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09.d PW - Staff Report Staff Report Date of Meeting: 4/18/2023 For: Honorable Mayor and Council From: Charles Fischer – Director of Public Works Subject: PW - Staff Report Roads/ROW The most recent winter storm, which ended early in the morning on April 1st, brought 12-15” of snow. Not only was the snow a challenge to remove, over 16 trees fell across roads and multiple broken leaders of trees were left suspended just above the roadway causing impassable sections of road. While plowing staff also had to clear the fallen trees and cut down and clear low hanging suspended branches. After 11 hours, all roads were clear of snow and trees impeding traffic. Staff spent the following week removing the trees and bran ches which were temporarily piled in the ditch Saturday morning. Public Works staff began pot hole patching throughout the City, starting Monday April, 10th. Maxwill Ave, Lakamaga Trail, 195th Street, the old section of Mayberry Trail, and Orwell Ave continue to be roads which a majority of repair is required each Spring. Fortunately, Orwell will be repaved this year and will reduce future maintenance cost and time. Temporary patching will be completed on Orwell before the paving project begins. Public Works is requesting quotes from contractors for paving of significant patches which Public Works staff are not able to complete due to time and limited equipment. Ryan Goodman and I, completed a road tour on April 3rd to coordinate planning for future road maintenance and reconstruction. After completing the tour, strategy for a large-scale project was discussed for Maxwill Ave, Lakamage Trail, 195th Street, 196th Street, 206th Street, and the remaining section of Mayberry Trail (figure1). The current condition of these roads drives an upcoming recommendation to complete another large-scale project similar to the project completed in 2018. Current Paser ratings place the roads at a 3-4 (a scale of 1-10 with 10 as the best) in the metrics, but if current projected project timeline remains in place the roads will quickly fall to a 1-2 in the metrics before reconstruction. Remaining on the current trajectory will create additional repair work utilizing General Fund assets reducing the ability to continue road preservation to other sections of roadway. If possible, to complete a large-scale project next year will allow other roads planned 5 to 10 years out to be completed before reaching 1-2 in the Paser rating as well. Future Capital Improvement discussion will be required to determine the best possible option to fund a project of this scale. Parks Seasonal Staffing: The job posting for seasonal staff has been advertised on many platforms for over two weeks and currently have not received any applications for the two positions. The posting will continue to be advertised until the positions have been filled. Playground Project With much of the snow pack melted Public Works will continue planning for a May installation if weather and ground conditions are favorable. Deliveries of the playground structures have started to arrive, which is a good sign that all of the structures may arrive earlier than the original expected timeframe of early May. Garbage and Recycling New containers have been delivered to replace the current receptacles in selected Parks. The new containers will be placed at the Tennis/Pickleball courts, new playground, Warming House, Lilleskogen and Hay Lake. Each of the listed locations will now have both garbage and recycling options. Public Works staff will service these locations throughout the year. The boat landings will continue to be serviced by the local waste hauler due to the volume and type of trash collected. Other parks will continue to be Carry-In/Carry-Out as there is no dedicated picnic area within. Sewer Infiltration in the sewer systems is being closely monitored this year due the high amount of surface water from the snow melt. The rapid snow melt this year has caused higher volumes of flow but have not caused high concern as most of the snow has now melted and flow has receded from the peak period between April 5th and April 11th. The original holding and lift tanks from the 1980’s have and will continue to require additional maintenance to the tank lid seals and more in tank inspections will be required to pin point areas of infiltration. Contracting the in-tank inspections will be required and will be recommended to be funded in the budgeting process for 2024. An emergency pump repair was completed to Lift Station 2 in the Bliss neighborhood. Although, only two years old the motor seal failed and waste water was able to seep into the windings of the motor and bearings. The warranty for the pump was only one year and all costs associated to the repair or replacement was City responsibility. The total to repair the motor was near equal to a new pump and the new pump was installed within three days after final bench inspection of the original pump. During that time the system was relying only on one pump to push all of the waste water from the neighborhood up to the drain field. If we were to experience a failure of the other pump during that time, tanker pumping would have been relied upon to remove wastewater and hauled out. Multiple trucks over the course of days would have resulted in significant cost to the City. Buildings Recently, the City utilized its contract with SafeAssure (safety consultant and training administer) to complete mock OSHA inspections of all City buildings. Public Works accompanied the inspections to discuss and understand the complexity and potential fiscal impact of OSHA rules and regulations. Upon completion of the inspections a report was generated by SafeAssure indicating the deficiencies of safety within or around each building. Public Works staff is now completing alterations from the recommendations listed within the report. The report received from SafeAssure will be presented at our Staff Safety Committee meeting in April and discuss alterations or repairs recommended. Plastic Bag Recycling Public Works has continued the plastic bag recycling program which was started by the Scandia Marine Lions last year. Public Works is managing the storage and weighing of the material, while a local volunteer has offered to collect the bulk bags and deliver them to a drop off center. To date, 100lbs of plastic material has been collected and delivered to a bulk collection site. Our goal is to collect 500lbs of plastic material over the course of six months. Those who wish to participate can drop off approved plastic material at City Hall, Cenex Station, or the Post Office. Approved plastic donation material is posted at each drop off location.