Good evening and welcome to our public works committee meeting for February 12th 2026.

We will begin.

Oh wait for Councillor Cay Hill.

We will begin with introductions of counselors to my left.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mike Dill, District 24.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Derrick Cahill, District 23.

Thank you, Madam Chair, Josh Bain, District 21.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Brian Mowray, District 25.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Dan Boots, District 3, Lawrence, Washington Townships.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Nick Roberts, District 4.

Thank you, Chairwoman, Andy Nielsen, District 14.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Ron Gibson, District 8.

Thank you, Chairwoman Jessica McCormick, District 16.

Thank you, Madam Chair, Councilor Jarrett Evans, District 17.

And I am Kristen Jones, representing District 18.

And we also have a guest counselor, uh Michael Paul Hart, uh representing District 20 with us as well.

With consent, I would like to hear presentations of proposals number 47 through 57, 2026 together.

Thank you.

Welcome, Nathan.

Good evening.

Uh my name is Nathan Sheets.

I'm the deputy director of uh just pull it down.

Pull it down and yeah, there you go.

Microphone screen.

All right.

How's that?

Good.

I'm not used to this new setup.

Uh good evening.

My name is Nathan Sheets.

I'm the deputy director of our engineering division for the Department of Public World.

And uh so you want to hear 47 through let's just go ahead.

We'll go ahead and do 47 through 56, and then we'll have our counselor do 57.

Okay.

Uh we'll start with proposal number 47, 2026.

This authorizes a speed limit reduction to 25 miles per hour in the Moorings subdivision, District 4.

Proposal number 48, 2026 authorizes a weight limit restriction on Southwest Drive from Kentucky Avenue to Troy Avenue, District 21.

Proposal number 49, 2026 authorizes a speed limit reduction to 25 miles per hour in the neighborhood bounded by 16th Street, 21st Street, Sherman Drive, and Emerson Avenue, District 13.

Proposal number 50, 2026 authorizes a speed limit reduction to 25 miles per hour.

In the neighborhood bounded by 10th Street, 16th Street, Sherman Drive, and Emerson Avenue, that's District 13.

Proposal number 51, 2026 authorizes a speed limit reduction at 25 miles per hour in the neighborhood bounded by 10th Street, Pleasant Run Parkway, North Drive, CSX Transportation Ride of Way, Sherman Drive, and Emerson Avenue, that's District 13.

Proposal number 52, 2026 authorizes speed limit reduction to 25 miles per hour in the neighborhood bounded by 21st Street, Massachusetts Avenue, Brookside Parkway South Drive, Rural Street, and Sherman Drive, that is District 13 as well.

Proposal number 53, 2026 authorizes speed limit reduction 25 miles per hour in the neighborhood bounded by 10th Street, Berkside Parkway, South Drive, Rural Street, and Sherman Drive, that is District 13.

Proposal number 54, 2026 authorizes speed limit reduction to 25 miles per hour in the neighborhood bounded by 10th Street, Washington Street, Rural Street, and Sherman Drive, District 13.

Proposal number 55, 2026 authorizes a speed limit reduction to 25 miles per hour in the neighborhood bounded by 10th Street, Massachusetts Avenue, I-65, and rural street, and that is District 13.

And proposal number 56, 2026 authorizes a speed limit reduction to 25 miles per hour in the neighborhood bounded by 10th Street, Washington Street, I-65, and rural, and uh that is District 13 as well.

And if you have uh questions about any one of those proposals, I'd be happy to answer them.

Nathan, I apologize.

Also proposal starting with proposal number 42.

I see my typo.

Proposes number 22.

I see my typo.

I apologize.

I didn't want a second.

No, you're fine.

You should have I'm I'm my apologies.

Um proposal number 42, 2026, this authorizes speed limit reduction at 25 miles per hour in the sanctuary sanctuary subdivision, it's district four.

Um proposal number 43, 2026 authorizes a speed limit reduction of 25 miles per hour in the spring valley subdivision, that's district 17.

Proposal number 44 authorizes a speed limit reduction to 25 miles per hour in the Brookstone, Field Stone Subdivision, District 6.

Proposal number 45, 2026 authorizes a speed limit reduction to 25 miles per hour on Rybolt Avenue from Perry Street to the dead end, uh north of Bradbury Avenue.

That's district both 17 and 21.

And proposal number 46 authorizes a change in parking restrictions on East 10th Street between college and Highland Avenues, and that's District 13.

Thank you.

With consent, I would like to vote on the speed limit proposals together, which are proposals number 42 through 45, 47, 49 through 56, 2026.

Are there any comments or questions from counselors on those proposals?

Anyone in the public who wishes to speak on those above opposed proposals?

Okay, Nick.

Madam Chair, I move we send proposals number 42 to 45, number 47, and numbers 49 through 56 together to the full council to do pass recommendation.

Second, all those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed say nay.

The ayes have it.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you, Nathan.

Um we're the next vote that we are going to take is the wait um proposal, which is proposal number 48.

Are there any comments or questions from counselors on proposal number 48?

Counselor Bain.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Just want to say thank you, DPW, for the work on proposal 48.

This is a neighborhood on the southwest side of Indianapolis.

If you couldn't tell by Southwest Drive name, but it's um it's truly a neighborhood that deals with a massive amount of cut-through traffic, a lot of semis that go through a residential neighborhood where there's also a school.

So this is definitely going to be welcomed by the neighborhood and appreciate their help and support to get uh this passed.

Thank you.

Any other comments or questions on proposal number 48?

Anyone in the public who wishes to speak on proposal number 48?

All right.

Madam Chair, I motion that we move proposal 48 to the full council to do pass recommendation.

All those in favor, it has been moved and seconded to send proposal number 48 to the full council with the due pass recommendation.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed say nay.

The ayes have it.

Thank you.

Next up, we will have counselor Michael Paul Hart who is going to talk on.

Sorry.

You didn't vote on the parking restriction.

Correct.

We're gonna do it with his parking.

We're gonna walk with the two parking together.

Thank you.

The last parking proposal number 57.

And with consent, we will vote on proposals number 47 and 57 together.

Consent 46 and 57, yes.

And counselor, thank you very much for being here.

All right, thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Council.

Um, yeah, so this is proposal number 57, which authorizes parking restrictions on Brookville Road on both sides from Irvington Avenue to a point 750 east of Short Ridge uh Road.

Um it shows District 20, but actually, after uh chatting with Councilor Nielsen earlier today, it also encroaches into District 14.

So I just do want to call that out because it's not listed on here.

Um but the history behind this um and why I'm I'm requesting this.

Um I had a lot of concerns from neighbors.

Essentially, there's um a large United States Postal Service logistics facility that is just west of Arlington Avenue on Brookville Road, which is the part that's in District 14.

And as you head east on Brookville Road, there is a 465 entrance, and so it's a very busy intersection, and what we've been seeing over the last probably year and a half, even close to two years, is uh trucks will just park right on the side of Brookville Road because it I mean it's it's a a U.S.

highway, right?

So it's a big road.

And so um I've had a lot of calls from neighbors about you know how can we enforce this?

And so I spent a majority of my time working with IMPD and trying to get them over there, and there's just been a constant back and forth between IMPD and the Indiana State Police, and it's just been a headache and a mess.

And so the next best step I can look to do is is ask to implement this, right?

Is at least have signage posted so the folks know because right now there's nothing posted, and so they just assume they can park there.

And so um I've tried it on the enforcement side before coming to the council and putting in something that's um you know gonna put signs on the side of the road, but ultimately that's the position that it got to, uh, and that's why I'm requesting your support on proposal number 57 this evening.

Thank you.

Any comments, questions from counselors on proposal number 57?

Counselor Nielsen.

Thank you, Chairwoman.

Uh thank you.

Thank you, Chairwoman.

Thank you, uh Counselor Hart.

I know this is uh uh we're having an issue across the city.

I know uh counselor Bain just referenced this as well of just the prevalence of heavy trucks and being in Warren Township.

You understand this as well.

I know it's something you've worked on for a long time, and even before working on the council with uh as a community leader working with Warren Township Development Associate Association, Councillor Ray, Counselor Larison, yourself.

I know this has been an ongoing uh challenge is how we address truck parking.

So I I appreciate your efforts uh today on this um uh to date on this.

Oh sorry, Chairman.

Um and so I yeah, you have my appreciation, and uh with your consent, I would uh live the co-sponsor this proposal.

Yes, please, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chairwan.

Any other comments, questions from counselors?

Anyone in the public who wishes to speak on proposal number 57.

All right, Counselor Bain.

Any minimum chair.

I make a motion that we send proposals 46 and 57 to the full council with the due pass recommendation.

It's been moved and seconded to send proposals number 47 46 and 57 to the full council with the due pass recommendation.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye, opposed, say nay.

The ayes have it.

Thank you, counselor.

Thank you for being with us this evening to explain it.

All right, next up is our very esteemed director, Todd Wilson to uh give a snow removal update.

Thank you.

It's been uh it's been a rough winter already, and it's just February.

Beginning of February.

Uh it's looking up right now.

Um thank you, Madam Chair, for allowing me to uh give a brief update for I'm gonna give an update on uh a snow response or winter response.

I'm also gonna get a quick update on our um solid lakes transition uh that we've gone through here in the last couple months as well.

Um I'm gonna first start by actually bragging on DPW, um, how well they did here in this uh last uh snow event.

Um we had a record snow event which uh ranks in the top 10 of snow events in the city of Indianapolis uh to record.

So um we wouldn't have been able to do this without the entire DPW preparing for um this winter.

Um we started preparing for this winter last spring um and talking about logistics, uh doing research of uh uh other municipalities, purchasing equipment, um, and just becoming uh familiar with you know um what it looks like to to do a massive snow uh response.

Um I I'll brag on you know, kind of the the the winter season by the numbers, if you will.

Um we've had about 27 inches of snow this season um in Indianapolis uh and and two of two vents uh uh accounted for over half of that that snow.

Um we've had about 90,000 hours of uh time for our our snowflow drivers and those working in operations plus another 52,000 hours of overtime.

Those are those back to back to back 12 hour shifts that we have on our snow fights.

Um we've used about 28,000 tons of salt this season.

We typically use about 21,000 tons of salt in a in a in a uh winter season.

Um a bit of this is account for we're doing more areas.

We uh we've added uh trails, we've added bike lanes and protected bike lanes.

We've added connector roads, so yes, we're we're treating more areas, so obviously we're using more material.

Um as far as our residential uh re um snow clearing operations that are done by uh contractors.

We've had five contractors um do those services this year.

Um each one of them uh accounts for one or two of the um townships uh throughout throughout the county.

Um I think I thought they did very well.

Um and so this last snow event um there was a I think of 48 hours for our contractors to to do the job, and then another 72 hours after that for those callbacks for when your constituents called in and said my street didn't get hit.

Our contractors are responsible for another 72 hours to go out and make sure that that those uh roads were done.

Um another quick update on equipment.

Um our spring fiscal, we allowed uh money for our one-tons, and we've got some of those in.

We've been using those all so or all winter, and we still have some that are getting outfitted, and they'll be ready for next uh season.

And then we also are uh in the process of purchasing purchasing 12 of the large snow trucks.

Um that that's been approved by the board of public works, and and we're on those those will be ready for the 2026-27 winter season.

So um, again, I'd like to thank uh uh DPW, Ask Me Local 725, Local 3131 for all they do.

Um, this has been a really challenging winter season, and everybody's stepped up.

are uh in the process of purchas purchasing 12 of the large snow trucks um that that's been approved by the board of public works and and we're on those those will be ready for the 2026 27 winter season so um again i'd like to thank uh uh dpw asked me local 725 local 3131 for all they do um this has been a a really challenging winter season and everybody's stepped up so i i'm happy to answer any questions or or staff uh if if you guys got anything thank you director uh counselor evidence thank you madam chair um not so much a question as uh a thank you and thank you to all of our union members this to me this this sort of correlates back to last february and the uncomfortable conversation that I think we had as counselors and I think um it led to a much better response and that really begins with not us but our constituents who called us and it goes back to the people and the power that they have to call us and direct us to what they wanted because that's what we heard.

Director I can tell you in my 11 years I've never had people really call and thank me for the roads I received emails text messages phone calls about the response and that's how much better it was people were just couldn't believe that their street was getting plowed and we had a few hiccups which we would expect um and you guys responded fantastic to that and you know I can't help but I see Zach sitting over there I want to thank him because we were responding back and forth with him he did a great job of keeping us in the loop on that but I it's just the thing that I want all of our DPW union workers to be proud of in the response because it was just great and it was a it was a much better response and citizens you could just tell you know like I said I've never received hey I'm so happy that road was done um even when someone said something was bad it was like somebody was following up right behind them on social media saying well I thought it looked great you know and stuff like that so just uh just want to thank you is the is the best compliment I could give you counselor I appreciate that I'm glad that we can sit here with smiles on our face and and and reflect on on what we've been doing.

All right counselor Bay thank you madam chair just echoing the words of uh chairman Evans you know I think last year for that one event I think I I probably had over 30 respond uh constituents reaching out to me I for this snow event I had two one of which was on a private road and I think that just goes to show that you know here in Indianapolis we should be a first class city we strive to be a first class city and this is the kind of service a first class city provides to its constituents so I appreciate that thank you.

Counselor Cahell thank you madam chair yeah I I would agree that uh I think that with the uh non-contractor roads the especially relative to the scale of the event I I thought those roads were clear uh very well uh I think that certainly filing the priority three roads at all we improved but uh I I can't say that I would agree with the very well uh I think we I would if I had to pick a number I'd say we probably got 80% of them kind of in the first go would be my speculation I think we've got to figure out we still need to figure that part out a little better a couple of things uh that I I think one thing and I I hate to say that we plowed too much or too early or anything but we did start the residential plowing while it was still snowing and I think that contributed to some of the the issues there was when the snow plow came down my street there was still four more inches of snow yet to come so the net result was at the time they came by my my street was clear but by the next morning it was still covered with four inches of snow so it wasn't it wasn't 10 like the the total snowfall um I I also think maybe we need if there's this 72 hour the the 48 hours and then the 72 hours I think maybe we need to work to get the message out to the media better to say there is a deadline that if you report to us after that 72 hours we we may not come follow up I guess so I think it's it puts the burden on there and I do know that I think we also have to communicate the the preference maybe to use request indie versus calling the Mac because I think I heard a lot of I was on hold for 30 plus minutes to open a ticket and I think that should be staying practice.

I think if you can open a ticket on Weber with your phone you should because it's a fish up for everybody.

What were they finding versus what the residents were reporting did how did that process work since this is our first time with it so I'll I'll address a couple of of your comments there so the the timing of the call out the snow stopped at about 6 p.m on that Sunday we had called notified them four hours before six so um I'm not saying that that's not true but um I'm I was curious if why why they showed up so early with four more inches of snow ready to fall on your road but um that's case by case um you know we we the field and investigators isn't a new thing for us when whenever we do a call out we have both DPW staff and our operation field investigation staff go out and they take uh uh townships or or or areas and and they call in when when uh contractors are finished with their roads and then they call in when they're not so um and all

But that's case by case.

Go out and they take uh townships or or areas and and they call in when uh contractors are finished with their roads, and then they call in when they're not.

So after the uh 72-hour window for the contractors to go back out and and fix things, even beyond that, our DPW staff went out and addressed concerns for another week after after those uh contractors were done with their with their assignments.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Councilman Gibson.

Well, thank you, Madam Chair.

Um we have had a snow like fall like this in over a decade.

And a city of our size.

I'm just tremendously uh proud of what you and your team and DPW and ask me have done to make sure our city was back open for business in a reasonable time frame.

It is incredible.

Uh I can tell you that would a with a district that has a lot of small up and down streeps.

I get very few complaints about I think I mean got two that about about uh that they missed your street, but it uh yours your team with Zach, they jumped in and they got a resolve immediately.

I think it shows what what a first class city is.

My hand my hat off to Mayor Hawks that you and the entire DPW to ask my team.

If my calls would join me with a random plow with DPW, I would appreciate that.

Councilor Helps.

Thank you, Madam Chair, for my tardiness.

Um thank you very much, Director.

I agree.

A lot of the comments uh said tonight.

Love seeing kids be able to not miss too many days of school considering the substantial snow amounts and the the frigid temperatures are really I think what kept them at home.

So kudos to to that.

Um I have a couple questions if I might, madam chair.

Um, kind of in the same vein as counselor Cahill.

Now that we've had a substantial fight with both the new maps of the connector roads and new policy um worked on with this body.

Are there any amendments to the map or um you said that you had to send you know for another week?

We took feedback.

How might we take that feedback or those roads that you did go back and hit maybe a first time and thought, oh, maybe that would be a good road to add to the list in priority one, two, or three, and I'm speaking about a particular neighborhood in my district, um, Pinecrest.

It's smaller neighborhood, but very hilly, lots of terrain, um hills and valleys, and kids sliding in and out of their bus stops and things like that, and there I don't think there was um there's not ploughing there per the current map.

But what I understand is DPW came and did take care of it, but is that something that we could take a look at across our council districts?

Maybe where did you have to redeploy and how can we incorporate those should we have a storm in the future, and what would that look like in terms of changing the policy?

Would it have to go through the Board of Public Works and be voted on and approved again, or is that something internally engineering could do and would it require funding?

So I think to answer your question, a good question, uh counselor.

Um so we have already done a couple debrief meetings with leadership.

Um for one to talk about the DPW's response, um, the internal staff for uh our our local, and then um the contractor's response.

We've had two separate meetings um talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly.

So um, I don't think there's any policy changes that we need to do via ordinance, but there are things we need to button up internally within the um the organization and and how we do it.

I would like to ask if um Daniel can help me out with more of the the future technology part of it um that that we're working on and and how that worked this time and how it's gonna work uh going forward.

A short walk to the microphone.

Uh Daniel Stevenson, deputy director of policy and planning for DPW.

One thing I would also like to call out is through our GIS team, which is a member, they're members of our engineering division, um, we will start commencing the audit process of our maps as early as April of this year.

For example, we've heard feedback from Councillor Cahill, other counselors, residents when maybe some streets are classified not quite the right way.

We are keeping tally and track of that so that when we go back through the maps, we can make sure that we're addressing everything.

Another thing that I guess think gets to questions that Councillor Cahill had as well is just uh a brief reminder of kind of where our current technology environment is living, where we are very uh limited by an antiquated snow fight and snow force viewer tool.

Um, we are actively already most of the way through the discovery process as we are building out the tools that we'll be able to use for the 26-27 snowfight system.

Um, some highlights that I would note is that we will be able under that new snowfight and snow force tool to be able to better track and monitor our contractor call out.

Um, it will actually show similarly to the current snow force viewer to residents in that same like zero to two, two to four hour range the last time a plow was sent down your road.

Um, we currently cannot track that in our our current snowfight software.

Um, another thing that I would also call out for kind of the direction we're going on a technology side that will help address snow specifically as it pertains to this conversation.

Um, but we are looking at it also for solid waste and for our street sweeping operations is we are in early conversations with Esri, um which is the software company that owns GIS, our our mapping solution.

Um we recently found out that they do, in fact, offer a turn-by-turn navigation software that with the current upgrade that ISA is working on in GIS.

Um, we will actually get that as part of that package at an enterprise level.

So this is all wonderful news.

What does this mean for us?

How is this going to impact snow and making sure that we are hitting every street?

Is that currently most of our mapping actually is relegated to paper maps.

And so this turn by turn navigation will allow us to put these routes into that.

Drivers will be run through their routes at a turn by turn, like they're running a Google map.

So, for example, when you're looking at one district map, it might be that there is a small little piece of residential up here, but the rest of this area's map is more focused in you know this area.

I personally am navigationally challenged.

I easy to miss that small location.

The turn-by-turn routing navigation will allow us to ensure that that's being hit.

Um we are also exploring potential further conversations with our contractors for that Simsara telematics software that we are using and how we will implement that across our contractor fleet for that real-time update, whether that's going to be through our Simsara technology or most of these turn-by-turn navigation technologies also offer the same GPS tracking.

So we would be able to get that information real time.

We have had the conversations with the new Snowfight Snow Force tool that this will all actually work within the tool to give that real-time information, less manual process.

Well, yeah, thank you, Daniel.

Yes, go ahead.

Well, thank you.

Thank you.

That's exciting because my neighbors are asking who made that map because maybe it was paper, not people.

Um, my question is um maybe too early to ask, but with the freeze and thaw and all the extra salts, our roads are surely showing it.

Our residential and thoroughfares hot mixed as someone already asked before I got here.

Is it too early to ask?

I know I'm that girl.

That's a fair question.

Um, no, it's not uh, yeah, it's gonna be a couple weeks before the hot mixed plants open up.

Um but I I would like to share.

I called uh our deputy director of operations, Lacey Johnson uh earlier today on my way in the work to thank you.

He was like, well, whoa, what why are you thanking me?

Because they were filling potholes on College Avenue.

Um so we're still snow on the ground, and we're filling potholes.

So it's a it's a job that's not gonna stop all year long.

We do it.

So yeah, we're we're focused on that here the next couple weeks, the weather's gonna break, and we're all gonna see a flurry of uh construction.

Yeah, I appreciate it.

It was those 60 degree tents that filled all the potholes with nice pools, and now they're frozen back over.

Um, and I appreciate even the warnings about black ice and other things today because that was also very real.

It was dangerous out there.

So thank you.

DPW team asked me um for keeping the city of Indianapolis safe.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Councilor Nielsen.

Thank you, Chairwoman.

Uh, thank you, Director, and reiterate what other members have said on, and I know we've talked about this at length, and uh that I think this is uh was a clear improvement.

I'm really excited about the update that you gave Mr.

Deputy Director because I think that that is kind of where my head was going out about where the room for improvement is.

So I'm I'm really excited to see that uh come to fruition, uh, gives us a little more communication and not have to gum up other communication channels, uh provides the opportunity for constituents to also see what's going on.

So that's that's very exciting, and I think to the point of you know, first class city that that's we're we're punching at that weight.

Um, one of the questions I did have was um uh so recognizing the 44 hour, 48 hour and the 72 hour, and then DPW coming in after um not necessarily call out a contractor, but as the contracts are written, what if a contractor, for example, doesn't meet that doesn't meet that requirement at 44 hours and then at 72 hours, like what ability do we have to like hold those contractors accountable?

And I'm not trying, you know, just to try to recognize that if we do have problems, right?

Where is our ability to um hold those contractors accountable?

Right.

Um, you know, I I don't have a contract memorized.

Um I probably have to get our our legal counsel involved with that, but you know, I think I think ultimately if the contractors don't perform, we don't pay, right?

You just don't pay for service you don't get.

So I don't know this guy has to have to for the record, Sam Barrett's chief financial officer, DPW.

I don't have the contracts memorized.

Um however, the contracts are very explicit that if the assigned areas are not completed within the specified time frames, um, DPW does have the right to withhold payment for the mileage that isn't completed.

Um I I also want to say that the time frames that are applicable here change depending on how much snow fell.

So in this case, because it was 11 inches, they had close to the maximum amount of time to plow, um, and then the additional 72-hour period on the back end.

Um so I think it it's finding that line between holding the contractors accountable for addressing areas that they missed.

Um, and again, we're thankful to both our teams, our field investigators, and people from other divisions that went out there on um both the regular schedules and off schedule to go help those field investigators keep up the work.

We're also thankful, obviously, for all the members of the public that called in locations, council members that reported areas to us.

Um but for us it's finding that line between holding them accountable but also being reasonable that this is a big operation that we haven't done a lot, right?

And so we want to be partners with these these companies and develop strong working relationships with them.

Um, and so we're hoping that each time we do this, it just goes better and better going forward.

Thank you.

And on that time frame, I would like to make a note.

Sometimes on that time frame, I would have a constituent call in, my road was missed, and then I would do the the process of hey, this you know, say say it was Shepard Street, service street was missed, I'd call it in, and then maybe Zach or Kyle or somebody would call me back.

One time Kyle even called me back, hey, I'm in the truck.

I I've actually went to the street, and he would explain to me actually a contractor did try to do the street, but especially for my district in center township, my streets are very narrow.

There's parking on both sides of the streets.

So the contractor did try to do the street, but they were unable to do it because of the width of the street and parking on both sides of the streets.

So sometimes there was circumstances in which the street could not be plowed because of the parking and the width of the street.

And so, you know, just trying to get that message out to those residents, they did attempt and they did, and they would even come back several times to see whether it was a time of the day where the cars were removed and they could get to that street.

But I think communication was very helpful, and I think the department, as you as you said, Sam, um, that um folks from different departments even stepped up, or maybe director you were the one who said it's you know from engineering.

Um Zach was working around the clock, Kyle was working around the clock.

We started that with CFO Barris back at the beginning, you know, this time last year, making this foundation.

Um, but they really went out of the box to make sure that we did the communication really stepped up, and I think that's because of we started this a year ago.

But the communication vastly changed.

But just because a commit uh constituents said a street wasn't plowed.

I think they really did their due diligence to make sure did that contractor come out or not, and they got that message back, at least for me, they got that message back, so I could communicate that back to the resident, and they didn't feel like they were neglected.

I was able to give them that reason why or why not that street wasn't plowed.

So that was I appreciate that because that was very helpful, you know.

And sometimes they can't move the cars, car the cars are there, and that was that was just an instance in my in my district, so I appreciate that.

Any other questions?

Counselor K Home.

Thank you.

I I just wanted to recognize and acknowledge uh Deputy Director Stevenson's uh stuff.

We we have in fact had a lot of very uh geeky GIS GPS conversation.

Uh but I I am thankful I am excited that we will soon get to the promised land of GPS tracking because I I really think that all these things that we talk about uh miss trash pickups.

I mean, GPS would answer all that.

Um so that's that's very exciting.

Uh and it since we did talk about hot mix, uh I I wanted to ask if I know we've I've had some conversations related the BNS side uh of the uh hot mix stuff.

Uh are are we in a position to discuss how those conversations have progressed?

You know, Zach.

I'm not just sure.

Yeah, so when so with uh when uh anybody's doing a street cut uh and then we let that sit for a while.

Oh yeah, I BNS is working on that.

Uh the microphone.

Sorry, exact.

Yeah, BNS is still working on that.

We haven't had progress back and forth, but we'll keep hammering at it.

I got it.

J just for everyone else's benefit.

So one of the things that I think has been a bit of a gap is that, and and obviously we're having more more winter this year than we did last year, but last year we had hot mix in January.

But we BNS, when somebody, often citizens, cuts the street open, they can leave, they don't even have to cold patch it.

They they just leave gravel, and we have just granted them waivers all the way into really the end of March when DPW has been out using hot mix.

They if you guys could have fixed it months earlier.

And so my my question, my conversation has been as soon as hot mix is available to DPW, to me, that should be the end of us granting waivers uh through BNS for all of these uh contractor cuts because I I think that uh constituents look at they see a hole in the road and presume that that's all DPW is not filling it in.

And the answer is DPW is not responsible for it, it very often citizens is responsible for filling it in, but behind the scenes we've just been giving them waiver after waiver, even if that's three months after you guys have been in the hot mix.

So it's it's certainly my hope that we can communicate better between DPW and BNS and say, hey, whenever that day comes, that's I hope not March 30th, that we can say, hey, let's let's start holding all these others accountable to fix their spots in the road too.

So absolutely correct.

Counselor Bates.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Director Wilson.

Uh I too had some favorable reports uh from neighborhoods, and did get a couple actual compliments uh sent to me, which I very seldom get, so I appreciate that.

Um this is a question I think comes up about every year, and that is um the quality of the mix and the quality of of asphalt.

Are we still studying new technology and trying to stay on the cutting edge?

Uh it seems particularly cold mix we know crumbles, but it also seems to me that even hot mix in potholes doesn't last very long.

And even with new roads, you often see the first potholes are right down the middle that were the two lanes, the seams, if you will.

Um and I know there's a lot of research going into this.

I know some local companies are heavily involved in researching new chemicals and what have you.

Are are we trying to take advantage of and using the most modern?

I know there's a cost factor there, but um I just want to make sure we are pushing the envelope a little bit and trying to get on a cutting edge and using the latest and greatest materials.

We we are um using uh the latest and greatest materials.

I I appreciate that question because you know um you you see potholes develop in the middle of the road a lot of time.

That's from more data.

There's a products that we can use to help uh uh solidify, if you will, those joints and and make sure that the water does not that the water is a big thing.

Once the water get in the pores uh uh sections of the asphalt freezes, expands, pops.

That's what caused the potholes.

So we use the same asphalt mix that the state uses.

That's we use the same formula that that that the state uses.

That's where we get the the asphalt that we we use for our roadway.

So um as as the state progresses, as you know, uh we progress in and the type of materials that we use.

All right, great.

Thanks.

Any more snow questions before we move on to our next update?

All right.

We can go on to our next update, Director.

Well, um, another big thing that DPW does is very, very important to everybody here is trash pickup.

And we all know that last year um the city went through about a year-long process, RFP to solicit a new uh vendor for trash pickup, and as LRS, Lakeshore Recycling Systems.

Um LRS is real big in the Midwest.

Um there was an interview process.

We we um we were very impressed with LRS, and they came in at a lower price than our uh previous vendor.

Um LRS has been a really really good partner throughout this entire uh uh uh fall with with the transition.

We've uh had to replace uh about a hundred and sixty thousand household carts in in about two months.

Now uh we've we've sent out 160,000, but we've only received back about 135,000.

So there's still uh a fair amount still sitting out there, and I know um Council of the Boots has been really concerned about that here in the last couple weeks too.

Um, you know, I'm gonna pass this over here to Daniel because he's been uh knee deep in this transition and making sure that it's going well, and also uh our deputy director of uh solid waste, Sean Brock.

Um but I I I personally am very very pleased.

I think the LRS transition has been a complete success for the scale of the operations that that we have uh uh handled.

So I could do to also uh uh encourage folks to reach out to the mayor's access center if they have any issues with trash pickup or their old cart not getting picked up.

Um so without further ado, I'll uh hand it back over to Daniel and he could give a more pointed uh update on the transition.

Yes, absolutely thank you, um director.

So, yes, as Director Wilson noted, this has been a long process, long in the making.

Uh, one of the things that I would emphasize is that this is something that we have not undergone in Indianapolis in literal decades.

Um, so projects at this scale, we feel really good about how things are going.

We understand that our residents and constituents are still facing some issues in this transition.

So we wanted to make sure that we are kind of addressing how LRS is stepped up as a wonderful partner to us, how we're planning to move forward with some of these issues.

So the largest um issue that we are currently still seeing out and about, and the number one complaint that we were receiving through the mayor's action center is on the retrieval process of those old carts.

Um, as Director Wilson noted, we're at about an 85% retrieval rate from those old carts.

Um during that initial phase, the two hired cart vendors, uh, Sierra and Cascade that were assisting us with that process, completed two full um runs through every neighborhood to try to collect the carts that were left out on the curb as they were intended to be.

Um while they were doing that process, they were noting um specific neighborhoods that were having issues with that retrieval process.

The rates were lower.

So then they moved into a targeted approach where they were trying to just target those specific neighborhoods where they were having problems.

What we were hearing back from not only LRS crews going out in the area, but also sending out our own field investigators to also explore what what is happening.

Um we wanted to verify that we were getting accurate information as a couple of things.

So the biggest thing is carts were not left at the curb where they were supposed to be.

Um the second issue that we are facing largely is the second cart was there, but it was full of trash.

Unfortunately, as we are retrieving the cart, we cannot break it down if it's if it's full of solid waste.

Um, the other issue that I would note here as well is that what has become apparent throughout this transition process is the data from some of our outgoing vendors was rather incomplete.

It was old, it was outdated.

In some cases, they had no data to provide us at all, specifically around second purchased carts.

So residents have the option to buy a second cart for $65.

They now own that cart.

We were now going out to retrieve old carts.

If it was out on the curb and it was empty, we had no record of did this household purchase a cart or not.

So we started seeing an influx in calls with residents stating, like, hey, you guys took my cart.

I I bought that.

Um working with LRS and our operations crews, we've been making sure to get those all replaced that were collected.

But this, like, kind of created in the field a dilemma.

Do I take the cart?

Do I not take the cart?

So what we determined was the best path forward was to move to a case by case basis.

So as Director Wilson noted, my biggest ask is for residents to continue to submit through the mayor's action center or request Indie.

Um, if they still have a second purchase cart that they would like to be taken.

LRS is having four full-time crews out running, three LRS teams, and they've hired additional staff to help address this issue.

And they have also paid out of their own pocket.

So again, wanting to emphasize LRS is really trying to go above and beyond to be an excellent partner to the city.

Um, so they've also hired a vendor for that fourth route to be run to collect those carts.

Since we've moved over to this process, we've made minimal progress in the collection because what we are noting, we're sending out these extra hired cart collection vendors.

No carts left out or full of trash.

Um that's the other big ask is if you're going to submit that request, we do kindly ask that you make sure that that cart is out and empty, ready to go for our crews.

They're responding incredibly fast.

So I would even set it out before you go in to submit that request.

Um, but so that is kind of where we're at with the cart transition process.

We're continuing to work through it.

We ask residents to please be patient.

We're we promise we will get to you if you would like that cart gone.

Um, the other biggest thing that I would like to address is on the side of subscription curbside recycling.

This remains the second largest thing that we are hearing through the mayor's action center.

Um, so kind of an important thing to note in this contract process, the city's role was in negotiating and hiring a vendor and negotiating a fair rate for all of our residents to be charged.

Once that is set up, you start your subscription curbside recycling service.

That relationship exists directly between customer and vendor.

So, going back to this issue that I noted earlier that we discovered about the data that was provided to us.

The data was not great for our subscription recycling customers.

Um this is not really at the fault of DPW directly.

We didn't have this relationship directly for this service, and it's not really at the fault of LRS.

Um, but what we saw happening was customers receiving invoices, they had maybe canceled service two months prior.

We are receiving an influx of calls at the LRS customer service, their call center saying, Hey, I am not getting my stuff picked up.

We're looking, it's not even on an assigned route, it's not in our records if they were to be a customer.

So this has obviously led to some issues.

Um, the other thing that I think that I would note about the subscription curbside recycling process has been some general confusion about pickup days and that overall schedule.

So LRS is operating on a biweekly schedule where your house is on an even or an odd week based off of your location.

LRS is collecting recycling on the same day as they are collecting trash.

We discovered through this process, once again, when we started getting notices from residents that that is not necessarily how Republican WM had been operating in the past.

So that's kind of been an adjustment.

What LRS has done is made sure to send out multiple rounds of follow-up communications to residents to inform them what's going on.

They have currently two additional helper crews out running routes every single day to address specifically missed uh recycling pickup, things of that nature.

And then my brain just went blank.

If it comes back to me, we'll cycle back to it, or maybe you'll have a question.

Um, finally, the final thing I would note as well is that with all of this influx of calls with the not great data that we received, etc.

Obviously, we've also heard about some issues with customer service over on the LRS side.

Um I do want to specifically note that LRS expanded their customer service representative team.

Call metrics and volumes are improving week by week compared to the first week of service to this most recent week that they are currently in.

Call volumes are down 59%.

So we should see um major improvements in that customer service response time that our residents are seeing with LRS.

When it comes to an issue with your subscription curbside recycling service, your first stop should be contacting LRS.

If you're not seeing resolve, we ask you to please call the mayor's action center or request ND.

Cycling back to recycling, furthermore, because I just remember what I was going to say.

Um the other things I wanted to note are some initiatives that LRS is going to be commencing yet this month.

Um to begin, they are going to be tagging carts out that do not have any accounts set up.

So they are going to be driving around the city noting carts where there it's not on an assigned route, they're going to be putting a tag on all of those carts to make sure that it gives that information how to sign up for service if they want to keep that going.

The other thing they're also going to be doing is tagging carts that are out where we have missing account information.

So for example, sometimes we got an address that they were signed up for service, but we didn't get the resident's name.

Um so they're going to be tagging those as well.

This should help a lot with these lingering, trying to get people signed up for service.

And with that, I think I've spoken quite a long time.

I would be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you very much, Councillor Boots.

Thank you, madam chair.

And thank you, uh, Mr.

Stevenson, for everything you've done up my way, uh, especially sending this separate trucks has really helped.

And today was trash day in my area, and so everyone put their second blue can out.

And then when the pickup truck or pickup delivery truck came by, it was grabbing the trash can or the bin that was simply intended to be emptied and retained by the customer.

What what are I'm telling them to call Mac, get me a case number, then I'm gonna circle back to Mr.

Adams and and have to track down you know we need to get a blue bin back out to this house, that house, and this house.

Absolutely.

There's actually a very a specific case type set up through the mayor's action center for this exact issue.

So if they call into the Mac, the Mac's going to be able to get that cycled through.

Um I appreciate the thanks and kudos.

I want to make sure to also call out uh Deputy Director Brock back here.

Um he's actually living and breathing the operations of this every day.

So much thanks to him and administrator Kaylee Pruitt and the whole solid waste team, they're staying incredibly on top of this transition process and getting those cases addressed, um working directly with LRS.

So if they submit that case type, that automatically then will send over to Kaylee and Sean.

Sean will immediately notify LRS that they need to get it taken care of, and it should get taken care of.

Um if you're hearing from residents directly, obviously, counselors, you can always send them over to Zach, and he will also work with Sean and Kaylee to get those addressed.

Thank you.

Anything else?

Counselor Roberts.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and um thank you obviously for the updates on this and the snow fight.

Um you had a lot of the questions that I was gonna ask already.

Um I would just note that I I don't know if this other counselor's experiences, honestly.

Over the last two years I've had as counselor, it's been very good, but I've got more issues over the last three weeks than I have over the last two years, which I think is a sign, and I think a lot of constituents feel a lot of frustration because they were calling LRS and they were getting hours long delays and then calling the Mac, getting more delays, and you know, we're kind of their last resort.

Um question that I just had in general is I feel like anecdotally, this could be a hundred percent anecdotal, but there were certain neighborhoods that had worse service than others.

And I don't know if maybe the list is more inaccurate in those neighborhoods because you mentioned that there were certain lists that were not very good.

I don't know if it's maybe certain, you know, people that are doing the trash pickup, they're maybe not as familiar with those neighborhoods, or it's not on the ball as much.

Or I was wondering if you've seen anything yourself that was indicate indicate that, or if it's more so just maybe my um just kind of guessing from where I'm hearing people live.

Yeah, that's something that um I would probably want to get some further information from LRS directly.

Um they've been so incredibly helpful and transparent with all of their data.

They might have a better idea of that directly than I would.

Um so I would probably want to reach back out to them to get some further clarification on that.

Okay, Councilor Nielsen.

Thank you, Chairwoman.

Um Mr.

Stevenson, thank you for that uh for that update.

I think you've also hit a lot of I there's just a few things I just want to just be clear with communicating with constituents.

So I know one of the issues with writing up was um with the sign up piece, and I know director you and I have chatted about that directly with you know going in and putting in your zip code and then maybe service being said it's not available, but maybe that that's being remedied now, which is fantastic.

So if um if uh so we should instruct neighbors to put out their recycling as normal, and now LRS is saying, okay, there's a there's an old WM, there's an old republic uh bin, it's not in our system.

They're getting out and they're tagging that, which would provide some instruction for constituents to on the on the is that right.

Am I I just want to make sure I'm getting that piece right, thank you.

Yeah, no, absolutely.

Uh you are correct.

Okay.

So um they will be commencing this before the end of this month.

Great.

We will share an update back to all of the counselors once we have that specific date, it's going to start.

But yes, they're going to be out driving carts that they do not have on their routes.

Um, one of the kind of cool things the LRS is doing is they're already implementing a turn-by-turn navigation and tracking system for all of their routes.

So when they're out and about, they will clearly quickly be able to see, like, okay, there's a recycling cart out, but it is not on an assigned route.

I need to get out and tag this cart so that we can make sure that they're contacting us.

I did also want to talk briefly about the the zip code issue on their website.

Um, so when you go to LRS's main website, there is a place to enter in your zip code, and it'll tell you what services are available.

Um, thank you for making us aware that this issue was happening.

Um I happen to live in 46219, right?

Right in your um area, put in my zip code, and it did spit back out that there were no LRS services in our area.

Um, their IT team is actively working on this.

This is uh actually a feature of their website that's going to be going away.

They're navigating to an updated website.

Um, I believe the tentative date for that is February 20th.

Um what we are doing is we're actively reviewing right now the language.

There's going to be a pop-up specifically for Indianapolis Marion County residents, informing them to please call the local office to get signed up for service, etc.

Um, as they work through that problem.

Thank you, Councilor McCormick.

Thank you.

Uh question about picking up bins, right?

That are no want that are not um LRS.

And you said there are some that are full.

If it is full, will LRS pick that up to empty it out so then it could be picked up later, just a clarification on that.

How do I empty a bin that is not an LRS bin?

I I believe that the answer to that will come from Deputy Director Brock, who is more familiar with the day-to-day operations than I am.

But Sean Brock, I think director's always.

Yeah, um, generally what happens is when the truck rolls by, if they have two carts out, they will service both of them.

The issue is some of these where they've got their purchase cart, and there's another cart that's out there.

There's there's three carts or multiple cards, they will only empty two carts.

So you either need to keep one of them in the house next week, um, or find another way to dispose of it or work with your neighbors to try to put some of your trash that way, but they will only empty two cards per unit.

And it doesn't have to be an LRS label, correct?

It could be one of the old ones.

Okay.

So I just wanted to make sure that they would empty one that doesn't that doesn't say there.

One of the cool things about this process is um we will actually own all of our carts at the end of this process.

That was a huge thing that um Sean pushed for quite heavily, so that we will never have to go through this car transition process ever again.

Fantastic.

So great.

Yes.

Thank you.

Councilor Wells.

Yes, thank you, madam chair.

I know that as you said, Daniel, this was a very large scale change.

But what I think we as an enterprise could have done better is communicate, and I appreciate even just the clarifying questions here.

Those are things where our constituents need a graphic.

I haven't had any issues with the transition, and but my neighbors have, but I haven't been able to communicate because I'm only 46219.

Shout out everything.

Um, but that's important, I think, to know and talk about, and it's really real on the ground.

I think um trash is something that is literally an issue that piles up before your eyes, and I would be um remiss to say if I didn't wish I had more material, more education, more graphics, more PSAs on the news that people watch and telling them what to do, um, and giving them much more lead time to do so.

I do think that it kind of snuck up on us to put the carts out and then the time expired as well.

Um, so I would just ask, even moving forward for more information, post those LRS links regularly.

And what I would say is since we've transitioned to LRS, I was just looking back through DPW social media, and I don't think we're promoting the LRS recycling service and how to add it on now.

And I would really like to see that be something that we promote, especially as we look forward to Earth Month coming up in April.

But I had coffee with the constituent, and I thought we were gonna work through an issue, and she told me she's gonna be running for my seat because of the terrible trash can roll out that we just went through.

So that'll be really really fun to take on next year to talk trash.

And so I look forward to all those graphics so I can help explain to my neighbors how they can get their correct trash picked up and hopefully uh vote for me.

Absolutely.

Um I candidly appreciate the the feedback.

That is something that we can absolutely make improvements on.

It's something that I am actively working on with Director Van Donggen on the 25th floor for community outreach.

Obviously, Natalie used to be in my current position.

Um, so we talk pretty frequently, but one of the things that we're definitely trying to push for is to better prepare our MAs and our MAC staff with updated information, graphics, social media content.

So absolutely heard, and you'll also see be seeing more from our office of sustainability on this as well, um, as they will be helping us push.

The hope is to scale up the subscription curbside recycling over these next two years and advance of the switch over to universal.

Um, so you'll be seeing a lot more on us in this space.

Thank you.

Any other comments, questions, counselors?

All right, well, thank you all very much for being here.

Director Wilson, thank you to you and to your entire team for being here and for investing in us, investing in the snow fight, and uh hopefully you can get some some rest.

And thank you for bringing those updates, and we continue to look forward to some further updates.

Um, we have yes, I am so sorry.

We got some requirement.

Uh sorry to interrupt.

I wanted to ask, um, I know it's not my district, but I've had run into a couple folks.

The 30th Street Bridge, do we have an opening date, timeline it with it getting nicer and folks wanting to ride their bikes and it being a artery?

Just curious if we know.

Absolutely.

Um, so the bridge was supposed to have one lane open here uh in January.

Obviously, uh this winter got got us this time.

Um, so there's a couple uh small things as railing that needs to be uh uh installed on there before we can open it up, but I believe it's gonna be here in February where we'll have uh some some movement on that.

Awesome, wonderful.

And then the entire bridge will be opened up before the race.

Woo!

Yay!

100 days tomorrow.

I wore my checkers just for that.

Um, if I could a couple more things.

So um just for folks over on the west side.

So the 10th and Riceway roundabout project that is actually done by Hendricks County, is going to start uh March 23rd.

Um, I only know about this because businesses right there got a letter and a family member works at one of those businesses.

Um, if you could, as DPW encourage the folks over in Hendricks County to communicate to the counselors that represent that area so we could communicate it.

I mean, I already did, but I only know about it because I had somebody bring me the paper that the business got.

Um, and then girls school road.

Do we have any update on that construction project?

I bet a lot of messages about how horrible girls school road is, and I keep telling people we're gonna it's gonna get redone, so it's not going on any list because it's already there.

Yeah, um, I'm gonna actually ask uh my chief engineer Mark St.

John to give an update on Girl School Road.

Yes, good evening, as Director Wilson said on Mark St.

John, chief engineer for the department.

Uh Girl School Road is set to bid at the end of this month.

But we've broken it into two phases.

The first phase will be from perimeter road up to uh 10th Street, and then next year we'll do 10th Street up the 21st.

I hope I said that right.

No, I got that turned around.

10th Street up to 21st will be first, and then perimeter up to 10th will be next year.

That gives us some additional time to work with the railroad and get some utilities out of the way on the south half of that project.

It also would be a very large project to build all at once, and it would have taken multiple construction seasons regardless.

And there's the end up project on Brookville that we're trying to coordinate with as well.

So we thought it was best to break that project into multiple phases.

Well, and I want to say thank you for doing that north section first, not just because it's my district, but also because the high school is there, the Ben Davis High School and other schools as well.

And I think that is a big issue with our constituents and folks on the west side, and so I appreciate that you're gonna do that section first because that would we have little kids and little baby our babies walking around um crossing the street and stuff, making sure we have some extra safety there.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

I will take a motion to adjourn.

Thank you.

Good night.

Be safe, everyone.