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09.d PW - Staff Report Staff Report Date of Meeting: 12/20/2022 For: Honorable Mayor and Council From: Charles Fischer – Director of Public Works Subject: PW - Staff Report Roads/ROW Public Works has had a busy month on plowing City streets. Snow events so far this year have had a lingering characteristic of off and on snow over multiple days. The most recent events have included rain and sleet causing compacted snow to accumulate prior to plowing. Warm temperatures during the daytime hours have allowed streets to clear before the next wave of snow. Snow fall timing has also played a large factor in the scheduling of snow and ice control. Heavy bands of snow had set up between the hours of 4:30am and 6:30am delaying plow deployment until after 6:30am during the heavier traffic hours within the City. The upcoming (now current as of the meeting) cold temps will affect any residual ice control from the recent snow events. Parks Due to warm weather in the last few weeks, there has been a delay in flooding of the rinks. The forecasted weather looks promising moving forward to drive more frost into the ground which is necessary before applying water to the rinks. Public Works staff is clearing the snow from the rinks to reduce the insulating factor snow has, after each snow event. With the added moisture from the recent rain and snow adds a limiting factor to the approach to establishing ice. With the addition of a Seasonal Rink Maintenance person this year should help with establishing ice more efficiently. Sewer 11/15/2022: Public Works completed a site assessment, for the septic system, of the new construction at 18570 Norrell Ave N and found a non-compliant connection to the settling tank of the neighboring property. Following the assessment, a letter of non-compliance was delivered to the property owner. City Staff was then contacted by the general contractor and connection specifications and locations were discussed along with a site visit to finalize the connection point. Connection specifications developed by Bolton & Menk have been sent to the property owner and general contractor as well. The connection will be made to the pressure lateral, currently serving the house to the north, within the ROW. By connecting in this location, no roadway excavation will be required. Recently a contractor connected to the pressure lateral in the ROW of Norell Ave to serve the new home of 18570 Norell Ave N. On-site meetings between Public Works staff and the contractor prior to and during the installation provided positive solutions and best practices for the new connection. In the past little to no interaction between Public Works and contractors took place resulting in unknown connection specifications. Now with direct contact and oversite, connections are being done under agreement between the contractor and Public Works. The specific connection at 18570 Norell Ave did not produce exact connection specifications to pre-construction discussions, due to, during the excavation different pipe material was found resulting in a shift in how to best connect the new property and existing property with available fittings and materials at local vendors. Public Works is satisfied with how the project was completed in the ROW with the limiting factors involved after opening the trench and discovering the unforeseen issues. Equipment: Public Works has been dealing with multiple issues the with the Mack Tandem Plow Truck (203-11). Issues listed below. • Front passenger tire blew out during snow and ice control operation. Emergency tire repair was performed on-site within 1.5 hours of initial call. Two days following a matching tire was installed on the driver’s side. • Front plow hydraulic cylinder was leaking and replaced. • Under plow hydraulic line failure and replaced between snow events. Reduced operation time during two events totaling 5 hours or down time. Public Works has been able to keep the truck operation, but is reaching a stage where repairs will become more often and expensive to maintain. Fortunately, this truck is scheduled for replacement in 2023 and will be kept operation and safe to operate until the new replacement arrives. Council Chamber Update: In the last month much has happened in the Council Chambers in regards to updating the room. Items completed so far: • Wallpaper removal • Painting • AV upgrades to connect with newer system installed in the hall • Picture and wall décor updated • Providing useable work space for Interim City Administrator – between project items being completed Items to complete: • Carpeting (scheduled for January 9th) • Wall paneling on south wall(scheduled between now and the January 9th) – work is being done by Public Works • New blinds (install to be completed by Public Works) • Final Cleaning Light Pole Snow Flake: With the help of the Washington County Sherrifs Department the stolen Snowflake decorations from last season were recovered from an abandoned trailer. Public Works was first notified by Deputy Sheriffs that they had been located and later returned to the City. Public Works would like to thank those involved in the recovery of the stolen Snowflakes. No discussion has been finalized in a new location to display the recovered Snowflakes.