Ramsey Resident - 2016 - November/December

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Employee Spotlight City of Ramsey Public Works Department Snowplow Crew Maintaining a connected commu- - portation system is one of the City of Ramseys top priorities. Ramseys street system is made up of approx- imately 173 miles of paved streets, over 271 cul-de-sacs and short dead end roads and 2.5 miles of dirt streets. Full Time Employees: Erickson, Greg Lind, John Nelson, Lee Holm, Mike Nielsen, Lonny Lofgren, Evan Johnson, Matt Graf, Sarah, Wiener, Shane Turner, Terry Bryon, Aaron Madsen, Greg in order to maintain this street system, Talbot Todd Nelson and Mark Riverblood Not Shown: such as patching potholes, sealcoating and overlaying paved streets, grading dirt streets, street sweeping in the spring and fall, and, plow truck on standby in case of a breakdown during most importantly this time of the year, managing the storm. A combination of 10 pickup trucks and snow and ice control. 1-ton trucks are used for plowing cul-de-sacs and During the winter months, 17 of the Citys parking lots, and a small, specially designed, utility tractor is used to plow the sidewalks. All of the snow including Parks, Utilities and Street employees), plus removal equipment is equipped with GPS technology 6 temporary on-call plow drivers, plow the City about so the team can track their progress during the storm. 8 to 10 times per year. During an average snowfall, the crew uses 24 pieces of equipment and drives about works hard throughout the year to uphold the safety 300 miles to plow and treat the streets. On smaller and functionality of the streets system which is essen- events, where a full-scale plowing is not warranted, tial to Ramseys residents and business community. the team will salt the streets an average of 20 times per For more information on the Citys snowplow proce- year. dures, please visit our website at www.cityoframsey. A normal snow fall of 2-4 inches takes approxi- mately 8 hours to plow and to apply de-icing mate- Information Line at 763-433-9852. rials. Normal plowing operations start at 2:00 am, depending on the storm. Its an early morning for the plowing crew, but a 2:00 am start gives them a chance Did You Know . . . to open up main roads before the morning rush hour and helps to provide minimal contact with other mo- Ramsey Township, now City, on the south and torists and pedestrians. Once the streets are cleared, west border of Anoka County, has a rich and interest- part of the team will begin work to clear the trail and ing history that includes a period when it contained sidewalk system, while the rest of the team does addi- tional cleanup on the streets and clears the municipal nothing remains to remind present generations that parking ramp and skating rinks. the almost forgotten township of Itasca was once It takes a lot of equipment to make this happen, considered a contender for the Minnesota territorial including 7 large plow trucks, a motor grader and a capital, the fact is well known to those interested in local history. Ramsey Resident November/December 20165