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8.g administrators reportw SCANDIA Staff Report Date of Meeting: September 20, 2016 To: City Council From: Neil Soltis, Administrator Re: Administrator's report Public Works Director — Advertisement for the position have been placed in the local papers and the League of Cities and City of Scandia websites. Applications are due by noon on Wednesday, September 28. Comprehensive Planning — The request for proposals for the comprehensive plan update was sent out on September 16 to a number of consulting firms. Additionally the rfp will be posted on the City and League websites. Community Visioning session - As a reminder Suzanne Lindgren of the Country Messenger and Tom Stangl of the Sun are participating in a rural communities leadership program for newspapers that is funded by the Blandin Foundation. As a part of that program they have scheduled a Scandia community input session on September 29th at the Community Building to look at the challenges and opportunities facing the City as it relates to the comprehensive planning process. This session should provide a good overview of the challenges and opportunities as we look towards working on the City's 2040 comprehensive plan. The session will be self - guided so people wishing to participate can come at any time between 7:00 and 8:30 that evenings. Emergency siren inspection and maintenance — Ready Watt inspected and tested the City's 3 warning sirens. Repairs were made to 2 of the sirens. All of the sirens are now working properly. Dust control — We received a request for a 2nd application of calcium chloride on 185th and Oakgreen Ave. No action has been taken since funds were not budgeted for a 2nd application. It has been proposed that we look at altering the application program to provide 2 application in proximity to residences and the eliminate the application in areas that are not proximate to residences. ISO rating for Building Inspection Program — The City received the rating for the building inspection program based on an inspection by the Insurance Services Office. The 4 rating is a step above the previous 5 rating. A copy of the rating letter and information on the rating has been included with the Building Inspection report. Log House Landing Boat ramp — The Army Corps of Engineer has issued a permit for the project. Revised project submittals to the National Park Services have been completed and the Park Service has sent out a draft of a cooperative agreement for a portion of the work. A contractor who has completed boat launch projects recommended that we consider using concrete planking, similar to what was provided by the MN DNR, for the whole ramp. This would make for a much easier installation and would facilitate future maintenance activities. I have been in contact with a company that manufactures concrete planking to get additional information on this option for future consideration. There has been significant erosion on the ramp itself. We have not taken action to regrade or add material to the ramp due to the likelihood of the loose material also eroding into the river. Washington County Community Development Authority — The CDA's economic development work group comprised of city administrators is meeting to work on the immediate and longer range goals for the CDA. There are limited funds available in the County's current fiscal year but direction is needed for the next budget cycle. Once formulated, feedback will be sought from the local economic development agencies. Log House Landing amenities — The St. Croix River Association has received the bike rack for Log house Landing. We will arrange for pick-up and installation when time permits. Road Capital Improvements — Bolton Menk updated the rating for the City's roads in an effort to get a baseline for planning future road improvement projects. The Paser ratings for the following streets were either 1 or 2 which indicate poor condition and in need of reconstruction. A map showing the ratings and information regarding the ratings is provided at the end of this report. A copy of the rating map and a description of the ratings is included with the engineer's report. Street name Current capital plan Orwell Court 2022 228th St. 2024 230th St — w of Manning 2020 Kirk Ave. 2020 199th St. — W. of Parkview 2028 A copy of the rating map and a description of the ratings is included with the engineer's report. IT Cabling — Additional contractors have looked at the project to relocate the telephone and cable demarcation along with the IT equipment. We have received 1 additional quote and are expecting another. Lakes Area Television — The Forest Lakes Cable Commission is looking to enter into a lease with the City of Forest Lake for space in their Senior Center. After the cost of the relocation, the savings will be approximately $10,000 a year. I can provide a copy of the proposed lease for you review. PUBLIC WORKS ACTIVITIES Safety - The crew attended the SafeAssure training on September 14. 1 attended the SafeAssure supervisory training on August 25. Roads and rights-of-way: • The 2nd round of ditch mowing started on August 29 at the southwest corner of the City. • Adding material to the deteriorated road shoulders started on August 29 at the northwest corner of the City • An effort to improve sign visibility through minor trimming began in late August starting in the northeast corner of the City. • Fallen trees were removed from the road right-of-way on Maxwill, Novak, Melanie, and Lakamaga • Log House landing was regraded. • A meeting has been scheduled with Fahrner Asphalt to discuss options to repair the areas where the 2013-2014 seal coating material is delaminating. Parks and Grounds • The south ballfield was mowed 1 time and dragged 1 time • The lighted ballfield was mowed 3 times and dragged 1 time • The t -ball field was mowed 1 time and dragged 1 time • The rain garden at Lilleskogen Park has been weeded and the area behind the parking lot mowed • The Public Works / Fire building was mowed 1 time • The annex building was mowed 1 time • Hay Lake Park and the Settlers monument were mowed 1 time • The Community building was mowed 2 times • The Lighted ballfield and Community Building playgrounds were weeded and the sand leveled under the equipment for safety Community Building: • Repairs were made to the sidewalks to eliminate potential trip hazards Sewers: • The Bliss, Anderson -Erickson, and Uptown drain fields were mowed • The July DMR reports for the Bliss drain field were submitted and corrections were made to previous reports as noted by the MPCA • The septic tanks at the Bliss and Anderson Erickson subdivision have been inspected and pumps tested. Locks were replaced at 4 locations and fill added around the sewer access in 2 location. Webb electric replace one control panel and repaired another. • Smiley Sewer is scheduled to pump the tanks with levels of sludge or scum in excess of the maintenance plan. 9 tanks in the Anderson Erickson and 14 tanks in the Bliss will be pumped by Smiley Sewer in September. One issue that still needs to be addressed is the City will need a permit from the MPCA for a location to land spread the septage from the Bliss addition. Previously there were discussion with the City of Marine on the St. Croix regarding using the same field to land spread the septage. I will be working with the City and the MPCA on the permit. • General Repair inspected and performed the annual maintenance on the lift station pumps (4 — Bliss, 2 Anderson Erickson, 1 Uptown) Employee time off — With the end of summer the crew used 14 days of vacation time since the last report.