CCP 12-22-2006 Administrator's Update

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.'~~ -1 I .--- . ~ Mayor -AI~~J:-IILLS Beverly Aplikowski Michelle Wolfe Arden Hills City Council City Administrator Council Members 1245 West Highway 96 David Grant Administrator's Update Arden Hills MN 55112 Brenda Holden 651.634.5120 Gregg Larson For the week ending December 22, \\,\!.~ .ci.anl~ll-hills.lllll.lIS Vincent Pellegrin 2006 Happy Holidays! We had a busy week at City l1all as we preparc for the long holiday weekcnd. Next week will he quiet. City Hall is closed Monday and Tuesday. I will be out of town Wednesday and Thursday but Scbawn will be here. I will be in on Friday. Staff is dealing with an issue in the town home developmcnt west of Hamline and south of Highway 96. Xccl did some work therc last fall, and some lateral sanitary lines were hit. When the original work was done hy Xeel (and its subcontractors) the City conducted the usual locate for the main lines. Some repairs were made immediately, some arc underway. But in the process we learned that the City docs not have records as to the location of the lateral lines. New . state law changes how locates for the lateral lines are handled and who is responsible for the locates. In addition, the experience led to us discovering that apparently the town home association does not have any records either. For safety purposes, at this time we believe it critical to televise the laterals to (1) make sure no other damage was done and (2) develop a record of the location of these lines. The issues we arc dealing with include: informing the neighborhood (Xcel did one mailing already, cautioning that anyone who has a backup should call the City or Xccl first before hiring a private contractor); how to get the tclevising work done as quickly as possible (and any nceded repairs); and determining responsibility for cost. City stafT is focused on getting the work done quickly. Our City Attorney and the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust are both involved and representing us in this matter. If you would like more infonnation, feci free to call Greg, Schawn , or me. Public Works had a very busy week. Saturday December 1 () oLlr crew spent 16 hours repairing a water main break on County Road E. Sunday night we resumed our night flooding of ice rinks. We were able to flood every night except Thursday. The night crew spent Thursday night with ice control due to the rain and snow. Wednesday December 20 crews discovered a water main hreak on Round Lake Road. While attempting to shut off a valve to isolate the break for repairs the valve brokc. This will cause a second repair to be done in thc area. Most likely these repairs will take place all Saturday Decemher 23 to cause the least amount of disruption to the area businesses. Staffre-evaluated our cell phone rate plan and found that we are able to be a part of the State's contract. By switching to the Statc contract we will save approximatcly $375.00 per year. .