Atherton Public Works in Heightened Alert

Atherton Resident,

With a heavy amount of rain forecast between now and the end of the weekend Atherton has put their public works maintenance contractor, MCE on a heightened alert level through the weekend. Prior to the storms taking place, the Public Works Department has made sure of the following:

The Atherton Channel was cleared of all debris and is in proper condition to withstand full capacity levels.

All the storm drains inlets, pipes and grates have been inspected for functionality.

All drains requiring cleaning have been cleaned, with the exception of the few that were scheduled and will be cleaned by end of shift today by sub-contractor (these were not non-functional drains, but those that we know from experience need annual maintenance to work at their best).

All the streets in town were swept by our contracted sweeping provider at the beginning of November.

Sand for sandbags and pothole mix are fully stocked in corp yard.

Emergency generators at PD and PW are serviced, fueled to capacity and tested for functionality as of last week. A backup supply of diesel fuel on standby in corp yard.

New barricades and cones are at the ready for when the needs arise.

Heightened alert level for Public Works includes:

Everyone who works for MCE (including park employee) has communications available both at work and away from work in the event of a call-back due to need.

MCE vehicles as well as the towns backhoe are parked with full tanks of fuel at end of shift, and are equipped for off shift call outs.

Emergency equipment (chain saws, pump) in good working order.

MCE has instructed their employees on Town call back procedures. This procedure includes taking care of item called about, running through the entire town to assure proper function of drainage facilities and checking out through PD dispatch prior to leaving. It also gives employees discretion to call out others should a storm escalate while they are on duty.

Tree crew emergency call numbers checked and verified with West Coast Arborists, our current emergency tree work provider.

Patrolling by MCE crews during storms includes removing of debris from the travel way, filling potholes, correcting localized flooding issues, cleaning debris from drain grates, inspecting the Atherton Channel at all historic problem areas and assisting with traffic control when needed.

This is a reminder to keep your flashlights filled with fresh batteries and in a handy location as well as candles and lanterns to help deal with a small scale power outage. For those concerned with the possibility of small scale flooding issues, the Town offers free of charge up to 20 sandbags to its residents. They need only come down to the Public Works Corporation Yard at 99 Station Lane and load them up.