Public works director gives Havre City Council update

Havre Public Works Director Dave Peterson provided an update on his department's recently completed and ongoing projects, as well as progress on dealing with recent snow, at a meeting of the Havre City Council Tuesday.

Peterson said his department has been working in the downtown area this week and last week hauling snow, as well as doing some work over the weekend, but the last month has been rough for the department and there's a lot of work to do, and only so many people to do it.

"Same guys that pick up snow are the same guys that unplug sewers and fix the water breaks," he said.

He said the the area normally sees around 4 inches of snow in December, but they had more than 30 this year, and between the extreme cold and water main breaks it has been difficult to keep up with everything.

Peterson said that after they do some more work downtown they will also be focusing on intersections around town and making them more manageable, but he understands that things are tough right now.

He said people should also keep in mind that maintenance of First Street, Fifth Avenue and 14th Avenue fall under the Montana Department of Transportation and they are doing their best to keep up with things as well.

He said he thinks the city should consider setting up some kind of district downtown to help fund increased snow removal there, since the department spends a disproportionate amount of time there.

He said this is something other cities do and it may be worth looking into in Havre.

Peterson also said one problem they've been seeing is some contractors getting rid of snow by shoving it into the street instead of hauling it off, which is causing some issues.

He said he understands it can be difficult to find places to put the snow and a lot of people are running out of space in their own yards but it can't just be pushed into the street.

"When you cut a tree, you don't get to put it out on the street and expect the city to come and haul that away," he said.

Peterson also talked about potential issues that could be caused by the rapidly fluctuating temperatures, which tends to cause more damage to roads and below-ground city infrastructure than when things stay consistently cold.

He also repeated his department's recommendation that people leave a small trickle of water going in their homes to prevent lines from freezing, which he said costs far more to repair than the negligible cost of running that water.

During the update he also talked about recently completed and upcoming projects for his department.

Over the fall, Peterson said, they completed work on the city's western water tank which saw a pillar damaged by ice, and they are also replacing the aeration system.

He said the tank will be back in service in time for summer irrigation, but, in the meantime, they are using their elevated tank to compensate.

Peterson said they also replaced valves in two dams south of town that prevent flooding in the downtown Havre area and have made upgrades to the computer systems at the city's water plant, systems which had been there since the plant opened almost two decades ago.

All told, he said, these projects are running a price tag of about a million dollars.

As for ongoing projects, he said, they are working to set up a study they need to do so they can renew their wastewater discharge permit with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

Peterson said the study is to make sure that wastewater operations in the city are not harming the river and is a requirement to get the permit, but he knows that it will show positive results, though it will cost the city about $75,000.

He said they are also working to replace air mixers in the city's wastewater system, which are used to circulate air and prevent ice from forming.

He said they've lost some aeration over the past two years and December's extreme temperatures caused ice to build up and they lost a pipe.

He said the maintenance crew did a great job and got everything back up and running quickly, but it is a project that needs to be done.

Peterson also talked about upcoming lead and asbestos abatement in the police and fire department buildings.

He said the hygienist they've been working with out of Great Falls is putting together bids from three different contractors for the job which will start with general cleanup, followed by a full abatement.

However, he said, they are also looking into getting the building's duct system replaced, which the report on the lead and asbestos contamination said needs to be replaced.

Peterson said current temperatures prevent a lot of that work from being done just yet, but he wants to get the ball rolling.

"We're trying to get a little ahead of the game here," he said.

After the update, Peterson said he wanted to take a little time to honor his assistant Public Works Director Jeff Jensen, who retired in late December of last year.

He said Jensen did incredible work for the city for 33 years as water plant operator, a water and wastewater plant superintendent and later as assistant public works director, earning the George Warren Fuller Award from the American Water Works Association, one of the most prestigious honors in the field.

He said Jensen was an incredible colleague and a better friend whom he and public qorks staff will dearly miss.

w Peterson said Jensen was great for the city and the community and he looks forward to their continued friendship as he's hopefully not far from retirement himself, and that he spends it with his family and on the golf course.

"The city of Havre's residents and public works staff will miss Jeff," he said. " ... I can't wait to enjoy some of those cigars, getting those strokes and, hopefully, winning back some of that money on the golf course."

When the meeting opened up to public comments, Havre resident Scott Dion said he wanted the city to do something about the excessive speeds people were traveling on his stretch of 14th Avenue.

"It's an Indianapolis 500 there," he said.

Peterson said that road is under MDT so he recommended Dion go to them and request a traffic safety study be done.

Havre Police Chief Gabe Matosich said he already got in touch with MDT to try to do just that.

Havre resident Dave Brewer also spoke, saying he agreed with Dion.

Brewer also said he wanted to thank Peterson and his department for helping the local Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion fix the flag pole they use for funerals so quickly.

He also said he delivered letters to the Havre Police and Fire departments asking them for letters naming their best officer for the American Legion, which honors the top cops and firefighters around the U.S. each year.

He said a good letter might make it all the way to Washington, D.C., where the overall winner is decided and he would love to see someone from Havre get a shot, but he would need to get letters from the departments by Monday of next week.