Public Works Committee Quarterly Update, July 17, 2025
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Public Works Committee Quarterly Update, July 17, 2025
The Public Works Committee of the City-County Council met on July 17, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. in Room 221 of the City-County Building. Chairwoman Kristin Jones presided. The meeting featured a quarterly report from Department of Public Works (DPW) Director Todd Wilson, followed by a presentation on new traffic signal technologies from Tucker Bourne, DPW Traffic Signals Engineer. Key topics included infrastructure investments, solid waste transition, staffing updates, and policy initiatives.
Quarterly Update – Department of Public Works
- Staffing & Personnel: Director Wilson introduced new staff, including LeAndre Leville as the city's first Vision Zero Administrator, Lacey Johnson as Deputy Director of Operations, and David Bright as Stormwater Administrator. Departures include Natalie Van Doggen (returning to the Mayor's Office), Shannon Killian (Stormwater Administrator), and John Bowen (Chief Engineer). Chairwoman Jones presented tokens of appreciation to Natalie, Shannon, and John. The committee also recognized the retirement of former staff member Tim Joyce.
- Budget & Gas Tax: The gas tax distribution is running about $400,000 over budget for the year, providing a positive funding outlook.
- Staffing Vacancies: Vacancies improved from 88 in Q1 due to pay adjustments from the new collective bargaining agreement.
- Policy & Planning: The first proposed Vision Zero Action Plan was released on June 25, 2025, with public feedback accepted through the end of July. Applications for the latest round of Community Powered Infrastructure projects are open through August 2025. DPW staff attended the NACTO Designing Cities Conference in Washington, D.C., focusing on multimodal transportation.
- Communications: DPW hosted tours for councilors and community members, including pothole filling with union crews and facility tours. Celebrated over $35 million in IMPO funding for projects such as pedestrian bridges on the Monon Trail and Nickel Plate Trail.
- Solid Waste Transition: The transition from Republic Services to LRS is on track. A hiring event is scheduled for August 7, 2025, open to current drivers. All trucks are expected to be delivered by early December 2025. Construction of the new solid waste garage is on track for late 2025.
- Operations & Facilities: The council allocated $1 million for facility upgrades, including HVAC fixes, bathroom renovations, and remodeling of the Belmont Training Center. Street sweeping crews covered over 4,300 lane miles. The D4 resurfacing team paved more than 7,300 linear feet (about 1.4 miles) of residential roadway. Operations filled over 350,000 potholes and closed more than 32,000 service requests using 7,037 tons of asphalt.
- Environmental Services: Tox Drop collected over a quarter-million pounds of household hazardous waste this quarter. Chief Financial Officer Sam Barris noted each event costs $25,000–$30,000, with 24 events per year totaling about $600,000. The Perry Township location was closed due to land-use issues with IMPD, not budget constraints.
- Fleet Services: Recognized as the 25th best fleet in the Americas by NAFA, up from 50th in 2024. The team manages over 5,000 pieces of equipment and closed out 14,000 work orders in 2025.
- Engineering: Construction season is active. The first phase of the Madison Avenue reimagining is underway. The Nickel Plate Trail and New York Street/Michigan Street one-way-to-two-way conversions are near completion, awaiting CXS railroad crossings.
Traffic Signal Technology Presentation
- Mile Vision Scouts: Mobile data collection units used for turning movement counts, speed data, and near-miss studies. Cost is about $450 per intersection per study.
- Video Detection: 360-degree cameras replacing traditional loop detection. One camera can detect pedestrians, bikes, and vehicles, and classify them. Also provides alerts for signal flash or power outages and counts red-light runners. Cost: $28,000–$35,000 per camera, comparable to loop installation.
- Syntrax Software: Automated traffic management software being deployed at 160 locations. Allows remote monitoring, signal timing adjustments, event management, and pedestrian button status alerts. Can reduce need for police overtime during events. Councillor Boots emphasized this could cut significant police overtime costs for event traffic management. Councillor Evans suggested coordination with IMPD and preparing for future state legislation on license plate capture. Councillor McCormick asked about mobility of the units; Bourne confirmed communication devices can be moved.
Discussion Items
- Councillor Evans: Requested a list of completed residential paving projects (D4 crews) and criteria for selection, noting the usual notification process did not occur this year. Also asked about pavement preservation techniques. Director Wilson confirmed a crack sealing program is conducted on streets paved in the last 3–5 years, and DPW is exploring micro-sealing and rejuvenators.
- Councillor Cahill: Requested a visual guide for identifying streets suitable for crack sealing. Also asked about Tox Drop frequency at Perry Township. CFO Barris explained the Perry closure was due to land use, not budget, but expansion is limited by cost. Councillor Cahill urged budget consideration for more frequent events.
- Councillor McCormick: Asked about mobility of the new traffic signal technologies.
- Councillor Mowrey: Asked about ADA ramp repairs at neighborhood street/sidewalk junctions. Director Wilson confirmed DPW handles those repairs.
- Councillor Roberts: Praised DPW's work on 86th Street. Asked about pavement quality and the West Market Street project. Director Wilson described it as a paver replacement and ADA upgrade project similar to the block near the City-County Building.
- Councillor Boots: Asked about the Nickel Plate Trail ribbon cutting. Director Wilson said punch-list work continues, and a ribbon cutting is being planned with the Mayor's Office, pending signalization at 65th Street. Asked about the $1 million per district projects (Prop 283). Deputy Director Stevenson stated an RFP closed with three responses; negotiations will begin in two weeks, with construction possibly starting in September. If projects exceed $1 million, decisions will be made jointly with councilors; if under, it's unclear if leftover funds return to the district.
- Councillor Pain: Asked about plans to find a $50 million match for state funding. Director Wilson said discussions are ongoing with the controller's office and Mayor's Office, but declined to share specifics. He expressed confidence the match will be achieved.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken; the meeting was informational.
- DPW will provide a list of completed residential paving projects and criteria to Councillor Evans.
- DPW will explore providing a map of street sweeping routes and schedules.
- Councillor McCormick requested a map of the new traffic signal technology deployment.
- Councillor Mowrey will submit specific locations for ADA ramp repairs.
- DPW will continue negotiations for the $1 million per district projects, with updates to councilors after contracts are awarded.
- The committee acknowledged the departures of key staff and thanked them for their service.
Meeting Transcript
Okay. Good evening and welcome to our public works committee for July 17th, 2025. I will start with introductions with my counselors to my left. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mike Dilk, District 24. Thank you, Madam Chair. Derek Cahill, District 23. Thank you, Madam Chair, Josh Pain, District 21. Thank you, Madam Chair. Brian Mowray, District 25. Thank you, Madam Chair. Counselor Jared Evans representing District 17. Thank you, Madam Chair. Nick Roberts, District 4. Thank you, Madam Chair. Ron Gibson, District 8. Good evening, Madam Chair. Krista Carlino, District 11, West Side. Thank you, Chairwoman Jessica McCormick, District 16. Thank you. And I am Kristen Jones, representing District 18. This evening we're going to hear a quarterly report from our director, Director Todd Wilson. Thank you for being here. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, members of the committee. I appreciate your time today, and I appreciate the new venue here for us to have this meeting. I love the bright light, the windows open. So there we go. Oh very good. Um so uh up here with me is Lauren Stevenson, our deputy director of administration. She's gonna be helping me with the slide presentation. Um I'd also like to have all of our uh DPW employees please take a stand real quick to show uh everybody that's joined us this evening. And we'll go ahead and start with the slide presentation. We always start with our staffing update. Um I'd like to start with you know Leandre Leville is our new uh Vision Zero administrator joining us after previously serving as a deputy chief of staff for the city of Lawrence. Um Lacey Johnson replaces Tim Joyce as a deputy director of operation. Lacey has thank you. Lacey has uh been with ND DPW for about six years. Most recently he was administrator for our stormwater operations. Um as he moved up to the deputy director position, uh David Bright has stepped in his position. I'd also like to share that Natalie Van Doggen is uh now going to be returning to the mayor's office, and she will be the director of community outreach, uh, where she will lead the uh mayor's action center and the mayor's neighborhood advocates. Natalie, of course, is a former MA and a MAC member herself, so we're excited to see her come full circle uh in her career. Um we'll definitely be uh losing uh a great person. And we also sadly say that uh we are losing our stormwater administrator uh Shannon Killian and our chief engineer John Bowen. Uh they're both revalu members of our engineering team, and we are uh actively seeking uh their report their successors. Um I think uh uh madam chair, you wanted to present yes, thank you, Director. If we can have the three of them come forward, we would like to present something on behalf of the Department of Public Works and this committee to them. Natalie Shannon and John. Thank you. Thank you.
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