Agenda - Public Works Committee - 04/15/2003

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-- P.W. CASE SUMMARY FOR 2002-2003 SNOW REMOVAL SEASON By: Grant Riemer, Public Works Supervisor Background: This case is meant to be a brief review of the 2002-2003 snow removal season. The snow removal season consisted of 3 major plowing events and 12 minor events. Major events consist of calling in a full crew, plus part time staff. Minor events normally consist of sanding intersections, plowing/sanding main routes, drift control, etc. Our first full scale plowing operation was on February 3, 2003. Our equipment held up well, with the only problem coming from our new truck. We had a problem with the computer that is used in calibrating the ground speed spreader control. That problem has been fixed and was covered under warranty. Overall our snow removal fleet is in good shape. The average age of our plow fleet is about 10 years old. One concern is unit 604, which is a 1972 WABCO motor grader. It is running fine at the moment and is only used for snow removal. The concern is, if it breaks down parts may be hard to find because of its age. Possible options if it breaks, and is not repairable, would be to replace the unit with the purchase of another plow truck. Replacement cost would be approximately $100,000. Another option would be to consolidate that particular plow route in with the others. This would lengthen the overall operation time by 1 - 2 hours on a normal snowfall of 2-4 inches. Right now it takes about 8 hours for the larger equipment to complete their routes, with the smaller trucks, doing cul-de-sacs, taking about 9-10 hrs to complete their routes. The following table represents some general statistics regarding our plowing operation: 1998-1999 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 Full scale operation 10 N/A 11 11 3 Minor operations N/A N/A 17 29 12 Salt amounts 154 290 480 510 200 Salt/Sand amounts 1400 1200 1500 1350 300 Complaints- total 67 N/A 137 87 7 Sod damage 18 N/A 37 38 4 Mailbox damage 7 N/A 10 7 1 Misc. 42 N/A 90 42 12 Average 327 1150 This year saw several changes to our snowplowing operation. We completed our salt shed, which gives us the ability to store about 200 tons of salt on site. With salt storage on site, we will be able to shorten our response time to changing road conditions. Our newest plow truck is equipped with several features that allow the driver to focus their attention on the road and less on truck's plow/sander controls. With the addition of several new roads and cul-de-sacs, the plow routes needed to be redesigned, so we could