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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 05.bPositioned to Thrive ❖ Street Sweeping - It must be spring LAKEVILLE PUBLIC WORKS Christopher Petree, Director April 2013 High temperatures and sunny skies in late April provided the WATER first hint of spring after a long and arduous winter. It also completed much of the melting necessary to get the last of the snow out of the gutters. This allowed Streets Division staff to continue with the normal spring street sweeping. They had been out earlier in April, but additional snowfall preempted sweeping and put everyone back in snow plows. Spring street sweeping is an essential service that removes the winter debris from the curb line to keep it from clogging the storm water system and entering the watershed. The debris left behind after the spring thaw can disrupt the storm water system by depositing sediment in ponds, lakes, and streams that reduce their effectiveness to handle runoff. Not to mention clogging catch basins and increasing the potential for localized flooding during heavy rains. Crews work each spring to reduce the impact in watershed areas by sweeping streets around lakes and ponds first and 1 then going street by street through the rest of the City. Typically, two sweepers operate in tandem to provide the best service possible. A water truck precedes the sweepers to keep dust down and make the debris easier to pick up. Dump trucks work alongside the sweepers to carry away collected debris. The resulting debris pile is disposed of in accordance with environmental guidelines. • Watershed Cleanup Day /Earth Day Celebration The cold and snow in April changed how Watershed Cleanup Day was handled this year. Trash pickup throughout Lakeville's parks, along roadsides, around wetlands, and along trails will occur as weather conditions permit. The trash bags you may have seen in parks and along trails are part of this continuing effort. In all, Environmental Resources staff organized over 900 volunteers who signed up from a variety of organizations including Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4H, church groups, school groups, environmental groups, businesses, and families, as well as individuals in this annual event to clean up the City. Despite the weather, on April 20th, a separate Earth Day Celebration hosted over 640 people at the Central Maintenance Facility. Education stations were set up and run by volunteers from many organizations such as the Vermillion River JPO, Dicks Sanitation /LSI, the Recycle Zone, and the Metropolitan F' w Council. City and Dakota County staff set up a model roundabout that individuals could navigate on scooters to learn how they operate and how to move through one safely. Many other events that day educated guests about City water conservation initiatives, fun facts about City lakes and invasive species, and the significance of ground water; a puppet show was a highlight for many of the children in attendance. Educational booths set up in the facility highlighted environmental topics with fun games or activities. Topics y 2 included recycling; reducing waste, water quality, invasive species, water conservation, and individual actions to help protect the environment. Guests were encouraged to earn green - promotional items such as reusable bags, doggie bag dispensers, stickers, recycled crayons, and a dispenser for reusing plastic bags. Promotional items were won through participation in the educational activities and by answering environmental related questions. The event and prize items were funded through the Dakota County Large Community Funding Grant to promote recycling and waste reduction. Impacts of Spring Snow. Besides all the normal impacts like slippery roads, annoying traffic jams, and back breaking shoveling, spring snow storms can have a significant effect on local roads and equipment. With spring Toad restrictions in place since mid - March, the roads have become elastic and reintroducing heavy snow plows can amplify the nature of the roadway failures that already exist. This can result in the plows scraping up chunks of asphalt. In other situations, manholes and gate valves are pushed above the level of the asphalt as the thaw progresses and this can result in plows being damaged and torn from their mountings. Heavy wet snow in the accumulations we've seen in April is just plain hard to move. 3 Recycling Aggregate Every year, the Streets Division uses a specific kind of rock as part of its seal coating program. This rock is spread over an asphalt emulsion and is worked in to the emulsion to help it adhere to the underlying layer of asphalt. This results in a new driving surface that seals the old asphalt and preserves the integrity of the road. Not all of the rock works into the emulsion and that remaining rock is swept up and stored by the City. This year this leftover rock is being screened and stacked at the Central Maintenance Facility for reuse during this summer's seal coat project. Whatever remains of the recycled rock at the end of this year will be sold. 4