Number
251586
Version
ORIGINAL
Reference
Sponsor
THE CHAIR
Title
Resolution authorizing the Department of Public Works to accept a gift from the Daniel Hoan Foundation to fund a Route Reports roadway condition monitoring pilot.
Analysis
This resolution authorizes the Department of Public Works to accept a gift in the amount of $26,265 from the Daniel Hoan Foundation to fund a one-year pilot in the Street Maintenance Division using Route Reports vehicle-mounted cameras and image-processing technology to identify and prioritize roadway defects, including potholes. The pilot will equip two supervisor vehicles and is intended to improve defect location accuracy, support repair prioritization and routing, and expand condition data collection to alleys and other right-of-way assets.
Body
Whereas, Section 304-24 of the City of Milwaukee Code of Ordinances regulates the receipt, appropriation, and expenditure of contributions received by the City; and
Whereas, The Daniel Hoan Foundation (the “Foundation”) wishes to support overall innovation in the City of Milwaukee; and
Whereas, With this aim in mind, the Foundation desires to support efforts to improve roadway conditions in the City of Milwaukee by providing funds to the Department of Public Works (DPW); and
Whereas, DPW’s Street Maintenance Division proposes to conduct a one-year pilot project utilizing Route Reports technology, consisting of vehicle-installed camera and image-processing systems that wirelessly transmit still images to a cloud-based platform where proprietary algorithms identify and flag suspected roadway defects; and
Whereas, The pilot is consistent with a recent co-winning submission of an Milwaukee Innovation Contest hosted by the Foundation; and
Whereas, The pilot will equip two DPW supervisor vehicles and is expected to yield benefits including: (1) semi-automated identification of potholes and other roadway defects with minimal staff collection effort; (2) significantly improved location accuracy compared to parcel-tied resident reports; (3) automated estimation of defect area and depth, with supporting imagery, to prioritize severe issues; (4) more efficient grouping of repairs and routing of patching crews through linear data collection; (5) collection of condition data and imagery for alleys; and (6) the foundation for future detection of other right-of-way assets such as signage, delineators, and pavement markings; and
Whereas, The Foundation desires to donate $26,265 to the City to fully fund the first year of this two-vehicle pilot; and
Whereas, DPW shall use the donated funds solely for the Route Reports pilot described herein, including any related equipment, software, subscription, installation, training, and services necessary to implement and evaluate the pilot; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, By the Common Council of the City of Milwaukee, that the Commissioner of Public Works is authorized to accept a gift in the amount of $26,265 from the Daniel Hoan Foundation to fund a Route Reports roadway condition monitoring pilot in the Street Maintenance Division; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the proper City officials are directed to execute an agreement between the City of Milwaukee and the Daniel Hoan Foundation for the donation of funds for the Route Reports pilot, and to execute any documents necessary to carry out the intent of this resolution, all subject to approval as to form by the City Attorney; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Department of Public Works shall use all donated funds from the Daniel Hoan Foundation for the purposes of implementing and evaluating the Route Reports pilot as described herein; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Common Council expresses its sincere appreciation to the Daniel Hoan Foundation for this generous gift.
Requestor
Department of Administration
Drafter
Jim Bohl
1/8/2026