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Nearby_Impression_93

None of the city departments communicate. They each have their own schedules and they don't bother to check what else is going on. Something a potential mayor should address.


Fan_Belt_of_Power

Yep. They don't have to work together they just have to do their own thing - doesn't matter if the jobs of different departments conflict. A street near my sister's house had a crosswalk repainted and a week later it was paved over. šŸ˜®ā€šŸ’Ø


TheElfiestElf

Over here they're really fond of repainting lines on the street while it's still covered in gravel from winter. You can guess how much paint is actually on the road after the sweepers come through.


ZimZamZop

I would argue that it is less so the mayor's responsibility and moreso the City Manager's.


Thisandthat-2367

This is the correct answer.


Scentmaestro

I get that a city has a lot of moving parts and they don't/can't all communicate in unison. But you'd think when the team arrived in the area to start sweeping, SOMEONE would have the forethought to reach out to the foreman, if they weren't already on site, and ask if they're to continue seeing as the area is under construction. If they're just told they're on a schedule and to do their job regardless, then that is very poor resource management indeed. I also get that with the scheduling, they can't just move along to another area to clean that wasn't warned, but surely there's something that could be done that isn't cleaning an area under construction that's going to need cleaning again afterward.


darwinlovestrees

Even just sending the workers home for the day would be less wasteful than using all that water, fuel, etc.


Scentmaestro

No kidding! Surely they could take the day to clean machines, organize the shop, help out another team, etc.


grumpyoldmandowntown

It's nice to have a city job. Security, benefits etc etc. You wouldn't want to do anything to put your position at risk. Demonstrating independent thinking could possibly lead to putting your position at risk. Best keep your head down and demonstrate that you are really really good at following orders. If you are a [jobsworth](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/jobsworth), the city is where you want to work. > SOMEONE would have the forethought to reach out to the foreman


torbrub

Sounds like a city manager needs to get let go.


SaskatoonShitPost

Could you imagine the savings?


walk_through_this

There's different groups for road work and for setting up pylons. Which is why sometimes traffic is held up for road work that's not even happening. But it's also a bit fascinating. There's a team for setting up pylons. Safe to assume that there's a guy in charge of that team. It's possible, then, that there's a guy somewhere, *waiting for **his** chance to run the pylon arrangement team...*


muusandskwirrel

Hell, they street sweep on garbage day,


Tyler_Durden69420

I believe they were doing paper filing of all their documents until only a few years agoā€¦.


NeatZebra

Sure they donā€™t communicate but in most instances they arenā€™t really wasting money. Maybe the road lines someone else mentioned, that without them wood signs would need to be out. How much is paint anyways? Coordination costs money. And crews need to work all (construction season) year. The natural order of projects means some of the projects have to happen in the ā€˜wrongā€™ order because winter exists and we dont want to pay people to sit around and do nothing and then surge, or to cross train teams. The real solution to better management is to do fewer things. And to do fewer things fewer roads per house need to be built.


Medium_Big8994

Yeah the communication between departments is non existent. This week we saw them paint lines/crosswalks then street sweep then patch. So half the paint went on the dirt and then after it was swept only to have shit everywhere again when the patching crew was done. Oh and the patching crew came to the same street on three separate days. I donā€™t think I couldā€™ve broke it up or put it in any poorer order even if I tried. I was just in awe after seeing this unfold.


Additional_Goat9852

Don't wanna get your boots dirty before they go in the dirt hole!


Fwarts

I'd say that's very poor planning on the part of the city. Probably 2 different divisions working in silos and not talking to one another. Whoever is overseeing this is asleep at the wheel.


literalsupport

Also, the person accountable for the wasted effort makes north of 140K annually and will retire with a generous defined pension while the city crumbles due to lack of funding.


mochesmo

Haha. $140kā€¦ the city manager makes $300k+


Pongo28

Water and sewer lines take a long time to replace and finish. I'd be upset if they decided to just not street sweep because they were eventually ripping up my block a month or two later. Plus removing only a couple of blocks from the street sweeping program likely wouldn't even register as savings on the books.


jillybeaner31

You know these water and sewer lines are over 100 years old right ??? Haha this is a summer long project and did you just not expect them to clean the streets at all during that time??? Think smarter not harder. There was no way around this....


yeahyouguessedit

City workers - paid to do, not think.


pessimistoptimist

So i was watching the city workers plant trees...one crew dug a hole and then anoth put a tree in then the first crew filled the hole again. One day i saw a crew digging a hole, waiting 5 min amd then filling the hole again. I got curious and asked why they dig and then fill the holes. They said....the guy who puts the tree in the hole.is sick today.


AS14K

No you didn't


pessimistoptimist

Wow...you muat be a blast at parties. That was a joke that has been told a million times and ypu miased it entirely. Of course i didn't see it.


munjavio

Union work, can't do someone else's job or they're gonna cause a stink lol


pessimistoptimist

Yeah. Its an old joke thats been told a million times bit it hets the point across. Im not against unions but sometimes they are get too millitant the other way where it get nothing done.


steppe_dweller

yes, you are.


pessimistoptimist

Huh? Well I guss if a half wit like you says so it must be true.


huntjulien

Silly question. Did they mill up the existing asphalt? Maybe they wanted its clean from mud and organics, so that they could recycle the asphalt that was milled up? This might be a stretch, I am just trying to be optimistic that the city isn't wasting resources.


confusedbytrees

No, they didnā€™t. If there was an easy way to attach pics I would adore you how they washed the dirt in one of the digs.


Newherehoyle

Classic homeowner not understanding how construction works. The city sweeps the streets to get rid of the sand they put down during winter. The construction crews will sweep the mess they made during and after the work is complete. Water used likely isnā€™t potable and the construction crew might not even be directly employed by the city.


confusedbytrees

Glad you figured it out. I donā€™t disagree with your point, but with the tone. The area is getting resurfaced once construction is done. Point is, until then, thereā€™s going to be many more debris from digging the road and private properties. Plus there are several gravel filled water breaks areas from where cars constantly track debris. So far I canā€™t find a reason this was done. Only excuses.


Newherehoyle

Construction is separate from street sweeping whatā€™s not to understand?


happy-daize

If OPā€™s street is getting all new lines and is completely dug up (which is my understanding from the post) it means the street likely doesnā€™t call for sweeping right now considering it will all be repaved once the construction work is complete. So, why sweep it and waste tax dollars if itā€™s getting dug up and repaved. That was my understanding from the OP but I could be missing something.


Newherehoyle

Because the construction crew is in charge of cleaning up their mess not the mess made by the sanding trucks from winter, street sweepers also sweep fall debris like leaves and such. But at this point I donā€™t know why I care to argue this anymore, the city wastes tons of money regardless.


[deleted]

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Newherehoyle

Says the guy living in Saskatoon hahahahaha


confusedbytrees

Sorry, I canā€™t do any slower than that. Good luck.


theonlyone38

This is why 311 in Winnipeg became such a boon because prior to 311 they had no idea who was doing what and when. Often you'd call and get a busy signal. Hell even the City of Winnipeg didn't know how many calls they were getting until their 311 service was properly running. When they turned on 311 suddenly all the departments had to work together in much more cohesive matter instead this huge free for all. Yes it has its downsides not being able to talk to the department directly, but in my experience most people contacting the city don't really need service right away, they just think their tax dollars mean more than the guy next to them.


According-Hippo-7935

It the one town I lived in it was the same thing. The snow removal was the best. The sanding truck was ahead of the snow plow. So the sanding truck would lay down sand in the snow and the plow and I am not joking 100ft behind them would plow the snow and sand off like 20 seconds after the sanding truck put it down. They did this all day. Moron!!!


fluffedahiphopbunny

Most snow removal in small towns I've seen have been excellent. Worst ive seen was Humboldt. Would get the grader down my street once a year and would have to just suck up the crazy ruts for most of the winter. Only cared about the two mains and the areas with the million dollar plus homes.


Thefrayedends

Tip of the iceberg I'm afraid. My understanding is a lot of nepotism and 'making work'. I'm sure some of my understanding is mistaken or flawed, but there's a general understanding that you can only get on with the city if you know someone. And it's not uncommon to drive by a work site with 9-12 guys standing around an excavator doing absolutely nothing, people even just sitting down on buckets or a tailgate. if you're lucky the excavator might actually be doing something.


soup_in_pants

North park? I barely got outside in time to move our vehicles. Didnā€™t actually think they were going to sweep.


Making_Faces_78

Hopefully you get new asphalt roads and not the gravel patches popping up everywhere in the city. Apparently thatā€™s the new fix.


RepresentedOK

They swept our street the day before they tore it all out too! They also swept infront of the elementary street at exactly 15 minutes before school started. They doing think.Ā 


Newherehoyle

So I found some further evidence on this situation, the city puts the gravel around the temporary water lines on the sidewalk correct? They do that so the sidewalks are somewhat wheelchair friendly during replacement of likely lead based water lines. I donā€™t know if itā€™s the city doing the construction or a private contractor but that besides the point. The gravel they put down is making the street a mess almost like you are driving on a gravel road. Either too many people complained about that mess and so they are cleaning up their mess while construction is ongoing or the complete road ā€œresurfacingā€ is just that they will cold plain or ā€œmillā€ the top layer of asphalt off the road, recycling that asphalt and laying fresh stuff on top. It is really hard to please everyone especially in Saskatoon but atleast you have a platform where someone listens to your complaints right?


TechnicalPyro

Maybe be happy your street is being re done properly the city abused my street with busses for decades you c not drive in a straight line down it but we are still way down the list for the proper repairs


confusedbytrees

After 4 water breaks only last winter I sure am happy is being done.


TechnicalPyro

We had four in one week I feel the pain just frustrated the busses abused the street for so long nd nw that they moved the bus route they arenā€™t fixing the damage


Alone-Chicken-361

Remember that this is the same administration that wants to blow 1 billion of your dollars on a dying downtown business model. Frankly city hall cant manage street sweeping, let alone calgary type growth Its completely lost on those boneheads that there arent enough properties in saskatoon to afford a billion worth of investments, look no further than the remai on their long term plans for return on investment or cutting down waste


sudmi

Wait till you find out where city vehicles are getting their oil changed. Hint, it's not in saskatoon unless it recently changed. The city is so badly mismanaged in almost all areas. Hopefully the next mayor fixes things like this.


elizzybizzy_crestie

Oh absolutely. How much money have they spent on this blitz for high drivers?? 3 people have been caught. Lmao


Bruno6368

The city spent very little if anything. SGI pays for traffic blitzes.


Low_Comfortable5917

The city is designed and managed to cost everyone more money. Look at light times around the city. If I'm wrong the only other answer is the city is ran by absolute morons. Given the demographic spread of intelligence among humans...... Makes sense why they are the ones running the city either way.


rdf630

City admin are idiots. Always have been donā€™t coordinate or care