Pollution Prevention / Good Housekeeping

The 6 planned activities to prevent stormwater pollution associated with municipal activities are:

  1. Drainage crew operations: The City has established a crew within the Public Works Department with responsibility for maintaining and repairing the public storm drainage system. Their operations include inspection of the storm sewer system, catch basin cleaning, making necessary repairs to the system, and removing blockages from City streams.
  2. Street sweeping program: The City contracts with an outside vendor for street sweeping services. The street sweeping program involves cleaning all curbed streets within the city (approximately 232 curb miles) and four publicly-owned parking lots. The frequency of cleaning varies from once a week in the City center area to bi-monthly in lower-use residential streets.
  3. Leaf/brush pickup programs: The City provides leaf and brush pick-up services that are available to all city residents free of charge. The leaf pick-up program begins operation in early November and continues until early January. All areas of the City receive the pick-up service three times over this period. The collected leaves are deposited at a City-owned lot for composting. The brush pick-up program, which is provided upon request, begins in April and continues until October. The collected brush is transported to a local waste disposal company, Rumpke, where it is composted.
  4. Fleet maintenance program: The City’s fleet maintenance program minimizes the potential for any stormwater pollution. Preventative measures used include the following:
    • All City fleet maintenance operations are conducted within the main garage at the Public Works facility. This area is completely enclosed and features numerous spill control measures.
    • The Public Works facility includes an enclosed truck wash which is used to wash City-owned vehicles. Wash water is discharged to the sanitary sewer system.
    • All waste oil generated through fleet maintenance operations will be either re-used on-site in a waste oil furnace or recycled.
    • The City uses only above-ground fuel storage tanks which are equipped with leak detection.
  5. Snow removal program: The City’s current snow removal program is based on the use of salt and calcium chloride. Although the amounts can vary widely from year to year, an average of 3,000 tons of salt and 1,800 gallons of calcium chloride are used annually. The salt is stored in a 4,000-ton capacity salt barn. All calcium chloride is stored in a 5,600-gallon tank.
  6. City staff training: The City has developed a training program for selected City staff involved in activities that could impact stormwater quality. These staff members include representatives from the Parks and Public Works Departments. The training is focused on minimizing the potential for stormwater pollution from park and golf course maintenance, fleet maintenance, street maintenance, and storm sewer maintenance. These training sessions are conducted bi-annually.