Minutes - Public Works Committee - 04/16/2002

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sanitary sewer in the back of the property. City Attorney Goodrich replied that the City will be acquiring that as part of the transaction. Councilmember Zimmerman stated that if they are drawing the funds from other sources then the general fund he can vote for it, however he did not think it was a real good case. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Gamec and Councilmembers Kurak, Anderson, Hendriksen, and Zimmerman. Voting No: None. Case #2: Summary for 2001-2002 Snow Removal Season Public Works Supervisor Riemer stated that this season was unique in the fact of the unseasonably warm weather. This warm weather had an adverse affect on the plowing operation thought, because of the lack of frost. Lack of frost makes for soft shoulders and sod damage in the easement. The first full scale plowing operation was on November 26, 2001, which was preceded by heavy rains on November 24, 2001. That was pretty much the pattern for the season. The Public Works Department implemented a program where the City supplied, free of charge, wooden lathe to residents to mark the boulevard. This program was beneficial in two areas, it helps plow drivers locate the road edge, and they also replaced the metal fence posts residents were using, which were considered a safety hazard. The City had over 120 residents participate in the program this year. The City's equipment held up well with only one major repair in the form of a transmission failure on one of the large plow trucks. Overall the snow removal fleet is in good shape. The average age of the plow fleet is about nine 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 one to two hours on a normal snowfall of two to four inches. Right not it takes about eight hours for the larger equipment to complete their routes, with the smaller trucks, doing cul-de-sacs, taking about nine to ten hours to complete their routes. Next year will bring several changes to the snowplowing operation. Staff hopes to have the remodeling of the north building completed. This would include the construction of the salt storage area. With salt storage on site, they will be able to shorten the response time to changing road conditions. The newest plow truck will be 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 may need to be redesigned, so they can stay within their eight-hour time frame. Councilmember Hendriksen stated that since the City is not technically required to repair sod damage because it is within the right-of-way he suggested that maybe they only repair sod if the property owner participated in the lathe program. Councilmember Zimmerman recommended discussing that option at a future meeting. Councilmember Anderson inquired if overall did most people cooperate with the lathe program. Public Works Committee/April 16, 2002 Page 5 of 12