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09.e Public Works - Staff Report Staff Report Date of Meeting: 3/19/2024 For: Honorable Mayor and Council From: Charles Fischer – Director of Public Works Subject: PW - Staff Report Roads/ROW Public Works has continued ROW brush cutting over the past month. Tree trimming continued into March as well. As we move closer to an early start of concerns over transmitting oak wilt and other diseases transmitted by open wounds from trimming, trimming will cease and removal of dead, diseased or hazardous trees will begin. The 192nd St N. retaining wall project is currently in the Engineering phase and Public Works should see final drawings soon. Once drawings are approved, the work onsite will begin. The goal is to finish the construction of the new boulder wall before paving begins on Langly Ave, which is part of phase one of the 2024 Improvement project and potentially start as early as April. The preconstruction meeting for the 2024 Street Improvement project will take place the first week of April at the Public Works Facility. Emerald Ash Borer Emerald Ash Borer has been spreading across the State at a more rapid pace due to consecutive years of mild winter temperatures. The signs and symptoms of EAB in Scandia are more prevalent than ever. Almost all the Ash trees on the City Hall/Community Center campus are showing signs and symptoms of infestation. ROW Ash trees are also in various stages of infestation. Both City properties and ROW’s will be visually impacted from the removal of the infested trees. Fortunately, in the ROW there is an ample variety of tree species which will help reduce the visual impact of removals. Public Works staff with the assistance of contractors will be begin removing trees which have been infested. This will be an ongoing project expected to last many years. The City Hall/Community Center Campus will be dramatically changed by the removal process due to the large number of Ash trees planted when the property was developed. Trees with the most severe symptoms will be removed first as they cause the most risk to visitors of the site by either falling or dropping large limbs unexpectedly. This is the same case in the ROW where infested trees can either fall on or drop large limbs on the roadway affecting the safety of motorists and pedestrians. Replacement of trees at the City Hall/Community Center site will be a slow process as there is no current funding for full scale replacement of all the trees to be removed. Species selection and quantity will be site specific based on proper plant spacing and conditions. A benefit from the playground project was adding five trees to the site last year. The dead, diseased, or hazardous trees in the ROW will not be marked and be removed when staff and contractors are available. Due to the cost of replanting and future maintenance, ROW trees are not planned to be replaced by Public Works. Based on the City having varying widths of dedicated ROW and large amount of prescriptive ROW, Public Works will be diligent in studying maps and historically maintained ROW areas of the City before removing infested Ash trees. There is also a considerable number of Ash trees which are just outside our ROW boundaries which may be presumed to be in City ROW. Public Works has received multiple calls about infested Ash trees which after inspection are outside the boundary of the prescriptive ROW. Public Works will continue to respond to these inquiries and onsite inspections will rise in number with the potential that many removals will be the property owner’s responsibility. Parks Public Works has continued to work with Bolton & Menk to finalize plans for the tennis/pickleball court project. Soil boring data was collected Monday, March 11th and will be used to develop the Engineering estimate. One item which was not stated in a previous report was the addition of protective boulders in front of the Mondale memorial sign at Log House Landing. Public Works staff installed the boulders due to concern over vehicles damaging the sign when using the boat landing. Sewer Public Works has continued working with contractors to provide costs in regards to inspecting for I/I within the Bliss and A/E systems. Due to the scale and scope of work City staff would not be able to complete this task and continue serving all other areas of the City. The potential project will consist of inspecting all of the lines coming out of the home to the septic tank for cracks or breaks which allow I/I. Recent discussions have indicated a cost between $40,000 and $60,000 depending on difficulty televising the line at each residence. Secondary to the line inspection, Public Works has added tank inspections for all tanks in the system located in resident’s properties to this potential project. The total cost for the tank inspections is yet to be determined and dependent on the amount of septage required to be pumped and hauled to a receiving facility. Additional information will be shared with the Wastewater Advisory Committee once costs are better estimated and how a project of this scale can be implemented into a future budget. Equipment The tandem axle dump truck set to be replaced this year required an oil pan replacement as it had rusted through in areas and weeping oil, the cost for the repair was $4,000.