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09.d PW-Staff Report Staff Report Date of Meeting: 7/19/2022 For: Honorable Mayor and Council From: Charles Fischer – Director of Public Works Subject: Staff Report Roads/ROW Public Works staff have continued the initial cut of ROW mowing into the month of July. Staff completed all sections of road on July 15th, which began June 1st, finishing up in the Pilar Road area. The second mowing will begin soon with further mowing down to the base of the ROW and clearing back intersection corners. With the rapid growth of grasses and woody material in the ROW a more thorough clearing will take place around curves and areas with limited traffic and pedestrian visibility. It is anticipated this work will take two months for Public Works staff to complete and will begin soon to maintain public safety for vehicle and pedestrian traffic along the City roads. The abundant amount of growth past six feet from the road edge is due in part of all the down time the previous tractor required for repairs and policy stating the entirety of the ROW may not be mowed until after September 1st. Pubic Works now has more work to accomplish in this zone of the ROW from the inability to regularly maintain or cut back this area at any time during the season. With the requirement to wait mowing this zone of the ROW makes it harder on the equipment and Public Works staff must work at slower than normal operating speeds to not damage the equipment or the ROW. This practice also increases the amount of maintenance to the equipment from working in denser grass and woody materials. During the Melanie Trail Reconstruction extra reclamation material was hauled to Paris Ave and the intersection of Pilar Road and Paris Ave. Astech completed the grading and compacting by July 11th and a Calcium Chloride application was completed on July 14th to mitigate the dust from the new material. This project reintroduced compactable material to the road and raised the road 3-6”. The focus of this project was to raise the elevation of Paris Ave. Over many years of not adding material to Paris Ave the ditches were becoming at or above the road surface. Most of these areas are now back above the ditch elevation where surface water can now be diverted off of the roadway. Crack sealing is underway by Nugent Sealcoating and about half of the scheduled work has been completed in the City. Some old cracks which were to be filled had been missed and a follow up return has been scheduled by Public Works with Nugent Sealcoating. Sewers: In the last month Public Works responded to an emergent call on July 3rd of a failed lift pump in the Anderson Erickson System. Smilies was on the scene early that day to begin the replacement process of the pump. The pump which was installed at this residence is a non- conforming style pump and fortunately Smilies had a pump to match the existing failed pump. The City specifications call for a 230volt pump and the non-conforming pump is 120volt. Further work is needed in this lift station due to a failing check valve which causes the pump to run more often than it should. This service will require confined space entry and completed by a certified technician. Parks: During the last week of August and first week of July, the Forest Lake football team and Public Works staff cleared brush and dead or fallen trees along the path in Lilleskogen Park. The effort began with Public Works staff cutting down hazardous dead trees and fallen trees to make it easier for the volunteers from Forest Lake to pull the material to the edge of the trail. For safety purposes Public Works started days before the volunteers arrived. Following the work performed by the volunteers Public Works returned with a chipper and blew the chips on the trail to freshen up the chipped trail. Due to the amount of material pulled to the trail edge by the volunteers, Public Works staff spent two days completing the chipping process. A large portion of the trail was able to be covered by the new chips and improved the aesthetics of the park. Wayne Erickson rentals have slowed down to just one rental a week. During the peak of the rentals, it was noticed a bank of lights were not functioning. Public Works had an electrician inspect the issue and it was found that the control panel on the pole was in need of replacement. Public Works ordered the replacement panel and the repair should be completed soon. Recently, Public Works staff completed the prep work for the cement pads at Lilleskogen Park. This work is related to the donation bench program initiated last year. The pads are scheduled to be poured July 19th with the first bench to be installed by the end of the week after curing of the concrete. The first bench to be placed will be in the location of the old wood bench which was located near the wood bridge. Buildings: The vent fan for the dishwasher had not been functioning and Public Works had the fan repaired by a Markgraf Mechanical. The Council Chamber AV installation is still on hold until all the equipment required is recei ved by EMI Audio. Equipment shortages have delayed the project. Public Works has continued planning for room upgrades as well. Equipment: Public Works completed DOT truck inspections through Diesel Rockers last month. The tandem and latest model single axle trucks require repairs. The tandem dump truck requires a new oil pan and the single axle requires new transmission lines as they are rusting and eventually will begin to leak. The services have been scheduled so the trucks will be repaired prior to the plow season. The John Deere loader has required a string of repairs. The hydraulic tank has been repaired and now the hydraulic components which operate the grapple attachment have been hindered with low hydraulic flow. Currently the loader is in Osceola, at Midwest Machinery for repairs.