Rolland White, Chair of the Hot Springs Village Public Services Committee, presented the committee’s bi-annual report on July 20, 2022. After sharing the committee’s areas of responsibility and some of the recent committee tasks. White said the Public Service Department is moving fast right now to help keep the promise made to the community to concentrate on infrastructure maintenance.
Public Service Committee Areas of Responsibility
White said, “The Public Services Committee is a staff committee. The nine major areas the committee works with are:
- Culverts
- Ditches
- Bridges
- Traffic Control Devices
- Signs
- Water Treatment
- Wastewater Treatment
- Solid Waste Collection
- Water and Sewer Line Maintenance
- Building Maintenance
- Fleet Operations
- Dams
Diverse and Expert Committee Members Focus on Various Areas
The committee is comprised of diverse members. Because the type of work the committee advises on requires special licenses, craft skills, or physical labor so the committee does not do much work in the field. Although the committee is fully staffed they encourage applications and the committee makes use of auxiliary members.
Some of the committee tasks are:
- Making field observations
- Doing field studies
- Reviewing operating procedures
- Evaluating proposals for the Public Services Director
- Researching options
- Planning and advising
Public Services Committee Assigned Two Missions
- Work with other committees on erosion control
- Review of the 7-year Operations and Maintenance Table
HSV Public Services Moving Fast Right Now
White said that “things are moving pretty fast right now in the POA and especially in the Public Works Department. In order to support this fast-moving activity, we reorganized our schedule. At Ken’s [Unger] request, we are now meeting twice a month on the 2nd and the 4th Thursdays of each month.” The 2nd Thursday is a discussion. The 4th is the formal public meeting.
One of the purposes of the discussion meeting is to provide a review of the Public Service Director’s proposals that are due to be presented at the next Board Meeting. It is also an opportunity to review ongoing projects and throw out new ideas for consideration. “The discussion can get pretty intense sometimes,” stated White.
The public meeting is more formal, where Board decisions that affect the committee’s mission are reviewed, and the Public Service Department activities are discussed.
The committee plans to use the 4th Thursday of the month meeting to look ahead to next year and start formulating plans and setting up bids and contracts in the fall so that the Public Services Department will begin 2023 with a running start.
Recent Activities of the Public Services Committee
- A committee member with water plant operations expertise and Public Services Director, Ken Unger, visited the water plant. It was apparent to the two that the water plant is understaffed as there are only four licensed operators. They cover 21 shifts, 11 tanks, and 7 booster pumps. We recommended there be a dedicated individual assigned to maintenance tasks. White said, “There is no reason licensed operators should be cutting the grass. They should be operating the plant.” The licensed operators should also not be painting industrial piping.
- There was a preliminary meeting with a vendor that proposed to install electric vehicle charging stations in the Village. There will be more meetings with this vendor and a recommendation will be made.
- Paving and culvert installation operations were reviewed and recommendations were made.
- Completed a preliminary review of a draft of the Road Conditions Spreadsheet.
- Discussion of best practices for regulatory signs. There are over 5,000 signs in HSV and it is a major job keeping them up and determining which signs are needed.
- Undertaking a best practices survey with other outside entities to understand their water and sewer operations.
Has the Board of Directors Kept Promise to the Community to Concentrate on Infrastructure Maintenance?
White said he has added up the totals of all the contracts and purchases which were approved in the recent Board Meetings. Roughly, they add up to over $2 MM. “This is all infrastructure. If we have been wondering whether we are keeping the promise to invest in infrastructure, I’d say, ‘yes we are.’ There is a lot more coming down the line.”
Report by Cheryl Dowden
Before any money is spent on electric car :Charging Stations. How many electric cars are in the Village now and how many residents are planning on buying an electric car in the near future. Who’s going to maintain the electric charging stations? Let’s not add to our infrastructure problems until we’ve caught up on the backlog.
Thanks Rolland White and Cheryl Dowden for reporting. Hopefully, the charging station vendor is responsible for all costs involved including location, installation and maintenance. I can’t imagine the board would be foolish enough to spend money on charging stations when we have critical infrastructure in need of help. Has a study been completed to evaluate the need for charging stations?
Connie Weidert and Greg Hoy, I agree with your comments. That was why I asked my question. Until the numbers of electric vehicles in the village approach at least 25% – 35% (an arbitrary number that seems reasonable to me), I can’t see it being on the priority list. Just my opinion.
The committee was assigned the task of checking out the charging stations. That is all this was, just an investigation. It costs us nothing for the committee to check things out, as we are not using staff time to do so. The POA would be remiss if they did not check things out (especially when they can use the free labor of the committee). At this time, there appears to be no intention of having the charging stations installed. Maybe this will be something needed in the future, I don’t know. I think it really was only being investigated because it appears consumers may be moving to electric vehicles in the future. Thanks – Cheryl Dowden
Aren’t there more pressing issues in the Village than charging stations, such as road repairs, culverts, etc?
How many electric vehicles do we have in the village?