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Item No. 24 Staff Report No. Meeting Date: February 2, 1998 Type of Business: W.K. WK: Work Session;PH:Public Hearing; CA:Consent Agenda; CB:Council Business City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Michael Ulrich, Director of Public Works Item Title/Subject: Discussion Regarding Public Works Sewer Staffing Date of Report: January 30, 1998 Council might recall through the last nine to ten months, reading about the rehabilitation, surgery and limited hours of service that Wally and Larry have been through from the accident that they were involved in. The accident occurred in May of 1997. Since that date both individuals received treatment for back and neck injuries. Both individuals were absent from employment during their recovery. Larry returned to work with limitations and continued therapy for approximately six weeks. Wally did not return to work immediately. He was unable to perform any work related duties for a period of four weeks. He did return to work with restrictions and limited hours. The therapy,medication and restrictions were not producing any measurable improvement in Wally's ability to perform his work duties or normal movements. On December 18, 1997 Wally had back surgery performed. This is a brief synopsis of the events leading up to the point of this report. Due to these circumstances, in 1997 the Sewer Division only accomplished 124 hours of sanitary sewer maintenance. With the anticipation of the reconstruction of Spring Lake Road, and other various problem lines, 467 hours of storm sewer maintenance was performed. These hours equate to 8905 feet of sanitary sewer out of a total of 227,000 feet and 17,000 feet of storm sewer. In 1995 the entire sanitary system, 43 miles, were cleaned and roots were cut in over 1 mile of sanitary main lines. After completing the entire system,the policy of cleaning 1/4 of the system per year was determined an achievable goal. Televising, inspecting, root cutting and repairing the system would also accompany the annual percentage cleaned. This policy was recommended by the League of Cities. As you can see we are falling far short of our goal. Not being able to adequately maintain an aging system with progressively increasing root problems, opens the door to increased liability for sewer blockages and backups. This year we will have to play catchup on maintenance. Wally's return to work at this time is anticipated to be in April. At that time it will be determined what, if any, restrictions will be placed on his ability to perform his duties full time. We are assuming that Wally will return to active full time employment and fully encourage his return. Wally is unsure at this time if he will seek an early retirement if he cannot fulfill his normal duties. In any case he has submitted his vacation schedule for 1998. With the combined vacation time Larry and Wally are entitled to, at best it appears that sewer maintenance will be limited to three days per week. This does not include any training, sick days, holidays, or other staffing needs that might diminish the hours available for maintenance.