Agenda - Council - 06/08/2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CASE REPORT FROM PUBLIC WORKS By: Public Works Staff Background: Thc Public Works Committee met or~ Tuesday, May 18, 2004 and discussed the following case: Case #1 Summary for 2003.2004 Snow Removal Season Backgro u nd: Strcct Supervisor presented a brici' rcview of the snow removal season which consisted of 11 major plowing cwmts and 14 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 contrr,,1, etc... Thc firs~ call for snow and ice control was on November 4, 2003 for minor sanding. The first full scale plowing operation was on November 26, 2003 compared to February 3''`l lhc previous year. Ovcrall thc snow removal fleet is it~ good shape. The 1992 plow truck was replaced with a 2004 model. A new pi¢'cc of cquipmen[ for the sidewalk/trail maintenance fleet was added which includes a broom ~md snow blo~ve~ attachments. Also purchased was a large snow blower that attaches to thc fi-ot~t-cnd loader. ~;'his will mainly be used for the snow removal operation in Ramscy Town Ccr~ter where the snow will have to be loaded in trucks and hauled away, rather than plowed to thc side of the road. [t was estimated that a goal of an 8-hour completion time for main routes and 9- 10 hours on cul-(ie-.sac routes will be met. A table was presvnted as some [.encral statistics regarding the plowing operation which is attached to Ibis repo~'t. Continued dcvclop, ncnt and growtt'~ in the City will place more demand on staff and equipment. Ramscy Town Ccnter will bring wiih it the challenges of parking ramps, contract hauling, snow rcmova] operations instead of a snowplowing operation and the coordination of everyone in the re'ca to accomplish the task of cleari% a downto~vn area as quickly and economically as possible. Sidewalk maintcmmcc is another ar,za that is expanding quickly. Staff currently plows the school walking area on thc same priority as our City streets, with the rest of the sidewalks done 1-2 days after the streets arc cleared. Demand is :~tarting to increase to accomplish system wide clearing of sidewalks as soon ~ts possible. Puldic demand that the skating rinks be cleared the day of the storm is also increasing. With o,~r population growing and the increased use of our park facilities this requc.,;t lbr service will continue to rise. Consensus of tho Public Works Colnmittee was to make a list of issues/ideas for snow removal in thc Town Center. Staff should ~lso contact other Cities (one named was Maple Grove with regard to Arbor Laices) to find out ~.heir policies/ideas/issues, etc. with regard to snow removal and bring that inf'ormation back. An entire Public Works Committee meeting should be dedicated to this discussion. Il was ~l. etcrmined that a plan needs to be in place prior to the Town Center being built. It was asked that thc Police Chief also be included in this discussion.