HomeMy WebLinkAboutRohret South Trunk Sanitary Sewer Project Meeting Summary 1
Public Information Meeting Summary for Rohret South Trunk Sanitary Sewer Project
This document provides a summary of the public information meetings held to date. These meetings were
held at different stages in the design process. This summary helps to establish a narrative of the information
presented to property owners and residents during these meetings. Additional correspondence and in-
person meetings were held with individual properties or groups of properties (e.g. Mormon Trek Village
Condominium Board). Those meetings are not recorded in this documentation. Despite this, the
progression of the design from preliminary to final and response to feedback from property owners and
residents is shown within this documentation.
Public Information Meeting 1
11 May 2022 – Virtual Meeting
Presenters: Eric Vieth, Strand Associates and Joe Welter, City of Iowa City
Project Narrative
The City of Iowa City is preparing design drawings for the construction of approximately 2500 lineal feet
of 30-inch diameter trunk sanitary sewer to serve future development west of highway 218. The project
starts at the intersection of Abbey Lane and Burry Street, continues west across Mormon Trek Boulevard
to Rushmore Drive, then southwest of Rushmore Drive through an existing sanitary sewer easement and
across Highway 218.
The project generally includes:
New sanitary sewer pipes, sanitary sewer manholes, and sanitary sewer service reconnections
Water main valve and fire hydrant replacement
Storm sewer pipe and storm sewer intake replacement
Street pavement replacement, driveway replacement, and spot sidewalk replacement
Landscaping and turf grass restoration as necessary
The construction of sewer piping across Mormon Trek Boulevard and Highway 218 will be installed via
trenchless construction techniques to avoid traffic impacts. On Abbey Lane, the sanitary sewer pipe will
be installed close to the middle of the existing roadway. Sanitary sewer services will be reconnected to the
new sanitary sewer pipe. The depth of the proposed trunk sewer main will exceed fifteen feet deep.
Alternatives for Pipe Routing
Several routes were analyzed and presented during the first meeting (see picture on the next page),
including:
Yellow Route – along the northern parkway
Red Route – Middle of Abbey Lane
Green Route – through the existing permanent twenty-foot easement south of Abbey Lane
Blue Route – along Willow Creek
Summary of alternatives:
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The red route was selected as the preferred route as it is the least disruptive and most cost effective
alternative.
The yellow and green routes would involve substantial disruption to properties and significant tree
removals.
The blue route was determined to be infeasible due to the limited access for construction, the
disruption to the properties and creek, and the highest costs.
Alternative Routes for Proposed Trunk Sewer
Tentative Project Schedule:
Field Survey: March 2022
Soils Investigation: May 2022
Public Information Meeting 1: May 2022
Preliminary/Final Design: May – August 2022
Public Information Meeting 2: July – August 2022
Bidding: Winter 2023
Public Information Meeting 3: Winter/Early Spring 2023
Construction Start: April 2023
Construction Completion: November 2023
Summary of Questions and Answers
Public Comment: Concerns over storm sewer impacts and flash flooding were expressed, specifically at the
intersection of Dolan/Abbey where intakes get blocked.
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City/Consultant Response: There will be no changes to the current storm sewer pipe network.
There might be some spot replacements, but the plan is not to upsize any storm sewers. The City
will look into adding intakes and larger open throat intakes. Residents should report any intake
blockages to City collection systems staff if they are observed.
Public Comment: Concerns with access on both Rushmore Drive and Abbey Lane due to construction were
expressed, specifically to access Dolan Place and McKinley Place.
City/Consultant Response: Phasing will need to occur during construction on Abbey Lane and
Rushmore Drive to accommodate traffic so residents can access Dolan Place, McKinley Place and
their homes.
Public Comment: Concerns with access to homes were expressed.
City/Consultant Response: The roadway and driveways will be phased as much as possible to
minimize impacts to residents. The project cannot be phased in extremely short increments to
accommodate all needs due to budget constraints. Contractor will use gravel for temporary access
if/when needed. The Contractor should backfill trenches at the end of the day and limit the work
area to minimize blockages of driveways during construction. Contractor will provide safety fence
and park equipment close together at the end of each day for safety. There will be times when
driveways are blocked and unusable. When final paving occurs the concrete street and driveway
aprons will need 3 to 7 days of curing to reach the required strength to be driven on. Residents will
need to park cars on the street and away from the immediate project area during these times. Only
the driveway aprons along Abbey Lane will be replaced as well as any sidewalk that is impacted
by sanitary lateral construction to the property line.
Public Comment: Will there be trenchless construction beneath Dolan Place?
City/Consultant Response: There will not be. The existing sanitary sewer on Dolan needs to be
connected to the new 30-inch sanitary sewer at the intersection.
Public Comment: Concerns regarding traffic impacts to school and City services were expressed.
City/Consultant Response: There will be advanced notification to the schools (school bus routing),
City bus service, City refuse pickup, and post office regarding traffic impacts during construction.
It was recommended that residents and other stakeholders look for up-to-date information on the
City’s website.
Public Comment: Concern regarding access to the recycling bins at the turnaround on Rushmore Drive was
expressed.
City/Consultant Response: The contractor will be required to provide temporary access to the
recycling bin location at all times. There would be the potential for temporary placement of
recycling bins and mailboxes at a different location for access during construction as well.
Public Comment: Can the trenchless construction be extended further west on Rushmore Drive?
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City/Consultant Response: No, the City needs to connect sanitary sewers from the church (south)
and at the McKinley/Rushmore intersection (north) which requires open cut construction and
manhole installation.
Public Comment: The Mormon Trek Village Condo Association is planning some roadway and sidewalk
improvements this summer near the Mormon Trek/Rushmore intersection.
City/Consultant Response: It may be best to put off any work in the City’s proposed project area
until the City’s sewer project is completed next year (2023). The association is also planning
roadway and storm sewer improvements further west on Rushmore Drive, outside of the City’s
proposed project limits. It would make sense for that work to be completed still this summer to
avoid contractors fighting over space in 2023.
Public Comment: How long will access to Mormon Trek from Abbey Lane and Rushmore be shut down?
City/Consultant Response: It will take the contractor approximately 1 month for the trenchless
construction work to be completed. Traffic detours will be set up for this closure.
Public Comment: Will trenchless construction shafts eliminate access to 2338 and 2343 Abbey Lane during
the duration of trenchless construction?
City/Consultant Response: No, the shaft limits will be required to allow access to these properties
during trenchless construction.
Public Comment: When will the next meeting be held?
City/Consultant Response: The next Public Information meeting will be held around late July or
early August. The design plans will be much further along at that point and property owners will
be able to understand more detail regarding impacts. The City website will be updated to reflect
contact information and the next meeting, when formally scheduled. The next meeting will likely
be in-person and at City Hall, if no other facilities are available.
Public Comment: The Ty’n Cae Neighborhood Association will provide information from this meeting in
a future newsletter to residents. The Association also has signage that may be useful to communicate
project information to residents in the future.
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Public Information Meeting 2
28 July 2022 – Hybrid Meeting (via Zoom and at City Hall)
Presenters: Eric Vieth, Strand Associates and Joe Welter, City of Iowa City
Review of the First Meeting
The four alternative routes were reviewed again. Please see the Alternatives for Pipe Routing Section above
in Public Information Meeting No 1. The same information was covered in this meeting.
The project was summarized as follows:
2500 feet of 30-inch diameter trunk sanitary sewer extension
Trenchless construction of the sewer across Mormon Trek Boulevard and Highway 218
New sanitary sewer manholes and sanitary sewer service reconnections
Abandonment of the existing 10-inch sanitary sewer pipe on Abbey Lane
Storm sewer pipe and storm sewer intake replacement
Water main valve and fire hydrant replacement
Street pavement replacement
Driveway replacement
Spot sidewalk replacement
Landscaping and turf grass restoration
Topics of Concern
In response to the first meeting and subsequent correspondence with residents and owners, the following
topics of concern were covered:
This is not a water main project:
- Your water services will not be replaced but there may be short-term shutdowns
- Contractor will notify residents of shutdowns
Sanitary Sewer Services will be replaced.
- There will be short-term connection shutdowns
- Contractor will notify residents of shutdowns
Driveways/Sidewalk/Roadway Disruptions
- Temporary Access (Gravel) will be provided
- Expect 2 to 3 time periods when access cannot be provided
Mail Delivery
- Contractor to provide alternative locations if necessary
Garbage Pickup
- Contractor responsible to move cans to pick up location
School Bus Routing
- School will be notified of construction timing.
- School will provide alternative pickup/drop-off locations
Tree Impacts
- Letters have been mailed to residents on Abbey
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Existing Sanitary Sewer and Utility Easements
We briefly covered the difference between the right-of-way and the permanent easement along Abbey Lane
(formerly Aber Avenue). The right-of-way is the public property, which includes the street, sidewalks, and
the parkway. The right-of-way for Abbey Lane is 66 feet wide and generally goes from one foot north of
the northern sidewalk to one foot south of the southern sidewalk.
There is a permanent sanitary sewer and underground electrical and telephone easement along the southern
properties on Abbey Lane. It extends twenty feet south of the right-of-way and in many cases goes right
up front walkways or porches of the properties. Through the center of the permanent easement is where
the current sanitary sewer main is running. Many of these properties have manholes exposed in the yards
that are the accesses to this sewer.
Right-of-Way and Permanent Easement in the 1977 Tyn Cae Subdivision
Additionally, we covered the rights of the City within the permanent easement. This includes trimming or
cutting down trees. We expressed that the alternative selected avoided as many conflicts with trees as
possible. The following is from the Sanitary Sewer Easement filed with Johnson County, November 17,
1977:
First Party further grants to Second Party:
1. The right of grading said strip for the full width thereof and to extend the cuts and fills for such
grading into and on said lands along and outside of the said line to such extent as Second Party
may find reasonably necessary.
2. The right from time to time to trim and to cut down and clear away any and all trees and brush
on said strop and to trim and to cut down and clear away any trees on either side of said strip
which now or hereafter in the opinion of Second Party may be a hazard to said lines or may
interfere with the exercise of Second Party’s rights hereunder in any manner.
Tentative Project Schedule:
Field Survey: March 2022
Soils Investigation: May 2022
Public Information Meeting 1: May 11, 2022
Preliminary/Final Design: May – August 2022
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Public Information Meeting 2: July 28, 2022
Bidding: Fall 2022/Winter 2023
Public Information Meeting 3: Winter/Early Spring 2023
Construction Start: April 2023
Construction Completion: November 2023
Public Information Meeting 3
30 November 2022 – Hybrid Meeting (via Zoom and at City Hall)
Presenters: Eric Vieth, Strand Associates and Joe Welter, City of Iowa City
Purpose of Additional Meeting
We had originally planned to have three public information meetings. The two previously covered in this
documentation and one just before construction (after bidding and awarding the project to a contractor).
The pre-construction public information meeting will still happen. It will likely be late winter or early
spring and dependent on the completion of the design and property acquisitions. The same summary of the
project covered in the first two meetings was reiterated.
This meeting is an extra meeting that seeks to address two changes that has occurred during the design
process:
1. The trenchless construction through Mormon Trek Boulevard was going take too long and be too
expensive.
2. As the design progressed from preliminary (30% complete) concurrent with the first public
information meeting through the second public information meeting (60% complete), it became
clear that the entirety of Abbey Lane would need to be removed from Mormon Trek through, at
least, its intersection with Burry Drive.
Concerning the first change, the project is now intending to install the new sewer main with trenched
construction through Mormon Trek Boulevard instead of the trenchless construction previously proposed.
This will roughly cut the time frame for construction through the intersection in half. It will significantly
reduce construction costs as well.
Concerning the second change, the existing roadway was originally constructed as Aber Avenue with a
width of 36 feet back of curb to back to curb. This is the same width as the other portion of Aber Avenue
between Teg Drive and Sunset Street. The wider width was to facilitate an eventual arterial from Sunset
Street to Mormon Trek Boulevard. With the construction of Kiwanis Park, this never occurred. Abbey
Lane is a local, residential, dead end street. The width of such a street is 28 feet wide with parking on two
sides or 26 feet wide with parking on one side. This is codified within the City Code of the City of Iowa
City, Title 15, Land Subdivisions, Chapter 3, Design Standards and Required Improvements, Part 2, Streets
and Circulation (15-3-2), Table 15-1. Whether reconstructed or a brand new subdivision street, these are
the standard widths across the City. As such, the proposed replacement street is 28 feet wide with parking
on both sides of the street. This width is consistent with the other streets in the neighborhood including,
but not limited to: Dolan Place, Cae Drive, and Burry Drive. The benefits of the standard width include,
but are not limited to:
Lower cost of construction
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Lower cost of maintenance over the lifecycle of the pavement
Reduced materials and less impervious surfaces support City goals within plans such as the Climate
Action and Adaption Plan and the Strategic Plan for FY 2023-2028 (CY 2022-2028).
It has been linked that narrower streets equate to lower vehicular speeds and safer streets by
providing traffic calming. Reducing the width of the street from an arterial width to a local width
is supportive of this.
Increased width of the parkway will support the diversity of street trees that can be planted in the
future.
Increasing the parkway provides space for fall leave storage, which many owners/residents said
was limited.
Increasing the parkway increases safety by providing a larger buffer space between vehicles and
those using the sidewalk.
All of the planned worked, along Abbey Lane, is being done within the right-of-way or easements.
Installing a standard 28-foot wide local, residential street will not alter the sizes of the lots on private
properties. An additional four feet of parkway will be added on each side of the new street. The sidewalk
will not move. Driveways will be four feet longer. Those areas of the right-of-way maintained by the
adjoining property will still need to be maintained (e.g. driveways, sidewalks, and grassed parkway between
the sidewalk and street curb).
Some areas of Abbey Lane are already no parking areas by City Code/Ordinance. These include, but are
not limited to:
Within an intersection
On a crosswalk
Between a safety zone and the adjacent curb or within ten feet of points on the curb immediately
opposite the ends of a safety zone unless otherwise indicated by signs.
Within fifteen feet from the intersection of curb lines, or if none, then within fifteen feet of the
intersection of property lines at the intersection except at alleys.
Within ten feet upon the approach of any flashing beacon, stop sign or traffic control signal located
at the side of the roadway.
Adjacent to the five linear feet of curb closest to a fire hydrant. Where the street has no curb, this
prohibition applies to the five linear feet of road surface closest to the fire hydrant.
In front of a public or private driveway
On a sidewalk
These restrictions and others listed in the City Code, Title 9, Motor Vehicles and Traffic, Chapter 4, Parking
Restrictions, Part 1 (9-4-1) apply regardless of the width of the street.
In addition to the restrictions listed above, for safety of turning movements at the intersection of Mormon
Trek Boulevard and Abbey Lane, some areas of the new street will be signed as “No Parking”. Abbey Lane
Parking Exhibit is attached to illustrate the no parking areas of the proposed Abbey Lane.
Tentative Project Schedule:
Field Survey: March 2022
Soils Investigation: May 2022
Public Information Meeting 1: May 11, 2022
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Preliminary/Final Design: May – August 2022
Public Information Meeting 2: July 28, 2022
Public Information Meeting 3: November 30, 2022
Bidding: Winter 2023
Public Information Meeting 4: Late Winter/Early Spring 2023
Construction Start: Late Spring 2023
Construction Completion: November 2023
Summary of Questions and Answers
Public Comment: Will mailbox locations be impacted with narrowing of the street. Will mailboxes be
relocated?
City/Consultant Response: Yes, mailboxes will be removed, salvaged, and relocated by the
Contractor. They would have been impacted regardless of the street width to accommodate
pavement construction.
Public Comment: Given the proposed narrowing of street width, will residents taxes be impacted?
City/Consultant Response: Property owner taxes will not be impacted. All work will be performed
within the right-of-way.
Public Comment: The narrowing of the roadway is welcomed and preferred to slow down traffic on this
dead end local residential street. What negative impacts will the open trenched sewer construction through
Mormon Trek have?
City/Consultant Response: The open trenched construction through Mormon will shut down the
intersection and will require a detour. This work will not impact the Abbey Lane residents any
more than the previous plan to install the sewer via trenchless methods. The trenchless shafts would
have limited access from Abbey and Rushmore to Mormon Trek for a longer period of time
(approximately 6 weeks). The plan to install the sewer via open cut methods should cut the
construction timeframe for this crossing in half. In addition, the City will save significantly on
costs. The installation of the sewer can also be done more accurately with open cut trench
techniques.
Public Comment: Concern over access to properties during construction. The whole street won’t be shut
down, will it?
City/Consultant Response: The roadway and driveways will be phased as much as possible to
minimize impacts to residents. The project cannot be phased in extremely short increments to
accommodate all needs due to budget constraints. The Contractor should backfill trenches at the
end of the day and limit the work area to minimize blockages of driveways during construction.
The current plan limits the contractor in shutting down 500 feet of roadway at a time.
Public Comment: Will buses have issues turning onto Abbey from Mormon Trek with the reduced street
width? There is a rental property and duplex near the intersection and tenants/residents often park on the
street.
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City/Consultant Response: We will review turning movements for buses and refuse trucks to
confirm the appropriate geometry and design radii at the intersection. There may be a need to
require ‘no parking’ near the intersection.
Public Comment: What is the street width of Plaen View Drive? That roadway is very tight with vehicles
parked on the street often.
City/Consultant Response: Plaen View has significantly more on-street parking needs given all
properties are multi-family dwellings. We will confirm the street width of Plaen View Road to
understand if there will be similar concerns on Abbey Lane.
Public Comment: What is a lined sewer pipe?
City/Consultant Response: The concrete sewer pipe will have an HDPE liner inside the pipe to
reduce maintenance and increase the service life of the pipe (prevents corrosion).
Public Comment: Why are the sewer laterals planned to connect to the large diameter sewer?
City/Consultant Response: Connecting the sewer laterals to the trunk 30-inch sewer will eliminate
the need to have two parallel sewer pipes running along the Abbey Lane. This will reduce long-
term maintenance. In addition, the new trunk sewer will be installed in the middle of the roadway
and eliminates the existing local sewer in the front yards of the residents on the south side of Abbey
Lane. The existing sewer has sags and other deficiencies that are not beneficial to future use.
Public Comment: Will the new street be located in the center of the existing street?
City/Consultant Response: Yes, the current planned roadway geometry will be to place in the center
of the existing right-of-way, thus adding 4 feet of parkway/driveway width on each side of the
street.
Public Comment: When will we know the scheduled date for Public Information Meeting No. 4 and the
construction schedule?
City/Consultant Response: The next public information meeting cannot be scheduled until the
acquisition process is completed and contract bidding timeframes are solidified. The City also
needs to have a contractor on-board for this meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to have the
contractor provide feedback on their proposed construction schedule. Currently, we are
anticipating a late May or early June construction start.
Public Comment: Will the storm sewer outfalls to Willow Creek be replaced or impacted?
City/Consultant Response: No, there are no changes planned to these outfalls to the creek. The
contractor will be installing new intakes on Abbey Lane to accommodate the new street
construction. The narrower street width will reduce the amount of stormwater runoff getting to the
intakes/creek since there will be more impervious area created with the increased parkway widths.