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City Council <br />Study Session Summary <br />January 27, 2015 <br />Page 3 of 4 <br />Integrate Open Space property acquisition into City Planning. Encourage <br />and support City staff to pursue alternate acquisition approaches such as <br />conservation easements, rights of first refusal and other methods. <br />Mayor Muckle said the City already does this. The City seizes the opportunities <br />as they become available. The City takes a cautious, non - threatening approach <br />to contacting property owners whose property ranks high on list. Discussion <br />ensued on transparent processes for property acquisition. <br />OSAB asked that when Council considers areas that will increase in density, <br />consider adjacent open space. <br />OSAB said the Board feels engaged by the Council and appreciates their <br />support. <br />Update /Discussion — Snow Removal <br />Public Works Director Kurt Kowar gave a presentation on the snow removal <br />procedures. The Streets' Snow Removal Map was shown. Public Works <br />operations crews try to plow every residential neighborhood street once after the <br />major arterial and collectors are cleared. The Parks and Recreation Department <br />attempts to remove snow on hard surfaced trails and sidewalks under City <br />responsibility within 24 hours following a snow event. <br />Back to back storms in December along with extremely cold temperatures <br />presented challenges for snow removal. The new City Services Facility will <br />greatly facilitate Ice Slicer storage. Ice Slicer storage space will likely double and <br />the City will be able to get better pricing. The current Ice Slicer process is very <br />manual. The City is awaiting delivery of two snow plows equipped with an <br />automated system to apply Ice Slicer, allowing for better distribution. Gang <br />plowing has been instituted and is more efficient. Rock salt has been used in the <br />past and is not very effective. <br />A map of priorities was shown and discussed. Trails require a lot of manual labor <br />and smaller vehicles. The Parks and Recreation Department has added staff <br />and is upgrading smaller equipment. Snow removal will continue to improve as <br />new staff becomes more experienced. <br />Council member Leh commended Director Kowar for an information email <br />response to a citizen in December saying it was very thorough. <br />Mayor Muckle wants to make sure we commit enough resources. Director Kowar <br />feels the resources and feedback received from Council are good and helpful. <br />Comments: <br />None <br />