further North of SR 167.
Information Only/No Motion Required
Adjournment
At 5:03 p.m., Committee Chair Higgins declared the meeting adjourned.
Cheryl Viseth
Cheryl Viseth,
Public Works Committee Secretary