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515 Little Canada Road, Little Canada, MN 55117-1600 <br />(651) 766 -4029 / FAX: (651) 766 -4048 <br />www.ci.littlo-canadaann.us <br />MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Mayor Blesener & Members of City Council <br />FROM: Bill Dircks, Public Works Superintendent <br />DATE: May 3, 2011 <br />RE: Hydrant and Gate Valve Exerciser <br />MAYOR <br />13111 Blesener <br />COUNCIL <br />Nick Montour <br />John Ice's <br />Michael McGraw <br />Shelly Boss <br />ADMINISTRATOR <br />Joel 12. 1- Janson <br />The City's Public Works Department exercises all of the fire hydrants and gate valves in <br />the City each spring. There are over 500 of each in the system. Usually, two employees <br />spend two weeks on gate valves and another two weeks on hydrants. One employee <br />works on the east side of 35E and one employee works on the west side. They are <br />exercised to ensure that all are operable and all issues are discovered and corrected. <br />Operating hydrants also flushes the water system and eliminates sediment from the <br />mains. <br />A loss control consultant from the League of Minnesota Cities visited us this past winter <br />and evaluated are safety program along with making some recommendations on safe <br />maintenance practices. One of his suggestions was to check out the Hydrant Buddy. The <br />Hydrant Buddy is a tool that is used to exercise hydrants and gate valves. Both <br />operations involve lots of bending over and repetitive motion while turning each hydrant <br />and valve a minimum of 18 -20 full turns. Some of the large gate valves can be as many <br />as 40 turns. The Hydrant Buddy allows the operator to use a converted right angle drill to <br />do the work. It is geared to adapt to the force required to turn each different hydrant and <br />valve. <br />The City has had a couple of injuries within the last year. They were not specifically <br />related to exercising valves and hydrants but they did reveal that we should always be <br />looking for safer methods if they are available and cost effective. The City of New <br />Brighton has had a Hydrant Buddy for about a year and is very satisfied with it. They are <br />ordering a second one to allow them to get around the City faster. The Hydrant Buddy <br />does not make the process any more efficient so it would take two employees the same <br />amount of time as it takes now. Therefore, it is recommended that the City purchase two <br />in order to finish exercising hydrants and valves in the same amount of time. <br />1 <br />