9.d January 2021- Public Works Staff ReportFebruary 16th, 2021
Public Works Staff Report – January 2021
Roads and Right – of – way
Roads:
Staff continues ROW pruning for safety concerns and have now completed Lakamaga,
Maxwill, and a portion of Meadowbrook between 238th and Melanie Ln.. The brush pile from all
the earlier tree trimmings in the fall and early winter has been burned. The new pile is growing
fast and will be burned in February. The PW department aided the Fire Department by
providing de-icing services for a house fire on Lakamaga.
The Holiday lights have been removed and those that were bent have been straightened. The
residents that use 197th, AKA Dinosaur Hill, have said the gravel barrels provided at the top
and bottom of the hill have been a great success. They have refi lled again in January.
The PW staff responded to three snow events in January. PW has ordered and received their
first load of deicer for the year. The staff helped move items out and back into the kitchen area
at the Community Center for cleaning and the kitchen looks much better.
The approved UTV has been ordered and should arrive within three weeks. Olson Power
Equipment really went above and beyond to secure a UTV in a very tight market. Staff has
gone over the plow truck naming list and selected their personal favorites and those that they
didn’t think made the cut.
Sewer – Water:
Bliss /AE 201 system:
All is good, knock on wood. The Director of PW happened upon some new information about
the #4 pit on the Bliss system. It seems when the system was installed there were meters
installed on the lines leading to the treatment beds. The meters would need to be updated to
provide accurate flow measures and provide the date electronically. The Director is looking into
the possible updates.
Uptown sewer:
Flow rates are stable and all reports for 2020 were submitted to Washington County.
Parks:
Warming House / Rinks:
The ice at the rinks area is now well established. Staff will continue to flood and build ice as the
weather cooperates. We will go into maintenance mode when the ice is about 3”-3.5” inches
from the top of the yellow kick plate. The white highlighter has been applied to the north end of
the rink to help keep the end from melting out early in the season and receding on the warm
days. There was one complaint about the ice during a few warm days and edging the rink.
Both have been addressed.
The Fire Department’s tanker truck works great for flooding the outdoor rink but the truck can’t
be used for the hockey rink because the existing entrance to the rink is not wide enough. The
expense to increase the opening is not very much. Staff suggests th at the opening is increased
by about 1 foot and that 2”x12” boards stacked between the two ends be used instead of the
doors. The PW dept. could fabricate the iron supports to hold the boards in place. During the
MN Cup the top board can be ripped down to the desired height to match the other top boards.
Lilleskogen:
Staff is working on the support ends for the sign that has been ordered for the park. Installation
cannot occur until spring when the frost is out of the ground. For now, the PRC should start t o
make recommendations on there the sign should be located. The sign is two sided so it should
be set along a straight away. One storm damaged tree and the brush was removed from the
park.
Park Un-named:
The PRC should start to think about a name for the n ew park on Orwell. My vote is for
“Freeland Park”. The process should start now, so when the land is deeded to the City, actions
can be taken right away. The process of how the park should be used and established needs
to be discussed as well which involves a community meeting.