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City Council Minutes April 15, 2019 Page 11 County has 24-hour plow shifts and a very large salt budget and Sherburne County only has one plow shift and not a large salt budget. Mr. Sevcik and Mr. Femrite noted the city's communication on Code Red and social media outlets has improved immensely. Councilmember Ovall questioned if communication is something the city and county can collaborate on since people get confused on the difference between the two. Mr. Femrite will review. Mr. Femrite indicated the city gets calls inquiring about sidewalks we maintain versus sidewalks we do not. He explained with one sidewalk plow it takes 48 hours to clear 23 miles. He noted we are not meeting our own ordinance requiring residents to have sidewalks cleared within 24 hours. Mayor Dietz questioned how plowing all 52 miles of sidewalks would impact the budget. Mr. Sevcik indicated two more sidewalk plows and two more employees would come at a cost of approximately $500,000. Mayor Dietz indicated he received a lot of snow complaints this year but believes staff did a good job. He questioned if there is a way to alternate routes so the first person plowed during a storm is the last person plowed next time. Mr. Sevcik indicated it can be done but efficiency would be lost as it would change how we prioritize routes. Mayor Dietz questioned if city snow plow drivers are exempt from the 14 -hour driving restriction. Mr. Sevcik indicated there is no exemption for city plow drivers. Mayor Dietz asked if our communications department could provide real time updates on social media of which areas are being plowed. Mr. Sevcik indicated software does locate trucks every 30 minutes but there is no automated feature so staff would have to constantly monitor the software in order to provide updates. Mayor Dietz questioned if we know our service levels compared to neighboring cities. Mr. Fernrite indicated in speaking with other public works departments, he learned each city has its own set of challenges but he believes we do a good job with our service. Mayor Dietz asked if part-time seasonal snow plow drivers can be hired to assist. Mr. Sevcik stated the new part-time snow plow driver was recently added to the compensation plan but has not been utilized. He stated the part-time employee may be implemented next plow season. Mayor Dietz indicated Vision Transportation was criticizing the city on social media during one of the ice storms. Mr. Teff believes Vision Transportation needs to adapt their routes much like the city does. He explained Vision Transportation is welcome to contact the city to get real time updates but they have not done so. A R E R f R R C INATUR�