Hilltops Council Works & Technical Services

Newsletter

Issue 3; July Edition

JULY 2016

GENERAL NEWS

With July being a cloudy and dreary month, the Hilltops Administration Centres were brightened up by fresh new signage installed at the Harden, Boorowa and Young reception areas. The Hilltops brand mark is prominently displayed below at the Harden office.

July also saw Council’s Administrator Wendy Tuckerman and General Manager Anthony McMahon travelling around the region for fifteen community forums. These meetings gave the towns and villages an opportunity to ask questions about the Stronger Community Fund and the transition process to date. The forums were extremely well attended. Stronger Community Grant applications close on 19 August after which a panel will assess the applications.

BOOROWA SWIMMING POOL AMENITIES REDEVELOPMENT

The redevelopment of the Boorowa Memorial Pool Amenities building is well underway with the demolition phase in full swing. This phase includes asbestos removal and will ensure a safer and more environmentally friendly facility going into the future.

YOUNG WALKING COMMUNITIES

The ‘Pedestrian Access and Mobility Plan’ for the Young area is strategically targeting improved pedestrian facilities in high volume pedestrian use areas such as medical precincts and schools and the Young central business precinct. Works have started on:

• Improved pedestrian safety at the Boorowa Street Thornhill Street roundabout by upgrading existing median islands to pedestrian refuge standards and restricting access to cross the road away for the refuge

• Improved pedestrian safety between the Young Hospital and the Allanan Street public carpark by reducing the road width that needs to be crossed and providing a lower speed environment for traffic

• Improved access across Lovell Street at Main Street by adjusting the previously constructed median islands to allow for improved pedestrian use

• A new shared pathway link between Keith Cullen Oval and Young via Whiteman and Park Avenue. This link joins the Burrangong Creek shared pathway to Young at its eastern end.

HARDEN ALBURY STREET FOOTPATH REPLACEMENT

The footpath replacement program has continued in Albury Street despite the bad weather.

HARDEN PLANT & FLEET SERVICING

Harden has a dedicated crew that includes Shane Thomas and Robbie Williams to ensure plant and fleet are well serviced. Below, the crew is pictured with the bitumen sprayer.

PARKS, SPORTSFIELDS & GARDENS

YOUNG SPORTSFIELDS The sporting fields in Young have required a lot of effort from Council crews to bring up to standard after each weekends use. The crews will be seen rolling, filling divots, attempting to repair wet and damaged areas and generally working hard to provide the best standard of playing surface possible during such a wet winter.

HARDEN SKATE PARK

Landscaping will be occurring at the Harden Skate Park now that Precision Skateparks were able to complete final pours after weeks of weather delays. An official opening will be planned in the near future.

VEGETATION MAINTENANCE

With spring fast approaching, Council Parks and Gardens staff have been busy ensuring that mowing and vegetation control is kept up to ensure the towns and villages are kept tidy and well maintained.

LOCAL, REGIONAL & STATE ROADS

HARDEN MAINTENANCE GRADING - ARALUEN ROAD

A Harden crew has done maintenance grading on the Araluen Road, the service road that leads out to the Harden Sewage Treatment Works. Staff is prioritising roads and doing their best to ensure that any fine weather is taken advantage of to rectify the increasing amount of road network issues due to recent heavy rainfall.

YOUNG REGIONAL ROADS PROGRAM

Works to widen the road shoulders of 25km of the Milvale Road are nearing completion with the central pavement heavy patching works underway. The $2.2M project works are funded through the Federal ‘Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity’ program and the NSW State ‘Fixing Country Roads program; with a Council contribution of $300,000. The primer seal to the heavy patch areas will be applied as soon as the weather allows and the final seal to the full road width will be carried out during the 2016/17 bitumen resealing program.

The final seal has been applied to the 6km section of the Murringo Road where shoulder widening was completed in 2015. This provides a much improved section of road access to Young from Boorowa.

YOUNG ROADS MAINTENANCE

The condition of sealed and gravel roads across the Hilltops Council Local Government Area are deteriorating with the challenging weather conditions. Heavy vehicle traffic continues regardless of the weather and the soaked road subgrades are prone to rapid failure in these conditions. Repair works cannot be scheduled until there are more favourable weather conditions Council staff are identifying the sealed road heavy patching and shoulder grading program (in preparation for the 2016/17 and 2017/18 bitumen reseal program) with the pavement area requiring this treatment growing daily. The challenging weather conditions have highlighted the important role that Council provides in emergency response with the month of July generating many after- hours call outs, night works, assistance to emergency services and utility authorities for;

Ø Trees blocking roads Ø Tree fallen on car Ø Traffic control for power lines Ø Water over roads Ø Car accidents

BOOROWA ROAD NETWORK ISSUES

Conditions of the unsealed road network in the Boorowa area has worsened over the recent weeks with heavy rainfall and flooding across many roads causing ruts and potholes. Council requests that motorists drive to the road conditions and assure residents that maintenance grading will occur across the network in line with Council’s maintenance schedule. Roads continue to be inspected and works prioritised as the weather fines up.

YOUNG ROADS TO RECOVERY

Works have been completed on the second stage of the Young area Roads to Recovery funded Chillingworks Road upgrade. The works involved:

• Drainage works to widen and replace culverts; • Widening the road formation by earthworks and excavating substandard road shoulder material using a profiler; • Modifying the shoulder pavement to 200mm depth using a slag / cement product and any central pavement

heavy patching areas; • Compacting and trimming; • Primer seal to the shoulder area and final seal to the full width.

The modification of the pavement material is completed but delays are occurring due to consistent wet weather.

YOUNG - URBAN ROADS PAVEMENT RECONSTRUCTION

The $2.7M project to reconstruct heavy vehicle routes through the centre of Young with asphaltic concrete pavements is nearing completion. Sections of the roads used by heavy vehicles on Lovell Street, Thornhill Street, Cloete Street, Main Street and Zouch Streets have been reconstructed by;

• Excavating the existing failed pavement areas to a depth of 240mm using a road profiler loading into trucks • Replacing the excavated pavement with 240mm deep asphaltic concrete

The roadworks have been funded through a combination of the NSW State Government Local Infrastructure Renewal Scheme (LIRS) funding ($2.4M) and Federal Roads to Recovery grants ($300,000). The LIRS scheme provides Council with an interest rate subsidy for fixed term loan funding to accelerate the delivery of infrastructure renewal projects.

To minimise delays and inconvenience to business and residents the works were carried out at night. Works remaining to be completed are the bitumen seal on the road shoulders in Cloete Street and Zouch Street and line marking

YOUNG – RURAL ROADS

The closure of the timber bridge on Bribbaree Road over Burrangong Creek has resulted in a constraint to Restricted Access Vehicles using Bribbaree Road (B double access).

Increased freight productivity will result from the removal of the constraint to gazettal of the B double route and the subsequent move from six axle articulated vehicles to B double vehicles for both delivering harvest from the area to Maimuru silo and deliveries from on farm storage to Port Kembla. The bridge replacement is funded through the Federal Bridge Renewal program and the NSW State Fixing Country Roads program and the project budget is $1.1M. The timber bridge has been demolished and the contractor is making progress with the foundations for the new reinforced concrete structure.

WATER & SEWER

BOOROWA SEWER PUMP STATION LID RENEWAL

The lid renewal project has reached completion with the new jib and winch installed at Sewerage Pump Stations 2, 3 and 4. These work, health and safety improvements were completed by Xylem contractors and will provide safer and more efficient access for the Water and Sewer Team.

BOOROWA CAMPBELL STREET SEWER PUMP STATION UPGRADE

Although the weather has continued to push timeframes on the new pump station, the prefabricated pump station components have been delivered. Campbell Street was a hub of activity with Blayney Cranes unloading and placing the components.

Boorowa Weir

After months of water shortages, the Boorowa Weir has seen a rapid increase in supply due to the recent wet weather. The photo below is a welcome site for a town that has endured long months of water restrictions. However, as residents are well aware, water security is still a major issue for Boorowa and Council urges residents to remain vigilant in regards to consumption.

Safety improvements have also been made to the weir this month, with new security fencing restricting access to the weir wall.

WASTE

Boorowa Waste Transfer Station

As part of the NSW Government’s ‘Waste Less, Recycle More’ Strategy, the pit in the existing landfill site at Boorowa is to be closed in mid-2017, and will be replaced by a new Waste Transfer Station. Council is in the early stages of planning for this closure and has recently met with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to review the environmental requirements for this to occur. A Request for Tender is currently being sought from specialist consultants to support the closure of the landfill site. Once these requirements have been met, Council will request tenders for the design and construction of the new Waste Transfer Station. This new facility will allow for general waste material that would normally be disposed of in landfill, to be compacted into smaller volumes for haulage to the regional designated landfill site at Bald Hill. Further information will be made available via the Hilltops Council Boorowa Administration Office. Council will also provide further information and updates to the community over the coming months.

Household Chemical CleanOut Event

What can you take to a Household Chemical CleanOut event?

Household quantities (maximum of 20 litres or 20kg of a single item) of the following chemicals and items will be accepted on the day:

• Solvents and household cleaners • floor care products • Ammonia based cleaners • Pesticides and Herbicides • Poisons • Pool Chemicals • Hobby Chemicals • Acids and alkalis • Motor fuels • Fluorescent globes and tubes • Smoke detectors, • Paint and paint related products • Gas bottles • Fire extinguishers • Car and household batteries,

Business related and commercial quantities of chemicals are not accepted.