City may replace fewer mailboxes felled by plowing
by John Gessner
Thisweek Newspapers
The city of Burnsville may soon be replacing fewer mailboxes that are victims of snowplowing.
The City Council is considering plowing and ice-control policy changes that include a different standard for replacing mailboxes.
The city now replaces any mailbox felled by a plow itself or by snow pushed by a plow.
Under a change proposed by city staff, the city would replace only mailboxes actually struck by a plow.
That and other changes for Burnsville are recommended by the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust, which recently reviewed the city’s snowplowing policies. Some haven’t been updated since 1982.
The city budgets $6,000 a year for mailbox replacements, said Bud Osmundson, public works director and city engineer.
“Our Public Works Department spends a ton of time on mailboxes, on fixing them,” he told council members at a Jan. 11 work session.
An average mailbox might cost $75 to replace, but more elaborate boxes — some surrounded by rock landscaping — can cost far more, Osmundson said.
“We’ve replaced $2,000 or $3,000 mailboxes, as silly as that sounds,” he said.
The league’s insurance trust recommends a model policy for its member cities, which include Burnsville.
“Our policies have many of the same purposes and procedures that are in the LMCIT model, but the LMCIT model also includes many improvements over our policies,” said a city staff report.
A council vote on proposed changes is expected Feb. 22.
John Gessner is at burnsville.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.
One more way to screw the citizens of Burnsville. We the City, can do whatever (damage) we want to private property and not be held responsbile. What a crock…..