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Although early in the snow plowing operation, things went fine with every piece of equipment and every able bodied person that we have working on snow removal, at about 8:30 am, 2 of our tandems and two of our pick -ups were down and in need of repair with belt, engine, snow plow and hose problems. Obviously, the weight of the snow was taking a toll on our equipment. The guys banded together and got each piece of equipment (with the exception of one pick -up) back up and running by 2 pni. The weight of the snow produced other challenges. When enough snow had accumulated in the blades, its sheer weight would stall the truck, trip the blade, or propel the equipment into oncoming traffic. This obviously made the driver not only uncomfortable but also was an extremely dangerous situation requiring them to either stop every time there was oncoming traffic or drive extremely slow. Whereas, we can finish a normal 2 -4" snowfall in 8 hours, it was obvious that this was not going to be the case. We changed the snowplow information line (433 -9852) to indicate that snow removal operations would be complete, at least one trip through town, by 6 pm and asked for patience. Since the roads were still "sloppy" our goal was to make it through once and come in early again the following day for cleanup. The crews once again started at 5 am on Thursday morning for clean up and this goal was achieved. Sincere appreciation goes out to all Staff that dealt with angry residents, difficult plowing situations, and delays caused by equipment malfunctions. Approximately 60 resident complaints were handled with modesty and an extremely high level of professionalism. Thanks you! Keith Kiefer Litigation. Mr. Kiefer has named the City of Ramsey and City Administrator Ulrich as Third Party Defendants in a litigation matter commenced by Isanti County. Isanti County has sued Mr. Kiefer for a nuisance abatement regarding his Isanti County property. Apparently, Mr. Kiefer believes his Isanti County issues are caused by the City of Ramsey's abatement of his Rivlyn Avenue property in 2007, thus the Third Party complaint. In general, Mr. Kiefer alleges the City of Ramsey abused its legal process by prosecuting a driveway - parking claim in 2008 and the special assessment proceeding relating to the 2007 property abatement. Mr. Kiefer is seeking monetary damages, costs, disbursements, and attorney fees. LMCIT has accepted defense of this new litigation and has assigned Attorney Mary D. Tietjen of the Kennedy & Graven law firm as defense counsel. We will be scheduling an attorney /client special closed meeting in the near future with the City Council to discuss defense strategy. Update on the Metropolitan Council TOD Grants. The Metropolitan Council announced an update in their most recent newsletter. As the City Council may recall, Ramsey submitted three (3) applications to this grant program (Sunwood Drive, Center Street, Highway 10 Pedestrian Overpass [Mississippi Skyway]). According to the Metropolitan Council: "In February, the Council received applications from 12 communities for 29 projects under the new Livable Communities Transit - Oriented Development grant program. In total, applicants asked for $23.6 million; about $13 million is available in this grant round. The Council expects to award grants in April" Quad Cities Beyond The Yellow Ribbon Campaign. The Quad Cities Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Campaign (BTYR) kickoff event is Thursday, March 29, 6:30 p.m. at Greenhaven in