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10.e PW - Staff Report Staff Report Date of Meeting: 9/19/2023 For: Honorable Mayor and Council From: Charles Fischer – Director of Public Works Subject: PW - Staff Report Roads/ROW Public Works began training our new employee on ROW mowing during the last week in August in preparation for the two-pass mowing which is allowed to begin September 1st each year. Since the beginning of the two- pass mowing on September 1st, staff have completed a majority of the NE area of the City, which is north of HWY 97 and West of Olinda Trail. The City is divided into three sections during the ROW mowing process and each sections takes on average three weeks to complete. The slow process for completing the two-pass mowing is due to the excessive growth within the second pass. Almost a full year of growth is allowed to grow in this second pass as Public Works is unable to mow this area in the Spring and Summer, slowing the mowing down to around 1 mph. Although mowing at such a slow speed excessive wear is caused on the mowing equipment. The excessive wear generates additional down time of the equipment, additional staff time for equipment maintenance and additional costs for replacement and maintenance of parts. The second pass of mowing is required to remove vegetative growth and unwanted woody material within the basin of the ditch, allowing surface water to flow and not become stagnant water holding areas. Fallen tree removals have continued although we have had no significant storms. Trees which have grown at angles over the roadway continue to fall due to the growth habit caused by trees reaching for sunlight over the roadway. As the trees continue to reach for sunlight, excessive growth on a single side of the tree is produced and generates an unstable growth habit pulling the tree down as it grows. Most of the trees which fall have come from sections of prescriptive ROW, which is a majority over dedicated ROW within the City. Areas of dedicated ROW experience less impact of fallen trees as Public Works is able to trim or remove trees more readily than prescriptive ROW areas. Parks Playground Project: The project is near full completion as only seeding of the maintenance access, for watering purposes, on the east side is yet to be completed and two grill installations to complement the picnic area. Pubic Works is also considering options for installation of larger caliper shade trees on the west side of the playground. Hockey Rink Boards: Arena Warehouse has updated Public Works that the boards which will be used for our rink are scheduled to be shipped to Minnesota by October 11th. The rink glass will be delivered straight to Scandia where they will be stored in Cold Storage until the boards are installed. The board system will be sent directly to Arena Warehouse where the new fiberglass panels will be installed. Upon completion of inserting the new panels the finished board sections will be installed. Sewer Public Works has continued discussions with vendors on the possibility to install meters at each residence lift station to better monitor total influent of the system and to use as a means to charge residents connected to the system, based on usage. Discussion with the Wastewater and CIP committee will continue when there is a better understanding of the costs associated to such and installation. No further development has happened as we are still learning the capability of certain meters and if they will fit our requirements. Yearly septic tank pumping starting on August 31st, which included five resident tanks in the Anderson Erickson system, three settling tanks in the Bliss drain field, and all of the settling and lift tanks around the Community Center. Yearly pumping is based on amount of sludge and scum built up within the settling tank. Not all tanks are pumped on a yearly basis within each of our systems. Yearly pumping of a settling tank can hinder the digestive process within a settling tank and force unwanted materials in the wastewater to the drain fields. ReLeaf Grant – DNR The Washington Conservation District(WCD) is working to apply for a grant through the DNR’s, ReLeaf Community Forestry Grants Program. The program is geared toward assisting communities with populations under 20,000. WCD’s goal is to gather as many communities, under 20,000 in population, together and apply for the grant as a whole in lieu of each community applying individually for the grant. The WCD will apply for the grant, oversee the implementation of the tree inventory, develop a tree management plan in coordination with City staff, and provide removal and replacement strategy for EAB infested trees. Within the grant there is funding assistance for removal and replacement of EAB infested trees, but after discussion with the WCD focusing on the tree inventory and management plan through this grant will benefit the City more right now. WCD has indicated future funding will be available for more accurate removal and replacement management strategies. Utilizing the work completed through this grant will assist the City of Scandia in applying for these anticipated future funds, which can be budgeted for in future years. In partnering with WCD grant application, there is no cost to the City utilizing the tree inventory and management plan development. After completing the inventory and plan management, Scandia will have more or better opportunity securing future grant funding directly related to tree removal and replacement. Public Works is utilizing this opportunity to better understand our tree diversity in selected public land areas and develop an updated tree management plan related to EAB. Scandia’s current tree management plan includes directives only for Oak Wilt management and this updated plan will bolster the plan to include EAB management. Selected sites for tree inventory include: Community Center grounds, the three ballfields, Hay Lake Park and Lilleskogen Park. Each of these sites will be accompanied by a priority status so that the staff of the WCD can assist each community connected to the program equally. Some of the sites may not be inventoried based on the availability of WCD staff.