 Welcome to Sheboygan County government working for you. My name is Adam Payne County Administrator and co-host of this program with chairman Tom Wagner And every month we strive to bring a new department head to our meeting someone who can tell you about the roles and responsibilities of their department what's happening in this month Greg Schnell our transportation directors with us Greg it's always a pleasure. Thanks for having me. How you been? Excellent. It's good to have you here Why don't you begin by sharing a little bit about when you became transportation director? Your history a little background about yourself that working in transportation and then we'll get into your the dynamics of your department. All right I started in transportation 29 years ago I started working for Manitoba County when I was 18 years old ran equipment plowed snow Worked everything from asphalt plant crushing operations. So I had a little background just about everything a highway operation did Because of my want to lead and expand they recognize that and I've I've taken on some superintendents and foreman roles throughout my years And then when this position opened up back in October of 2006 and I was hired here I was fortunate to be here and I'm here for 12 years and I enjoy every minute of it We have a full soup-to-nuts operation where we can build our own roads see progress happening. It's a great place to be in work Did he just say he enjoys every minute? Yeah, I think he said that yes, he did Greg you do such good work, but I know there are minutes in the day that aren't so enjoyable you deal with a lot of challenges whether it's Your own staff in the winter may be hitting a mailbox or two and you getting the call or Construction underway that isn't going as timely as you would Without question you have been a tremendous leader So outstanding background got a lot of experience you've worked your way up through the ranks and recently as you know the County board supported building a new Transportation complex set the stage for us a little bit. When did you have your open house? And and why is this new transportation complex so important to your operations? We had an open house back in June of June 15th, and it was well well attended. There was about 750 people that came through. It was a great day. It was very hot, but everybody seemed to enjoy what they came to see The facility is is working out well for us We had close three built one. So from the efficiency standpoint, I think we've gained a lot As some of the key efficiencies that I see we dispatch about 22 trucks per day out of our out of that facility You know as as we all do we have vehicles at home that from time to time We'll have a flat tire in the morning when you want to get started or they don't start well Few short years ago We used to come and have to send somebody out of our facility down in Sheboygan to send them out to where the trucks were Dispatch runs we lost time now when we have those types of issues They can take the truck to repair a truck drive to the other side of the facility pump up the tire Change the tire start the truck and now we've just gained ourselves a half hour or an hour or even more than that To get that truck back on the road. That's just one small example of the things that we are going to see Just having this facility centrally located We have three other facilities located throughout the county one down in Cascade one in the south side of Sheboygan one on our Side of Sheboygan this facility centrally located and they are no longer traveling all the way to the east part of The county in order to get their trucks fixed so that that's going to pay dividends well into the future and in addition to now having four facilities Across the county the new transportation complex is also pretty close to some other resources including a gravel pit or two And you're sharing resources with Rocky Knoll Health Care Center. That's right Just the gravel pit alone was an excellent resource in building the foundation for our new facility There were some areas in that field and it was an egg field to start with with some locations that Had some not so suitable soil to build on tops. We took that out So there's areas where we'd brought in 15 feet of fill We were running in maybe two to three hundred loads of material a day to build that foundation To get that as level as it is today. So that saved us a considerable amount of money. We did what our staff We did our equipment As you mentioned Rocky Knolls right up the road great resource for us We didn't have to put in high capacity wells because we're taking water from their Their water tower which has more capacity in it than what they will ever need It's in fact that's got more capacity in the village wall. Oh, so it's when you look at it from a capacity standpoint With us jumping on and using their water that helps purify their water as well more usage obviously gets that water to flow We're also connected to their sewer that runs down State Highway 67 into the city of Plymouth where it's treated. So we have a They an agreement with the city as well as Rocky Knoll to treat our Our sewage and we're getting charged through those areas with the city as well as through Rocky Knolls So it's been a great cooperation collaborative matter Along with that collaboration Rocky Knolls supplying us with cleaners. They come and clean our facility They take care of the administration in the training room that type of stuff So it's it's really been great. I think it's gonna be a great collaborative effort It's gonna pay a ton of different dividends as well. Nice team work all around tremendous accomplishment and a tremendous resource for the community for Decades to come so you set the stage a little bit and I think most people are probably well aware of this new facility She said we had a tremendous open house back in June and it's helping make good things happen But it supports an outstanding workforce. What is your total transportation department budget? We're budget at about 18 million a little bit better than 18 million dollars that includes the The transportation budget as well. So I operate from two different budgets and we'll get into that a little bit later We do have 95 employees currently And our proposed 2019 budget We're gonna be asking for one more individual to help us take care of this new $23 million facility in order to maintain that to make sure that we know that it's gonna last for decades to come That person will also serve as a backup to our stock room which supports 14,000 parts in about a half a million dollars worth of inventory So we want to make sure that we have the right people trained in the right place when they're doing that you brought the overall project in under budget on time kickoff as you said last June We've now been operating the facility for a few months any outstanding issues anything left to be done and then I'll turn it over Tom we have some landscaping to do as you'll see there are some areas of grass that need to be planted One we we don't have a lot of time to do it ourselves and to a lot of the contractors are busy as well and planting in the middle of The summer is probably not the best. So we're gonna do that this fall. That'll be taken care of we're gonna be planting some arbor varieties along the west side of our property in order to Provide a little protection if you will for our neighbors We want to be a good neighbor in in the middle of the night or three o'clock in the morning when the trucks are out They're beeping around loading up with salt. We want to make sure that they're comfortable where they are We've had a couple conversations about that. So there's a few things that have to happen yet Pretty much everything's minor though and in very good working conditions. Thanks Greg Greg glad to have you here. Thanks. Speaking of accomplishments. I know there's a lot of work getting done in the county Could you tell us a little bit about what the county is doing in the state for that matter relative to roads? Sure? We'll start with the state. I've gotten a fair amount of phone calls about the state highway 23 paving project west of Plymouth Some people didn't like the delays some were saying that they sat in traffic for an hour that was tested And it wasn't quite an hour, but I'm sure it felt that way when you're in a line of 20 So that was going on this summer. That's just a band-aid in order to catch get us to the next step when Highway 23 gets built and that's remains to be seen yet state highway 28 was Advanced it was supposed to first happen last year and that's where some of the confusion We got a few phone calls on this as well as many people are aware we're working on state our county trunk highway Pp going into Kohler and just like that the state decided that they wanted to do with the paving on 28 So there was a lot of activity happening in one area so Some people writers want some feedback but that that project was advanced As well from because they had a couple extra dollars to spend on that the states also has I 43 going where they're putting a Cable down the center to protect cars from going across the lanes and smashing head on into the oncoming vehicle So they have a lot of work going on here in the county from our standpoint We have a lot of work going as well We have we're gonna hit our 30 miles of paving which was promised during the the proposal for the sales tax We're rebuilding Close to two miles this as I mentioned earlier about county trunk pp going into Kohler where we've taken out the four lanes Reduced it down to two lanes installed two roundabouts. So it's a it's a tremendously big project that cost about three and a half million dollars by the time It's done We also have the county trunk ff bridge that's gonna start reconstruction September 10th. That'll be done by the end of October We perform 15 miles of seal coating this summer Amongst all the rest of our maintenance that we do and then we oversee the state or the county bridges or the town bridges I'm sorry for construction as well so we have currently three of those that are in progress that we attend meetings two weekly and and Just provide feedback because we are the sponsor for the township or where the where the liaison for the township in the state As Greg said he got a lot of questions on highway 23 and sometimes I don't think the public appreciates Who's doing what work? I mean at the end of the day, they just want the roads fixed Safe, but who was doing the work on the state highways who's doing the work? Obviously, we're on the county roads and then the towns can generally be us or can be private sector sure How do folks recognize who they should call if they have a concern or question? You're the go-to but who for example on 23 was doing the work. That was a contractor that the state contracted They let that project. I believe it was Northeast asphalt that had done it. So The state tries to put out an informational Memo if you will to provide that contact typically it'll go through them But anything that's related to highways when people are looking for somebody to talk to They're gonna look to the county highway department, which will help anybody Guide them in the right direction. Sometimes it is us, you know and and because there is Different facets on the state highway. We do all their maintenance work We take care of the planet or snow the cutting of their grass the straightening of the signs that type of thing We also do some minor improvements not improvements, but maintenance projects when there comes to some paving Maybe some short stretches of patches that need to be done So there could be some confusion typically we're engaged with the orange trucks that will set us apart from the others We may be engaged, but it may not be our road, right? Correct. I mean sometimes I know I get people ask me questions We might be doing work right for example out in a town on a town road the town decided to do that and They simply contracted with us to do the work. That's correct. Yep So we we act as I hate to say it this way, but big brother. I mean obviously Austin the towns have the same Needs wants if you will they have roads to maintain shoulders to maintain They rely on our services quite a bit out of the 15 townships. We take care of 11 of them So that's around 465 miles a row that we are also responsible over and above our 450 so from time to time they'll call us ask for advice and then they'll say just take care of the work as well They have the opportunity to go to the outside But if it's something that we can perform typically they rather come with us because we do provide cheaper materials And they know that they with the county they want to support the people that plow their snow and take care of their maintenance as well All right, that's in you kind of answered it but a little bit with speaking of the towns I know we do a lot of work for them you want to talk a little bit You kind of did a little bit how that process exactly works how we do the work for them Sure, we just also with the bridges first because a lot of those are federally funded so When we do their bridge inspections and we come up with some issues and the bridge falls below a certain sufficiency rating and that's a balance of different numbers and it's dumped into a formula once that formula drops below 50 then we can apply for Federal and state funding for that with the township I Typically take the lead for the township in order to make the application So because if we're responsible for the maintenance of that or taking over for it We'll help them through that process because it is kind of onerous. So we help them Go through the bridge petition for the bridge aid the county helps with that as well And and we just continue to move forward it takes about three to four years to get that process done through construction For their other road work, they will call us and with our contracts that we have with the 11 We know that we're going to be cutting their grass plowing their snow and doing all those things When it comes to their road paving we'll provide suggestions They may have a ordinance that says they have to go out to bid they'll bid the project We also supply of a quote ours is not a bid because we don't bid hard numbers Ours is actual cost at the end of the day But we will provide them with what we think that the cost of that project will be and they may award it to us And they may award it to a private contractor as well But that's kind of how it goes through the process and I personally know there's a good relationship with the towns I spoke to the town's association last winter and You know they said only positive things about the cooperation they get from from your department We're fortunate to have the progressive townships that we do we we do have an excellent relationship and that This doesn't come with me that comes with my staff that live in these townships They're talking to the town boards. They're talking to the chairman and my predecessors Well, I had a good relationship and I wanted to continue that to go That's that to me is is is part of our lifeline to survive in order to make sure that We're utilizing our equipment to its fullest because when the wheels are turning, obviously That's good for the equipment to keep on rolling even though you have to replace it It's still you want to make sure you're getting the most out of your investment Yeah, and frankly as a representative of the taxpayers, that's exactly what they're looking for because that makes things more efficient From both the town's point of view and from the county standpoint And that's what people want without a doubt You want to talk about a little bit about the half percent sales tax and how it's affected your department? Sure. We uh, it's affected us a lot and it has applied a little bit more pressure Um, it wasn't too long back. You wouldn't have to look back in our logs too much That we were paving maybe eight to 12 to 15 miles per year and some of that had to do with oil prices Some of it had to do with timing or other construction projects with the addition of the haveson sales tax and and the program the paving program that You as the county board leaders wanted to get out there and we wanted to maintain our 450 miles of road We have to pave 30 miles a year in order to keep up with that and that is our goal as we will continue to strive for Now as we go through this, um, we're going to make better improvements to make some longevity So if we can when we pulverize a road, we know that's going to last longer than 15 years We might get 20 22 25 years out of that pulverized road versus the 15 of an overlay So we may run into a time when we can't overlay as many miles because we have to do the pulverize Those are more expensive projects. You know, it goes from 125 to 250 when you're going to pulverize But again, you're going to gain some time on the longevity. So there's um, it has added a lot of um Well, sometimes angst to the operation to get it all done But uh, we're making the best of it and we will hit our 30 miles again for 2018 Okay, and you want to tell the difference between road maintenance and, um, improvements Sure now maintenance project would be, uh, you know similar to an overlay where you And I'd like to quantify that years ago We spent more time doing like an inch and a half overlay of asphalt an inch and a half We all know that isn't very much and it's going to show it's where a lot sooner So we increase that to like two and a half inches and we level up the road first and then put the two Inches over the top. It just makes a better job. It adds to our tonnage But we're getting more longevity out of that as well and it's not showing it's where it's not showing The cracking is fast when we go to a an improvement project We're going to pulverize up that road or rebuild completely So we're going to recreate new ditches put in new drainage sections and input five inches of new asphalt on depending upon The load that that road is going to be put under if there's large egg traffic Semi traffic that type of stuff that will increase the thickness of our roads So once we get to that point and make those decisions that's becomes more of a of an improvement because we're improving that structure We're improving everything from ground up. Um, so the maintenance more of a seal court protect your surface That's already there and get some longevity of it That's the that's that's the difference that we look at the size project and and how much asphalt is going down and sometimes I know sometimes the road was built And this was a type of traffic it had on and then all of a sudden the traffic changes dramatically because maybe some Um factory or something developed down the road or something else that really changed the type of uh traffic That's on that particular piece of road. Yep, and that takes away from its longevity a little bit You know if that development happens and it happens early on in that pavement's career It's going to show us where a lot earlier wear out faster So then we have to make different decisions, you know, we base most of our road work on On a pager system that we use so we have to go and rate our roads Annually to see what they are we rate them from a zero to a 10 10 being the best zero being obviously not so good Um, so that's how we we manage our schedule manage our road pavements trying to take out some of those ones that are so bad But you can't forget about the middle ones that you could give by with a lesser improvement So sometimes somebody will say well, why are you working on that road by roads worse while we're trying to protect it a little bit in the interim So it doesn't turn out to be the bottom. So there's People will provide different opinions on how their road looks versus somebody else's in front of their homes Yeah, they don't last forever as we know that's correct even when you're talking about 15 22 years All of a sudden that 15 years is there. You thought well, they just did that road Well, no it was 17 18 years ago that they were working on that road. I know that's the case It's really no different than your home if you don't take care of your roof You're not going to protect the contents underneath it and that's the we've always looked at I look at it from a top down approach if we take care of the pavements do the crack feeling do the maintenance Pull up the shoulders so the water can get away Water's one of our worst enemies if we're not stopping that from getting into the road base We're going to see earlier failure than what we showed and we have a lot of industry in Sheboygan county And I know they were supportive of the half percent sales tax because they're using those roads I mean their big semis are going out all the time from all the different Rather large factories that we have and and they depend on that to get their product to their There's a lot of statistics that they're centered around the more investment you put into the road The more you're going to get back out of them And you're going to have people looking at you to develop in this area because you are proactive in order to keep Keep up with your infrastructure. I think we see that thanks Greg Adam I can remember Tom one of the more effective pieces of information we shared during the discussion was Greg what you shared with the finance director myself that In order to do just one mile of overlay. It was about 125,000 If you let that deteriorate to such a point where you need to Halivarize and then pave it. It's two hundred and fifty thousand dollars If you further let that deteriorate and you have to rebuild that entire same one mile of road It's 1.2 million. So if we stay on top of this, we are now thanks to the sales tax revenue doing a minimum of 30 miles a year We're going to be spending a lot more closer to one 125,000 dollars per mile versus 1.2 million per mile. It's simple math and fortunately our community really got behind it And that's why one of the reasons why the by the county board continues to Push the state and to making sure that we're fixing our state highways because if we continue to let these deteriorate as Taxpayers we are going to be spending so much more to bring our infrastructure back up to where it should be So good work Greg and and thank you county board for being proactive and supporting a significant investment It was a huge boon to our transportation department. Yep, and along with that If we may feel mentioned that we we are sharing a part of that with the townships And that also does come back to our our department to to do more paving for them and do their Bridgework, I've never seen as much bridge work happening as I in any other county has what's going on in our townships right now so That sharing of that is going to extend their road life as well And I I certainly hear from different the village presidents the town board chairs and And the mayors and they are very appreciative of that because it does help them Deal with their road situation Well the transition here We've had a wonderful summer and there's still a lot of work being done, but it won't be long And your guys are going to be Transitioning from summer construction to winter operations Please give our viewers a flavor for what's all involved. How does that transition happen? It already started it started about the end of july We started taking our first orders of salt to be prepared for this winter So we're taking all of our state salt and some of the state side We we operate out of two separate sides of a salt shed the state has one side And the county has the other and some of the state was getting down pretty low last year that we thought we may have Had to borrow some from the county in order to make it through so we're getting all those filled now So that by the time the winter does hit us We're you know, we have all the resources we need from the from the material standpoint our salt price is looking right now It's it's up. It's about 75 bucks a ton. We're used to the net 65 to 70 range It fluctuates from year to year depending upon the season If we were up in vilas county, it would be 95 dollars a ton. So it's uh, it's all over the board So when we transition now, this is it's always a critical time of the year for us because the same trucks that are Howing to asphalt and the gravel have to be transformed into a snow plow with a underbody blade that type of thing So with the amount of construction that we have left this year We're going to be right up to the wire for snow. So we're hoping it doesn't snow until about march