HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 05.a❖ Snow and Ice Control
December always makes one wonder
what they are doing in Minnesota for
the winter. This December, like
many others in the past, has done its
best to give us a taste of what the
coming winter season will bring. We
received some snow accumulation, a
tenth of an inch or more, on 15 of the
31 days of the month and saw below
zero temps on 10 days. Public Works
and Parks Maintenance staff have
been involved in 19 separate snow
LAKEVILLE PUBLIC WORKS
Christopher Petree, Director
December 2013
events for over 2,300 hours of snow removal
and ice control operations, including 173
hours on Christmas day. In fighting the
compacted snow and ice on roadways, crews
have applied over 2,100 tons of deicing
chemical on City streets. This has gone a
long way in melting down to the pavement
and improving winter driving conditions
throughout the City. The priorities for snow
and ice control go to collector roads first,
followed by residential streets and then
parking lots serving emergency services, cul-
de -sacs, and sidewalks and trails. In all, the
City has 11 priority groups to guide snow
removal and ice control operations from clearing collector roads to clearing access
to well and lift stations. The goal is always to provide safe driving and walking
surfaces for residents and visitors.
South Lake Marion Improvements
This past fall, Environmental
resources staff completed
improvements to the pond system
south of Lake Marion at the
intersection of 205th Street and Juno ---
Trail. The existing ponds were
undersized compared to the
contributing drainage areas and also
needed maintenance due to the
accumulation of sediment that had
filled one of the ponds. To
determine what could be done that
would capture the most pollution and
provide the greatest benefit to the water
quality in Lake Marion, multiple scenarios
were evaluated. The resulting design
included project components to route
additional runoff through the pond in the
southwest quadrant of the intersection,
construct iron enhanced filtration in the
pond in the southeast quadrant of the
intersection, and expand the pond and
outlet configuration in the northeast
quadrant of the intersection. The project
resulted in retrofitting a 73 acre drainage
area by redirecting 6.5 acres of storm
water to the southwest pond,
creating an effective three cell
filtration system with pretreatment,
infiltration and iron enhanced
filtration in the southeast pond, and
enlarging the northeast pond before
water is discharged to Lake Marion.
The goal of the project is to reduce
the discharge of sediment and
nutrients that can be detrimental to
water quality and could cause
harmful algae blooms in Lake
Marion. This project was primarily funded through grants from Dakota County Soil
and Water Conservation District and the Vermillion River Watershed Joint Powers
Organization.
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• Minnesota Department of Health Water System Inspection
Clean and safe drinking water is an
important part of a healthy environment. As
custodians of a public water supply there is
an inherent responsibility to protect the
water supply and, in turn, public health. The
Minnesota Department of Health (MDH)
regularly conducts on -site surveys of the
City's water system to evaluate the adequacy
of the water sources, as well as the facilities,
equipment, and operations and
maintenance of the system for producing
and distributing safe drinking water. As a
result, the Utilities Division is constantly
monitoring well performance, the treatment
process, and the distribution system. They
also maintain the facilities in such a manner
that their outward appearance reflects the
quality of the operation and the high quality of the drinking water distributed
throughout the system. The Utilities Division has never received a less than
satisfactory result from any of the MDH evaluations.
• Around the City
Added Lane Miles. New
development in Lakeville has been
significant over the past year. What
that means to Public Works is added
lane miles for maintenance. Even if
the housing developments are not
complete, the City has the
responsibility to perform some level
on maintenance on those new roads.
At the very least, it adds to the lane
miles of streets plowed every winter.
In 2012, the City added 8.28 lane
miles, the largest increase since 2006. In 2013, 2.72 additional lane miles were
added in conjunction with developments. This brings the total mileage for the City
to approximately 530.72 lane miles. Development over the next few years will
continue to bring increases in lane miles and expand the responsibilities of the
Streets Division.
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Annual Water Use. The year ended
with water use slightly behind 2012
as a result of a wet spring extending
into early summer and despite an
upsurge in use during August. The
peak day for 2013 was 16.95 million
gallons that occurred on
7 September. In 2012, the peak day
was 19.04 million gallons occurring
on 12 July. There were also 14 days
in July 2012 where water use was
between 16 and 20 million gallons
per day. In 2013, there were only 7
days of water use between 16 and 17 million
gallons per day. Individual water use was also
down approximately 10 percent from 2012.
Growth is still an important factor in water use
within Lakeville. It will be several years before
the City's water use will stop increasing on a
yearly basis. In the meantime, improving
consumer awareness and other measures are
important in protecting and preserving water
resources for the future.
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