Road Salt Symposium

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Thanks to our sponsors:

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19th Annual Road Salt Symposium

Thank you for attending!

We asked for feedback, listened, and made some changes moving forward that attendees wanted. After multiple participant surveys, October emerged as the best time of year for this event. This fall's event brought the most current research; provided local, regional, and national perspectives on winter maintenance; and featured Environmental Leadership Awards for those doing exceptional work to reduce salt use and advance the field of winter maintenance. Congratulations to our awardees! We were also very excited to have one of MnDOT's icebreaker trucks as a special guest.

Click on the title below to view the speakers' presentations.

OCTOBER 2019 AGENDA

Welcome
Connie Fortin, Fortin Consulting and John Linc Stine, Freshwater Society

Working together to protect Minnesota waters
Katrina Kessler, P.E., MPCA

MnDOT leadership road salt update
Sue Mulvihill, P.E., MnDOT

Technology helping with sustainability
Joe Huneke, MnDOT

Timing is everything
Jerry Auge, P.E., Ramsey County
 
Tools to reduce chlorides from ordinances to training
Brooke Asleson, MPCA

Heavy Metal: icebreakers and underbodies
Jed Falgren, P.E., MnDOT
   
Bringing brine to the front lines
Phil Gaebler, City of Madison

Putting Mayo Clinic on a low salt diet
Nick Queensland, Mayo Clinic 
              
Winter maintenance across "the pond"
Matt Morreim, City of St. Paul

DLA experiment and upcoming clear roads research
James Hughes, WisDOT

Chloride impacts & alternatives
Andy Erickson, Ph.D., P.E., St. Anthony Falls Laboratory

Congratulations to the Fall 2019 Environmental Leadership Award winners:

Mayo Clinic Grounds Maintenance
Douglas County Public Works
City of Edina, Engineering Department
MnDOT Road Weather Technology Team

READ MORE ABOUT THEM HERE.

See past winners of Environmental Leadership Awards

Questions about the Symposium?
Contact Alex Van Loh by email or at 651-313-5814

Model Snow and Ice Policy

A Model Snow and Ice Management Policy Advisory Committee was convened in the summer of 2016 in response to an extraordinary interest in risk management expressed by attendees of the February 2016 Road Salt Symposium.

The framework offers a tool for cities and counties to prepare clear and complete snow and ice management policies and to help them limit the potential liability risk from these activities. Snow and ice management requires balancing public interests including public safety, equipment and material cost, environmental impact, and other concerns. The law governing public operations largely protects cities and counties from liability, in recognition of the fact that these local units must exercise judgment based on expertise, experience, and the circumstances of the occasion. The law says, however, that to merit this protection, a city or county must be able to show that competing public concerns are in play, that these concerns have been weighed, and that judgment was used in making both policy and operational decisions. The Model Policy is a tool for cities and counties to establish this foundation for their snow and ice management policies and practices.

Cities, counties, and other users of this Model Policy are encouraged to adapt and modify the Policy as appropriate to local circumstances with guidance from their respective attorneys.

Draft guidance doc
Draft contract
Draft policy and cover letter

Thanks to the following organizations that supported development of this policy:

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