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5.b Staff Report-PW Staff Report Date of Meeting: 02/07/2022 For: Parks and Recreation Committee From: Charles Fischer – Director of Public Works Subject: Parks Staff Report Vinterfest After a long week of preparation Public Works staff completed many tasks to ready multiple sites for the Vinterfest scheduled events. From Lilleskogen to Hay Lake all sites located in this corridor had a list of prep work to be completed. Starting on Monday with snow removal of City streets and sidewalks to Fridays final resurfacing at the ice rink Public Works stayed very busy in an effort to present each site at its best. Overall, I believe our staff did a great job working together to assist all vendors and event staff before, during, and after the event. The Warming House gave us a little trouble Friday evening around 9pm as the sewer line backed up from the sudden heavy use of the building . Public Works had Olson’s Service in as early as possible to completely jet the line to full capacity and all sinks and toilets were fully operational shortly after. The issue was not anticipated as we were having no trouble leading up to the event. Another issue faced was the amount of use the Zamb oni requires during the event. The Zamboni held up very well but the amount of propane required was more than what was on hand for the event. The Zamboni has two 30-pound cylinders and by Saturday early afternoon we had used all but roughly 5 pounds of fuel. The local stores in town were not filling propane at the time and an emergent run to Forest Lake was needed to find the closet station to fill a tank to make it through the evening . Public Works plans to purchase a spare tank to have on hand for future events. Historically Full-Time staff were not utilized during an event for maintenance and Public Works staff responded to the challenges of the event very well and all learned something this year to make future events even better. Event Planning Due to the nature of our large event with limited staff more preplanning or preparation will be requested by the event coordinator or coordinators. Public Works received a number of calls, texts or emails late Thursday into Friday with requests to change or add to the set up of the event. Public Works plans to create a “Public Works - Event Maintenance Request” form which will be due to the Public Works department two weeks in advance to any event. The form will need to include re quests, map of the site including set up locations, locations where items will need to be picked up or dropped off and dates when items should be complete by Public Works staff. My past experiences with event set up included this type of organization and proved effected in mitigating many last-minute requests, changes or possible missed set up items. This may place some burden on the event coordinator or coordinators but will ultimately provide a better experience to the visitors of the event. More discussion to follow after creation of the form. DNR Grant Application Public Works has been working on the DNR Grant Application and should be done soon with the addition of our City Engineers Site Map and the Watersheds addition of a demonstration garden and assistance with answering the Natural Habitat questions within the application. Once the final document is ready, I will send to the Committee members to view. This application is important to the project and I have been modifying and adding more each day as we move closer to having all the information provi ded. Playground Funding Public Works is suggesting the PRC search addit ional funding from local businesses and organizations for the new playground and/or if commitments have been made, please let Public Works know so that they can be added for approval by the City Council. These commitments can also added to the Grant application as it well show further support from the community for the project.