A total of 716 service requests from citizens and City staff were recorded during August 2012 in the Public Works’ Department. This was an increase of 503 requests (236%) from the previous month’s count of 213. The chart below tracks the number of requests recorded each day by staff.
Wind storms and rain were the cause of the increased call load. After the storm on the evening of August 9, service requests spiked to 133 the following day. The heavy rain experienced on August 16 also kept calls at a very high level for several days.
The Forestry Section received the most service requests with 428 (60%) calls for the third month in a row. Not surprisingly, the Sewer Section was second with 81(16%) sewer-related calls and also third with 69 (9.6%) of miscellaneous requests. The top service request was for pick up of tree branches in the right-of-way at 226 (31.6%); second was storm damaged trees with 68 (9.5%) calls; and third was for tree hangers with 50 (7%). Tied for fourth place with 26 calls each were fallen trees and the pickup of dead animals. There were 16 calls for flooding issues. The S&I (Snow & Ice) category was actually for requests that are usually experienced during winter months: damaged sod due to City vehicles.