Download May 15, 2015 - Town of Manalapan

Special Town Commission Meeting
Friday May 15, 2015 at 9:30 a.m.
IN ATTENDANCE
COMMISSION
David Cheifetz, Mayor
Tom Thornton, Vice Mayor
Peter Isaac, Mayor Pro Tem
Chauncey Johnstone, Commissioner
Ronald Barsanti, Commissioner
Clark Appleby, Commissioner
Simone Bonutti, Commissioner
TOWN STAFF
√
√
√
X
√
√
√
√
X
√
√
Linda Stumpf, Town Manager
Carmen Mattox, Chief of Police
Lisa S. Petersen, Town Clerk
Keith W. Davis, Town Attorney
PUBLIC: Kersen De Jong (1680 Lands End), Marilyn Hedberg (1500 Lands End), Howard
Roder (95 Curlew), Michael Gottlieb (45 Curlew), Alan Gerwig, Lisa Tropepe and Bart Smith
TOWN COMMISSION MEETING
CALL TO ORDER & PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Mayor Cheifetz called the Special Town Commission meeting to order at 9:30 a.m.
REGULAR AGENDA:
Discussion of the Value Engineering of the Audubon Bridge Construction Project:
Mayor Pro Tem Isaac addressed the Commission. The Audubon Bridge Task Force met with Mr.
Gerwig and Ms. Tropepe on Tuesday May 12th. He explained that the current bridge was built in
1957 and in 1999 the Town replaced the wing walls at the four corners. The wing walls are in
good shape and are only 15 years old. According to Mr. Gerwig they should last until at least
2040. Bridge Design has designed the new bridge with all new wing walls. The bridge is
estimated to cost $992,000, if the current wing walls are used then there could be a savings of
$150,000 to $160,000. The walls may or may not need shoring up. The other benefit of using the
existing walls is that there would be 32-36 less piles driven and this would save at least a couple
of months off the schedule and would be less noise and vibration for the residents. The only
question is do the walls need strengthening and at what cost.
Mayor Pro Tem Isaac explained that the Town had already saved $122,000 by not running the
water line all the way from Lands End Road to Spoonbill Road. There is a proposal to only
replace the water line at the bridge itself which saves the Town $40,000 to $50,000. The
Commission received a letter from Mock, Roos advised them to at least replace the asbestoscement pipe west of the bridge and the cast iron section at the bridge.
Mr. Gerwig stated they did have the plans for the wing wall construction however they did not
have the as-builts for the project. They did bring in a geo-technical engineer to evaluate the wing
TCOM Minutes 05-15-15
Page 1
walls for stability. Results of their analyses show that the existing wall does not have the capacity
to resist the design load cases that would be required by the current design specifications. The
strengthening will likely result in a cost savings compared with the full replacement. The most
effective cost saving would have to be arrived at with the engineer of record. They are not able to
estimate the savings at this time. Once reinforced, the wall will have a lesser service life than the
new bridge by at least 15 years.
Changes to the wall will not require any new permits. However, they will need more time to
arrive at the cost for strengthening the wing walls. They estimate they need several weeks. Mr.
Gerwig said there was a third option and that was to do nothing and see how the walls held up
during the construction phase. Town Attorney Davis noted that the engineer of record would
have to agree to any changes to the current design of the bridge.
Mayor Cheifetz explained that the Commission was now tasked with directing Mr. Gerwig and
Ms. Tropepe on how to proceed. There are three options available, do nothing and leave design
as is, strengthen the wing walls or replace the wing walls according to the current plan. Mr.
Gerwig suggested the first option should be to work with the engineer of record and see if he
would agree to the strengthening and at what cost. Ms. Tropepe was concerned that the
methodology the engineer of record would use may cost more than the replacement of the wing
walls. Mayor Cheifetz asked the Commissioners for their opinion, after discussion the decision
was made to see if the engineer of record could attach the existing wing walls to the new bridge
design, if not then they would fall back to the original design.
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
Mr. De Jong was concerned with the difference between a strengthened wall and the new walls
which would have the same life as the new walls and asked the Commission to move forward
with the current design. He was also concerned with asbestos pipe.
Ms. Hedberg is worried about structural damage to her home and pool from the pile driving. So
she suggested the options whereby less piles are used.
Mr. Gottlieb asked about the contractor, and he was told that the Town has signed a contract with
Drawdy.
Mayor Cheifetz stated that direction is given to the engineers to work with the engineering firm to
see if there is a way to connect the existing wing walls to the new bridge. Mr. Gerwig and Ms.
Tropepe were asked to present their findings at the May 26th meeting.
Mr. Roder was concerned that pipes underneath the bridge are in rough condition.
DISCUSSION OF WATER LINE:
Ms. Tropepe discussed the original option to replace the water line from Lands End Road to
Spoonbill. From a Value Engineering standpoint they worked with Johnson Davis to develop an
alternative. There is some asbestos cement pipe and cast iron pipe. The alternative is to replace
the waterline at the bridge only since this is primarily a bridge project not a water department
project. The estimated cost savings range from $45,500 to $50,500. Town Manager Stumpf
explained this was funded by the utility. The Commission by consensus agreed to only replace
the water line at the bridge.
2
TCOM Minutes 05-15-15
The meeting was adjourned at 10:33 p.m.
These minutes were presented to the Town Commission
on Tuesday May 26, 2015 for approval.
_________________________
David S. Cheifetz, Mayor
_________________________
Date Signed
_________________________
Lisa S. Petersen, Town Clerk
_________________________
Date Signed
3
TCOM Minutes 05-15-15