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A. Public Trail & Sidewalk Winter Maintenance PolicyAdministration CITY OF CHANHASSEN Phone: 952.227.1100 MEMORADUM CITYOF TO: Todd Hoffman, Park & Recreation Director CHAMNSEN Dale Gregory, Park Superintendent 7700 Market Boulevard DATE: February 11, 2013 PO Box 147 I. INTRODUCTION Chanhassen, MN 55317 SUBJ: Winter Maintenance of Public Trails and Sidewalks Policy Administration CITY OF CHANHASSEN Phone: 952.227.1100 WINTER MAINTENANCE OF PUBLIC TRAILS Fax: 952.227.1110 AND SIDEWALKS POLICY Park & Recreation ADOPTED NOVEMBER, 1996 Building Inspections Fire Station. Also trails around schools. Phone: 952.227.1180 I. INTRODUCTION Fax: 952.227.1190 This document is an addendum to the policy governing snowplowing and ice Recreation Center control on public streets. Winter maintenance of public trails and sidewalks Engineering is commenced upon completion of winter street maintenance. Park and Phone: 952.227.1160 recreation personnel must complete their assigned street maintenance duties Fax: 952.227.1170 prior to commencing trail and sidewalk maintenance. Finance Currently we have one full -time park employee designated to help the street Phone: 952.227.1140 Fax: 952.227.1110 department plow city streets when there is a snow storm. This leaves six full - Fax: 952.227.1310 time park employees and one seasonal employee to start on parking lots at Park & Recreation the Chan Rec Center, Bluff Creek Elementary School, Library, City Hall and Phone: 952.227.1120 Fire Station. Also trails around schools. Fax: 952.227.1110 Fax: 952.227.1110 II. POLICY Recreation Center Each year the Park and Recreation Department prepares a map depicting the 2310 Coulter Boulevard trails and sidewalks that will be maintained through the winter months. Phone: 952.227.1400 Generally this map includes all 9 -ft. -wide bituminous on and off - street trails, Fax: 952.227.1404 downtown sidewalks, and school -route sidewalks. Snow removal and ice control on residential sidewalks is the responsibility of the property owners Planning & residing or controlling the properties adjacent to these sidewalks. Natural Resources Phone: 952.227.1130 We have maps showing 91 miles of trails and 10 miles of downtown Fax: 952.227.1110 sidewalks that are cleared of snow. Public Works Place 7901 Park III. COMMENCEMENT OF OPERATIONS Phone: 952.22ace Winter trail and sidewalk maintenance typically commences one full day Fax: 952.227.1310 after a snowfall of two inches or more. Work scheduling is dependent upon the release of personnel from their street maintenance duties. Priority is Senior Center awarded downtown trail and sidewalk routes and high use trails.. Phone: 952.227.1125 Fax: 952.227.1110 After each snow event greater than one inch (or in some cases during), the park staff reports to work at 4 a.m. Three employees travel to the Bluff Web Site Creek Elementary School /Chanhassen Recreation Center to clear parking www.ci.chanhassen.mn.us lots and sidewalks prior to the start of the business day. Two employees report to City Hall, the Library, Main Fire Station and City Center Park to clear snow from parking lots and trails prior to the start of daily activities at each of these facilities. Two employees will be dispatched to City Hall, the Chanhassen is a Community for Life -Providing for Today and Planning for Tomorrow Mr. Todd Hoffman February 11, 2013 Page 2 Library, Main Fire Station and Water Treatment Plant to clear snow from entrance sidewalks. Upon completion of these duties, the Park Maintenance Division meets back at the shop (around 7 :30 a.m.) to discuss how the day's work has progressed so far and then formulate a plan to finish out the day. In a typical scenario, two employees will transport bobcat skid steers to the downtown area and begin to clear sidewalks in the downtown and adjoining business parks using attached v plows. Four or five employees will initiate the task of clearing the city's trail system using pickups with plows. The crew plowing trails also stops to plow the snow from neighborhood skating /hockey rinks as they pass by them on their assigned plow route. All this can be accomplished in 12 to 16 hours. In the event there is a major snow storm, many of these jobs take a lot longer to complete and we may end up plowing some trails and parking lots multiple times. Trails along state, county and some city streets will be left until those agencies have completed widening their roads. Our pickup plows no longer work and we will switch to larger tractors with snow blowers, bobcats with snow blowers, and trucks with v plows. It has taken as long as two weeks to get all trails and sidewalks completely open. IV. SNOW STORAGE In most instances, snow and ice removed during street maintenance is deposited onto the boulevard and sidewalk/trail area. Trail and sidewalk clearing operations result in this snow and ice being placed farther back onto the boulevard. In places of extreme confinement, snow and ice may be bladed down a trail or sidewalk for a distance prior to being deposited onto the boulevard. Trails and sidewalks along state, county and some city streets may not get plowed until after plowed to full width so we don't have to worry about trails being replowed shut. V. USE OF SAND AND SALT The City is concerned about the effect of salt and sand on the environment and will limit its use for that reason. Therefore, it is the policy of the City to utilize salt and sand at locations where there are hazardous or slippery conditions. This provides for traction, but is not intended to provide bare pavement during winter conditions. The City will not be responsible for damage to grass caused by salt and sand and therefore will not make repairs or compensate residents for salt and sand damage to turf areas in the street right -of -way. We will salt trails after ice storms when they are very slippery. The sidewalks downtown are narrower than a trail and currently the city does not have any equipment that will accommodate salting sidewalks. VI. PROPERTY DAMAGE Snowplowing and ice control operations can cause property damage even under the best of circumstances and care on the part of the operators. The tApw_users \daleg \winter maintenance schedule Ldoc Mr. Todd Hoffman February 11, 2013 Page 3 primary types and area of potential damage are typically related to private improvements made within the City right -of -way, which extends approximately 10 to 15 feet beyond the curb location. The intent of the right - of -way is to provide room for snow storage, utilities, sidewalks and other City uses. A. Mailboxes — Mailboxes should be constructed sturdily enough to withstand snow rolling off a plow or wing. While the installation of mailboxes on City right -of -way is permitted, the mailbox owner assumes all risk of damage except when a mailbox is damaged through contact by a plow blade, wing, or other piece of equipment. If a mailbox is damaged due to direct contact by snow plowing equipment, the City, at its option, will repair or replace the mailbox at a cost not to exceed $30.00. Damage resulting from snow rolling off a plow or wing is the responsibility of the resident. B. Landscaping — Property owners assume all risk of damage for landscaping, including nursery and inanimate materials that are installed or encroach on City right -of -way. The City assumes no responsibility for damage incurred to these non - permitted elements as a result of snow plowing and ice control activities with the exception that lawns that are scraped or gouged by City equipment will be repaired by dressing and seeding the following spring. In addition, inanimate materials such as boulders, timbers, etc. are a hazard and can cause damage to plow equipment. C. Other Private Installations — The City will assume no responsibility for underground lawn sprinkling systems, exterior lighting systems, underground electronic dog fences, or any other non - permitted features privately installed in City right -of -way. The Park Department reviews all trails in spring and will repair areas where grass was damaged by the snowplow. IX. DRIVEWAYS One of the most frequent and irritable problems in plowing snow from public streets, trails and sidewalks is depositing it in driveways. The operators make every attempt to minimize the amount of snow deposited in driveways; however, due to the inherent design of plow equipment, the amount can still be significant. Due to established priorities and staffing levels, City personnel do not provide driveway cleaning. Possible exceptions are at the discretion of the Street or Park Superintendent for a fire or medical emergency situations. Our snowplow drivers make every attempt to keep snow out of driveways and city streets. There are very few complaints. X. COMPLAINTS/INQUIRIES Complaints and inquiries regarding winter maintenance of public trails and sidewalks should be made with the Park Superintendent at the city's public works facility. The phone number during normal business hours is 952- 227 -1301. Responses to inquiries shall be made within 24 hours. t: \pw_ users \daleg \winter maintenance schedulel.doc