Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Board of Public Works met on Monday, July 20, 2026, at 5:30 PM. Chair Alder Jetzer presided, with members Kim La Bell, Dave Wilburn, Alder Herbst, and Don Gutkowski (via Zoom). Director of Public Works Tim Volker provided updates on utility operations, construction projects, and two resolutions were approved unanimously.
Five thirty PM on uh July twentieth, twenty twenty-six. I'm calling to order this meeting of the board of the public works. And with us tonight is uh Kim La Bell, Dave Wilburn, Alder Herbst, and myself, Alder Jetzer, remote uh via Zoom is Don Gutkowski. I see no one in chambers and no one online for public appearances for non-agenda item, so I will go ahead and move forward with agenda item four A, approval of minutes. I'm looking for a motion to approve. So we'll approve the bill so June fifteenth of twenty twenty six. Second the motion. Excellent. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, I will call the vote. All in favor of the minutes as of as drafted, say aye. Aye. I moving on. Item five, report from the director of public works, Mr. Tim Volker. BE. Good evening. A couple general items to start the report with. The City of Fitchburg utilities are currently flushing fire hydrants located on dead end streets through uh July twenty second. So the the hydrant flushing is an important part of maintaining the city's water distribution system to help ensure water quality. So residents in the affected areas on these dead end streets may notice some temporary discoloration of their water or reduced water pressure while the flushing is taking place. So if they do notice the discoloration, we just um recommend them running cold water for several minutes until it clears and consider doing laundry in the evening. Uh it's just through the end of this week through uh July twenty-fourth. And then next up, it is road construction season. So there are multiple road closures throughout the city, and the city does have a road closure map. It's a GIS web-based application that I can show you. Maybe I have the wrong card. Yes, sir, that's it. So you'll go to the city's website, scroll down to the bottom of the page and uh hit the GIS maps, and then you'll open the Fitchburg Road Closure GIS application and up will pop kind of this screen. And all the the red arrows you see are streets with some form of either a detour or a uh lane closure or a full road closure. So if you click on any one of those, up will pop data regarding the the closure. And I'll give you the reason for the closure, kind of a description and the start and end dates of the road closure. Any particular questions with that or any any of the closures shown? Uh right now, kind of on the screen is the Hillside Heights neighborhood. And the contractor went in there, I believe, towards the end of last week to start removing the existing asphalt and re-grading the roads for the repaving as part of the 2026 street resurfacing contract. What kind of a leg is there between reality and this map? Is it in uh the order of minutes or hours or the next morning? I believe it's within minutes that it that it updates. Okay.