05-09-2007 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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et f S'`/ &nada MAYOR Bill Biesener COUNCIL Rick Montour Barbara Allan John Kele Michael McGraw 515 Little Canada Road, Little Canada, MN 55117 -1600 ADMINISTRATOR (651) 766 -4029 / FAX: (651) 766-4048 Joel R. Manson www.ci.littie-canada.mn.us MEMORANDUM To: Mayor Blesener & Members of City Council From: Bill Dircks, Public Works Superintendent Date: May 2, 2007 Re: On -Site Sanitation Settlement On September 12, 2005 City Public Works staff responded to a sewer backup on Woodlyn Ave. just west of the City's lift station. The blockage was found to be located between the On -Site Sanitation building and the railroad tracks to the west of On -Site Sanitation. The Public Works crew used the Vactor to clear the blockage and regain normal flow. At around the time the blockage was cleared representatives from Kath Oil checked on the building they recently purchased and refurbished at 90 Woodlyn Ave. (across the street from On -Site Sanitation) and found sewage had backed up all the way through the building. There was considerable damage to the office and warehouse areas of the building with the main problem being the overwhelming scent of the chemical used by On -Site in port-o- potties. The City felt that On -Site Sanitation caused the blockage. Specifically, it was the City's opinion that the dump site that On -Site uses to empty the trucks used to clean their port- o- potties was not being used properly resulting in large chunks of debris entering the sanitary sewer main and becoming lodged. The On -Site building and Kath's building at 90 Woodlyn are the only two services on the main downstream of the lift station. The lift station cannot pass most of the material that was found at the blockage through its pumps. That leaves the On -Site dump station and Kath's building as the only two possibilities for causing the blockage. There has been a history of problems with On- Site's dumping practices since they moved in to the building in the mid- 1990s. The former Public Works Director, Greg Schroeder had worked with On -Site in the past to improve the dump station and protect our sewer main. The old setup was a four -inch hole that the operator dumped into using a hose with a special end that we found Lodged in our sewer main on numerous occasions. Mr. Schroeder and On -Site designed a structure with grates on it to keep large solids out of