OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Board of Public Works Meeting - September 24, 2025: Budget, Bid Awards, and Policy Discussions

Other Meetings (A-H) — Wednesday, September 24, 2025
BodyIndianapolis, Indiana
SessionOther Meetings (A-H)
DateWednesday, September 24, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:09:08

Transcript — Verbatim
0:55

Afternoon, I'd like to call it a September 24th Board of Public Works meeting order.

0:59

I am Todd Wilson, director and chair of the board.

1:02

Uh extra board members to please introduce themselves, start on my right or my left, sorry.

1:07

Sabega Jawanza.

1:08

Hello, Baron.

1:10

CZ Forty.

1:12

Idrish Redman.

1:13

Leslie Schulte.

1:15

Thank you very much.

1:16

And also like to introduce our board counsel uh behind me, Ben Moracle and our board coordinator, uh Jennifer Domingas and uh other DPW staff.

1:24

Our first item on the agenda today is the adoption of the September twenty-fourth, twenty twenty-five agenda.

1:30

Do I have a motion to adopt the agenda?

1:33

So moved.

1:34

So moved by Bob Perrin.

1:35

Do I have a second?

1:37

Seconded by Edis Redman.

1:38

All in favor, please signify by saying aye.

1:40

Aye.

1:41

Any opposed?

1:42

That motion carries.

1:44

Next item on the agenda is approval of the minutes.

1:47

Do I have a motion to approve the September tenth minutes?

1:51

So moved by Leslie Schulte.

1:53

Do I have a second?

1:54

Seconded by Susie Courty.

1:56

All in favor, please signify by saying aye.

1:58

Aye.

1:58

Any opposed?

2:00

That motion carries.

2:02

Next item on the agenda is our budget presentation.

2:06

That will be uh presented by Margaret Wilson.

2:08

Margaret, the floor is yours.

2:11

Thank you, Director.

2:19

There we go.

2:20

Okay, thank you, Director.

2:22

Um I'm Margaret Wilson, assistant CFO with DPW.

2:27

Um I will be presenting to the board today our twenty twenty-six budget.

2:32

Uh we presented this about a month ago to council, so this is just kind of an abridged version for you all today.

2:39

Um feel free to ask questions at the end.

2:42

Um, but I'll just kind of hit on the key points uh for uh our budget for 2026.

2:51

Um DPW has some dedicated revenue sources um that kind of drive our budget.

2:58

Um our budget must be built around these available revenues.

3:03

Um the growth within uh these categories is relatively stable.

3:08

Um we'll see an increase in the gas tax for 2020 uh six budget.

3:15

Um and then some smaller variances within the other um taxes.

3:20

We have gas tax, wheel tax, and the user fees of the solid waste and stormwater.

3:28

Um those are driven by local ordinance.

3:31

And DPW consistently attempts to supplement these uh the revenue sources with interlocal agreements, grants, and other one-time appropriations.

3:45

We get into our budget breakdown by fund type.

3:51

Um the next few slides are a uh uh we can look at it differently for uh with each slide based on um whether it's by fund or um the uh character, and so we've put the next few slides to try to give different views uh so you can see holistically how these numbers all fit together.

4:14

The full 2026 um introduced budget is 257 million dollars between all of our departments.

4:25

Um this is broken down into the DPW operating funds, um again, driven by the revenue sources from the previous slide, um, as well as with increases for COLA, health care, um any of the contractual agreements that we have increases for and a one-time appropriation and uh operations character for additional operations and uh uh equipment.

5:00

One of our budget asks was also granted for a $300,000 increase to the tax drop program.

5:06

We have also the type of fund with the fleet services.

5:12

That is driven mostly by chargeback.

5:15

So when we get into some of the other slides, you'll see character five within the departments is listed negative, and that is because that's fees paid by the different divisions into fleets fund for their ability to operate within those budgets.

5:34

We have capital funds, and those are appropriated through transfers from other funds to support the DPW capital program.

5:43

We have 10 million additional funds increased for next year, and that is an allocation of COIT funds that will go to towards our DPW transportation capital program.

5:58

There's also the line of grant funds, and you'll see that one is decreased.

6:05

But those just get a little sticky with accounting and how we report those.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Engineering And Infrastructure██████████████████████████26%
Budget█████████████████████████25%
Transportation Safety████████████12%
Waste Management████████8%
Procedural████████8%
Procurement█████5%
Snow Removal████4%
Public Works████4%
Urban Forestry███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Board of Public Works Meeting - September 24, 2025

The Board of Public Works met on September 24, 2025, at 1:00 PM in the Public Assembly Room of the City-County Building. The meeting included adoption of the agenda and approval of minutes from September 10, 2025, a detailed 2026 budget presentation for the Department of Public Works (DPW), and unanimous approval of street acceptances, bid awards, change orders, services agreements, professional services amendments, and a final acceptance. Board members engaged in extensive discussion on the budget, particularly regarding Vision Zero safety initiatives and funding priorities.

Budget Presentation

  • Margaret Wilson, Assistant CFO, and Sam Barris, CFO, presented the 2026 DPW budget. Total introduced budget is $257 million, with dedicated revenue from gas tax, wheel tax, and user fees. Key points include a $300,000 increase for the ToxDrop program, $10 million in additional COIT funds for transportation capital, and programmatic budgeting for the first time. The budget includes no new FTEs, but attrition savings are used to cover collective bargaining costs.
  • Board members asked detailed questions:
    • Gas tax revenue increase attributed to state rate hikes and higher-than-projected collections.
    • No specific line item for sidewalks, cycling infrastructure, or Vision Zero action plan because the plan is not yet adopted.
    • A board member expressed concern that safety is not prioritized in the budget, stating "the word safety actually isn't in the presentation at all" and challenged the department to allocate funds to implement Vision Zero tasks. The director and CFO responded that safety projects are embedded within capital programs and that the fatal crash review team now has funding.
    • A board member noted the lack of a date for Vision Zero plan adoption, calling the absence of dedicated funding a sign of low priority.
    • Urban forestry budget of $4.7 million includes Keep Indianapolis Beautiful contract and a USDA grant; $6 million in capital plan for strategic land acquisitions through 2029.
    • Fourteen one-ton trucks added to fleet for snow and multi-purpose use.
    • Engineering personnel budget flat due to attrition savings; no new positions but temporary staff added for a USDA grant.
  • Board members requested follow-up information on urban forestry budget breakdown (to be emailed).

Street Acceptances

  • Ashton Section 1A (0.74 miles): Approved unanimously.
  • Ashton Section 1B (0.32 miles): Approved unanimously.

Bid Awards

  • Goodyear Police-Grade Car Tires (RFB-14DPW-1701): Awarded to Gem City Tires, Inc. and Pomp's Tire Service, Inc. for a one-year term at an estimated $250,000. Certified as lowest responsive and responsible bidders. Approved unanimously.
  • Small Structure Rehabilitation at 7790 East Thompson Road (CL-41-034): Awarded to Morphey Construction, Inc. at $340,000 (28.5% over engineer's estimate of $263,913). Only one bid received. Staff recommended acceptance; board approved unanimously.
  • Haverstick Creek Regional Detention Basin (SD-04-068): Awarded to William Charles Construction Co., LLC at $621,000 (47.6% under engineer's estimate of $1,186,119). Lower bid of $447,866 from KennexCo was deemed non-responsive due to lack of active participation in an approved apprenticeship program. Staff noted efforts to educate the contractor for future bids. Approved unanimously.

Change Orders

  • C/O No. 2: Thoroughfare Structural Rehabilitation – Area 1 (ST-22-092): Decrease of $100.68 from Milestone Contractors; new total $2,536,899.32. No date changes. Approved unanimously.
  • C/O No. 2: 7655 Westfield Blvd Culvert Repair (CL-04-078): Increase of $16,809.89 to Olco, Inc.; new total $407,355.14. No date changes. Approved unanimously.
  • C/O No. 1: Lafayette Road over Little Eagle Creek (BR-16-074(C)): Increase of $132,561.32 to Beaty Construction, Inc.; new total $1,673,761.32. Added 2 days to completion. Approved unanimously.

Services Agreements

  • Roll-Off Container Pick-up and Drop-off for Recycle Indianapolis: Awarded to Republic Services of Indiana, L.P. for a 5-year term. Staff noted the program serves many sites, some daily and some less frequently. Approved unanimously.

Professional Services Amendments

  • Amendment No. 1: On-Call Traffic Engineering Services (Fleis & VandenBrink): No cost change; updated subconsultant for environmental study work. Approved unanimously.
  • Amendment No. 6: Government Affairs Services (1816 Public Affairs Group LLC): One-year extension at $72,000. Staff explained the need to protect recent road funding formula changes; board asked about bidding and satisfaction. Approved unanimously.
  • Amendment No. 3: On-Call Stormwater Design and Inspection Services (HNTB Corporation): Increase of $100,000 (new total $700,000) and extension to December 31, 2026. Approved unanimously.

Final Acceptance

  • Small Structure Replacement – 29E Brunswick Ave (CL-39-070): Final contract amount $150,157.88 with E&B Paving, Inc. Approved unanimously.

Key Outcomes

  • All motions carried unanimously. No public testimony was heard.
  • The board directed DPW staff to provide a detailed breakdown of the urban forestry budget via email.
  • Board members strongly urged the department to allocate specific funding for Vision Zero action plan items before the plan is formally adopted, emphasizing the need for immediate safety investments.

Meeting Transcript

Afternoon, I'd like to call it a September 24th Board of Public Works meeting order. I am Todd Wilson, director and chair of the board. Uh extra board members to please introduce themselves, start on my right or my left, sorry. Sabega Jawanza. Hello, Baron. CZ Forty. Idrish Redman. Leslie Schulte. Thank you very much. And also like to introduce our board counsel uh behind me, Ben Moracle and our board coordinator, uh Jennifer Domingas and uh other DPW staff. Our first item on the agenda today is the adoption of the September twenty-fourth, twenty twenty-five agenda. Do I have a motion to adopt the agenda? So moved. So moved by Bob Perrin. Do I have a second? Seconded by Edis Redman. All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. Next item on the agenda is approval of the minutes. Do I have a motion to approve the September tenth minutes? So moved by Leslie Schulte. Do I have a second? Seconded by Susie Courty. All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. Next item on the agenda is our budget presentation. That will be uh presented by Margaret Wilson. Margaret, the floor is yours. Thank you, Director. There we go. Okay, thank you, Director. Um I'm Margaret Wilson, assistant CFO with DPW. Um I will be presenting to the board today our twenty twenty-six budget. Uh we presented this about a month ago to council, so this is just kind of an abridged version for you all today. Um feel free to ask questions at the end. Um, but I'll just kind of hit on the key points uh for uh our budget for 2026. Um DPW has some dedicated revenue sources um that kind of drive our budget. Um our budget must be built around these available revenues. Um the growth within uh these categories is relatively stable. Um we'll see an increase in the gas tax for 2020 uh six budget. Um and then some smaller variances within the other um taxes. We have gas tax, wheel tax, and the user fees of the solid waste and stormwater. Um those are driven by local ordinance. And DPW consistently attempts to supplement these uh the revenue sources with interlocal agreements, grants, and other one-time appropriations. We get into our budget breakdown by fund type. Um the next few slides are a uh uh we can look at it differently for uh with each slide based on um whether it's by fund or um the uh character, and so we've put the next few slides to try to give different views uh so you can see holistically how these numbers all fit together.

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