01-24-11 Common Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 24, 2011 from Code inspectors and Engineering to shovel ADA ramps on walks and around fire hydrants a huge task that we can't do alone and have regularly put out the call to neighbors through the media to pitch in on these. They include media alerts on the importance of clearing sidewalks and helping elderly or physically challenged neighbors to clear walks especially in areas with lots of walkers like in proximity of schools. He stated that if you look at the volume and weights of snow they dealt with in public streets in South Bend as a result of this months record snowfall. He noted that they have 500 centerline miles of streets with an average width curb to curb of 40 feet. He stated that they have received 40 inches of snow over that area. That amounts to 1.3 million cubic yards of snow. Enough to cover 100 football fields 6 feet deep. He stated that is a lot of volume for the city plows to push. He stated that the water weight of snow is 150,000 tons. He stated to think of that as lifting a 200 pound person 1.5 million times. That is a lot of weight and work for the city snow plow people and equipment to push. Mr. Gilot stated that the economic impact of city snow control service cost a bit over a quarter million dollars in labor to handle a record accumulation of 40 inches of snow in about a week. That computes to $500 per mile cleared or about $12.50 per inch of snow per mile of City streets cleared. They have economies of scale, but this is a bargain for the job they did. Gas and wear and tear on equipment will take the public expenditure number for the storm higher, but not significantly so in the grand scheme of things. He gave an example to consider: With downtown alone employing 20,000 people at say an average annual wage of$40,000, one day's payroll impact is over $2 million. If a single day of productivity was lost in downtown alone, it would have cost the community 8 times what they spent to handle the storm quickly and effectively citywide. He stated to think about the daily economic activity in the entire city during a typical business day that counts on the city doing the services most folks take for granted (estimate citywide payroll impact at risk in a lost day of productivity due to a winter storm at 25 to 30 times what we spent on a record storm.) That is the level of economic benefit derived consideration that they want folks to think about and appreciate from a well run city government. The big picture economic point is Mayor Luecke through preplanning resources and approach and being there to lead/encourage the execution has made keeping the city running through big storm challenges a priority this teamwork multi-department approach and stubborn determination to keep the city open for business comes from the guy at the top and permeates the organization culture in South Bend. He stated that the Mayor makes that clear to him and to Sam Hensley. He emphasized that the city is counting on them to when he was speaking with the assembled crews at the Street Department Saturday during the early stages of the storm when the degree of snow accumulation was becoming clear. He authorized emergency measures over the weekend to have the city ready for business Monday morning and it was ready after a huge concerted effort. The team credits Mayor Steve with leadership and for support of the team with resources to do the job. Mr. Gilot thanked the Council again for approving those resources to enable us to work the effective plan. Effective government sometimes needs to be measured by what it saves the community rather than what it costs taken it that light city government services are an often under appreciated bargain. Mr. Gilot stated that the city workforce worked 12 and some 16 hour days from when the snow started falling until the city streets were all in good condition before returning to normal work weeks. Salaried supervisors worked those same hours without addition compensation. They have a competent and dedicated workforce who tackled a big complex task well. They pre- planned. They met as team and communicated across Public Works and Public Safety and Parks and they followed a good plan with strong implementation. The responded to change conditions and did some creative moves on the fly we flooded a hard hit Westside area with trucks for a while breaking out of our City quadrant and sub area squares methodology. He stated that they brought in contracted loaders and trucks to get downtown ready for Monday morning commerce while also giving neighborhoods the plowing resources they needed and deserved. He stated through it all Mikki Dobski was in over the weekend and continually through the storm response operation asking questions and getting updates and letting the public and media know progress and what would come next. Mr. Gilot stated that it all worked pretty well, but they always post mortem and look for ideas for continuous improvement. They did very well handling a record snowfall. He stated that they appreciate those who praised the plan and the execution by the team of dedicated employees and partners. He stated that it is their job 5