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Fall 2013
Newsletter
Inside This Issue
Winter Prep & Snow Plowing ....................... Page 2
Health Screening for Employees ................... Page 3
Halloween Safety ............................................ Page 4
Don’t Flush That! ........................................... Page 5
Fall Leaf Pickup.............................................. Page 5
Bathroom Wipes ............................................. Page 6
Directory ......................................................... Page 8
With the arrival of fall comes the question of
whether your furnace will run when you need
it and that age old question – where did the
summer go? It did go by quickly but I
wanted to take a few minutes of your time
and recap some of the events of the summer
months in the City of Buffalo:
We cut the ribbon and officially opened
the downtown commons area complete
with fountains, benches, and major re-
construction work on streets and alleys.
The commons has quickly become popu-
lar with families and especially children
and we are very pleased with the poten-
tial that that reconstruction work provides
for our downtown business area. Our
thanks to the Buffalo HRA for driving and
funding that project.
Another successful Concerts in the Park
season. We had great weather, great
bands, and a great turnout for every
event. Our concerts continue to grow in
popularity and excitement.
We had a great season at Wild Marsh
Golf Course. The course itself is in great
shape and this year we added a new
and redesigned restaurant called Tavern
at Marsh with new fireplaces, big-screen
TVs and a new menu.
We began work on drainage improve-
ments in the Willow Creek Watershed,
which runs from North and East of the
City of BuffaloCity of BuffaloCity of Buffalo
Mayor’s MessageMayor’s MessageMayor’s Message
A beautiful burst of Autumnal colors on a large maple
tree located behind the Community Center building.
www.ci.buffalo.mn.us
airport, through town, down to Buffalo Lake.
When all phases of this are complete we will
see improved drainage and high water con-
trol for that entire Watershed area including
the airport, the rodeo grounds, and Willow
Creek.
Enjoy the rest of the fall and have a great fall
and winter holiday season…
Mayor Brad NaumanMayor Brad Nauman
Fall 2013 City of Buffalo 2
Snow in Minnesota usually occurs in the next two
to three months. As much as we hate to think of it,
there are things we must remember to do before
and after the snow comes. Following the recom-
mendations below will enable us to be safer and
help the City be more efficient in snow plowing
operations. Here are some recommendations and
reminders of ordinances:
When there is a heavy snow, streets must be
kept clear of parked cars. Leaving a car in the
street during snow plowing operations may
result in your car being towed or ticketed.
Check your mail box post. If City snow plows
hit it we will only replace the post if it is not rot-
ted. We will only replace posts that are in
good condition.
Remove any landscape materials (decorative
rocks, pink flamingos, or posts of any type –
other than your mail box post) from the right of
way.
Please educate your children not to play by
the street while the plows are in operation and
to not create snow forts in the right of way. -
Please do not plow snow into the street from
your drive way.
Keep garbage and recycling cans in your
drive way and not out in the street during pick
up days.
Plowing snow from in front of your mail box is
your responsibility – not that of the City.
Portable basketball hoops are prohibited in
the Right of Way at all times. Please remove
them. The City will issue warnings and remove
them if not removed by the property owner.
We ask for your cooperation in following these few
rules. This will enable the City to plow your snow in
a safe, efficient, and complete manner.
Thank you.
Winter Preparation and Snow Winter Preparation and Snow
Plowing Survival Guide Plowing Survival Guide
Fall 2013 City of Buffalo 3
Monday 10 PM - 8 PM
Wednesday 10 AM - 6 PM
Friday 10 AM - 6 PM
Saturday 8 AM - 4 PM
Compost Site is CLOSED
on Tuesdays, Thursdays &
Sundays.
Compost site users will need to obtain a compost window decal/sticker. There is no charge for the decal/sticker and are available at the com-post site as well as the City Center, 212 Central Ave.
Reminders
Only residents living within the City limits can access the compost site.
No containers can be left at the compost site.
Loads are subject to in-spection.
Loader will ONLY load wood mulch. You will need to load your own compost.
No children allowed out of vehicles when loader is in use.
City is not responsible for damages to trailers/vehicles or for any injuries.
Loads taken from the site should be covered with tarps.
It is illegal to dump after hours.
For a list of materials accepted for
dumping visit our website at
www.ci.buffalo.mn.us
Compost
Site
Hours
Employees Benefit by Health Screening
Allina Health Buffalo Hospital is providing health
screenings for agencies and businesses free of
charge in an effort to reach out beyond the Hospi-
tal’s walls to help our communities improve their
health. The City of Buffalo received its second of
three annual screenings through this outreach. Sev-
eral employees participated by learning their vitals
including blood pressure, pulse, total cholesterol,
HDL cholesterol and HDL ratio, blood sugar and
body mass index. Coaching was also available. The
program is called Healthy Communities Partnership.
Along with the screening the City of Buffalo also
participates in a six-week ‘shape-up challenge’ as a
way for employees to become aware of what they
can do to improve their health through exercise,
eating healthy, sleep and living healthy lifestyles.
The shape-up challenge includes education and
courses also provided by Buffalo Hospital.
City employees that participated in the health screening were
eligible for a drawing for a free iPad mini provided by Buffalo
Hospital. Police Detective Barrett Chrissis was the lucky winner.
Assistant Administrator Laureen Bodin presented him the prize.
Fall 2013 City of Buffalo 4
Halloween Safety
Costumes Choose a costume appropriate for the
weather.
Costumes should not constrict the legs
and arms.
Consider makeup instead of a costume
that covers the face.
Choose shoes that fit even if they don’t
match your costume.
Only carry flexible (plastic or other soft
materials) props. If you trip, they won’t
hurt you.
Wear light or reflective materials. Glow
sticks are great accessories.
Trick-or-Treating
Eat a good dinner before going trick or
treating. This will deter eating while out
and about.
Only go to houses that are lit.
Only go to areas you are familiar with.
Carry a flashlight. Remember to use new
batteries.
Carry a cell phone or other means of
communication
Stay on sidewalks – there are many tripping
hazards in yards.
Cross streets at marked crossings; if there
are no marked crossings close by, cross
at intersections.
Obey traffic signals.
Stay together. It’s always more fun in
groups.
Walk, don’t run.
Avoid areas of heavy or fast moving traffic.
Stay away from strange pets. Don’t assume
that the animal is friendly.
Parents of younger children should accom-
pany their children for trick or treating.
Older children should carry a watch and
check in with parents regularly.
Consider attending a party instead of
trick-or-treating.
Trick-or-treating activities should be
concluded by 10 PM.
When you get home Have parents inspect all candy – anything
suspicious should be thrown out.
Limit candy and sweets consumption.
Remember to brush your teeth.
Young children should not watch scary
movies.
Your Home Keep your yard free of tripping hazards
(ladders, hoses, wires, extension cords).
Decorations should be away from walking
paths.
Avoid candles – consider small battery
powered lights instead.
Keep pets away from trick-or-treaters. Pets
may spook and bite someone.
Avoid scaring small children.
Keep the front area of the house well lit.
Direct trick-or-treaters to the area you want
them to greet you using decorations
and/or lights.
If you don’t want trick-or-treaters to stop,
turn off front lights.
Report damage to property as soon as it is
discovered.
While Driving
Slow down, children may be hard to see or
may come into the street between
parked cars.
Drive with your headlights on even before
dusk.
Limit driving to trips that are necessary.
Please Be Safe! Buffalo Police Department
The City of Buffalo http://www.facebook.com /#!/pages/City-of-Buffalo-MN/196255279724
Buffalo Police Department http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Buffalo-Police- Department-Minnesota/114250108627848
BWIG - Buffalo Wireless Internet Group http://www.facebook.com /#!/pages/BWIG-Buffalo-Wireless- Internet-Group/206064212789241
Buffalo Wine and Spirits http://www.facebook.com /#!/pages/Buffalo-Wine-Spirits/106813029377246
Buffalo Community Center http://www.facebook.com /#!/pages/Buffalo-Community-Center/143628922337780
Fall 2013 City of Buffalo 5
Flushing rags or store bought disposable rags or
towels can cause substantial and costly prob-
lems to the Buffalo wastewater system. What is
shown above can happen to you if you use
these products and flush them down the sys-
tem. Some disposable paper products are
made so well they cannot be cut up by sewer
pumps that are designed to take flow away
from your house and neighborhood.
Please do not flush any paper products or rags
down your toilet. Doing so can damage the
wastewater collection system and can result in
a big mess in your basement.
DO YOU WANT THIS PROBLEM IN
YOUR BASEMENT OR AT YOUR
DAYCARE?
Don’t Flush That!
The Utilities Department experiences problems
with clogs in the municipal sanitary sewer system
due to household items being flushed. Items that
are causing these blockages include the following
that may come in
packaging saying they are "disposable":
Cleaning Supplies Disposable floor dusters/mops (Swiffer pads)
Disposable toilet cleaning brushes
Disinfection wipes
Shop towels
Paper towels
Hygiene Products
Baby Wipes
Adult Wipes
Dental Floss
Feminine products
Prophylactics
Cooking Grease
Egg Shells
The costs for equipment and/ or staff time to ad-
dress this problem are paid for directly and only
by funds generated by sewer fees. And, this debris
not only clogs the sewer system but may create a
blockage in the service line to your home causing
sewage to back
up into the house. The City is not responsible for
any damages if a sewage backup occurs within
your home.
Your cooperation to not dispose of these house-
hold items through the municipal
sanitary sewer system is greatly appreciated.
Fall Leaf PickupFall Leaf PickupFall Leaf Pickup
Sat. November 16
Leaves must be bagged and on the curb by 6:00 a.m.
NO alley pickup.
Fall 2013 City of Buffalo 6
Increasingly popular bath-
room wipes — pre-moistened
towelettes that are often ad-
vertised as flushable — are
being blamed for creating
clogs and backups in sewer
systems around the nation.
Wastewater authorities say
wipes may go down the toi-
let, but even many labeled
flushable aren't breaking
down as they course through
the sewer system. That's cost-
ing some municipalities mil-
lions of dollars to dispatch
crews to unclog pipes and
pumps and to replace and
upgrade machinery.
The problem got so bad in this
western New York community
this summer that sewer offi-
cials set up traps — basket
strainers in sections of pipe
leading to an oft-clogged
pump — to figure out which
households the wipes were
coming from. They mailed
letters and then pleaded in
person for residents to stop
flushing them.
"We could walk right up,
knock on the door and say,
'Listen, this problem is coming
right from your house,'" said
Tom Walsh, senior project co-
ordinator at South & Center
Chautauqua Lake Sewer Dis-
tricts, which was dispatching
crews at least once a week
to clear a grinder pump that
would seize up trying to shred
the fibrous wipes.
The National Association of
Clean Water Agencies, which
represents 300 wastewater
agencies, says it has been
hearing complaints about
wipes from sewer systems big
and small for about the last
four years.
That roughly coincides with
the ramped-up marketing of
the "flushable cleansing
cloths" as a cleaner, fresher
option than dry toilet paper
alone. A trade group says
wipes are a $6 billion-a-year
industry, with sales of con-
sumer wipes increasing nearly
5 percent a year since 2007
and expected to grow at a
rate of 6 percent annually for
the next five years.
One popular brand, Cot-
tonelle, has a campaign
called "Let's talk about your
bum" and ads showing peo-
ple trying to wash their hair
with no water. It ends with the
tagline: "You can't clean your
hair without water, so why
clean your bum that way?"
Manufacturers insist wipes la-
beled flushable aren't the
problem, pointing instead to
baby and other cleaning
wipes marked as nonflush-
able that are often being
used by adults.
"My team regularly goes
sewer diving" to analyze
what's causing problems, said
Trina McCormick, a senior
manager at Kimberly-Clark
Corp., maker of Cottonelle.
"We've seen the majority, 90
percent in fact, are items that
are not supposed to be
flushed, like paper towels,
feminine products or baby
wipes."
Wastewater officials agree
that wipes, many of which
are made from plastic, aren't
the only culprits but say their
problems have escalated
with the wipes market.
Vancouver, Wash., sewer offi-
cials say wipes labeled as
flushable are a big part of a
problem that has caused that
city to spend more than $1
million in the last five years
replacing three large sewage
Continued on Page 7
Popular bathroom wipes
blamed for sewer clogs 9/23/13 By Carolyn Thompson of Associated Press
http://news.msn.com/us/popular-bathroom-wipes-blamed-for-sewer-clogs
Fall 2013 City of Buffalo 7
Bathroom Wipes—Continued from Page 6
pumps and eight smaller ones that were routinely clog-
ging.
To prove their point, they dyed several kinds of wipes
and sent them through the sewer for a mile to see how
they would break up. They didn't.
Those labeled flushable, engineer Frank Dick said, had
"a little rips and tears but still they were intact."
The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, which
serves Montgomery and Prince George's counties in
Maryland, has also spent more than $1 million over five
years installing heavy-duty grinders, while the Orange
County, Calif., Sanitation District, in a single year re-
corded 971 "de-ragging" maintenance calls on 10
pump stations at a cost of $320,000.
Clogging problems in Waukesha, Wis., prompted the
sewer authority there to create a "Keep Wipes out of
Pipes" flier. And Ocean City, Md., and Sitka, Alaska, are
among cities that have also publicly asked residents
not to flush wipes, regardless of whether they are la-
beled flushable.
The problem got worldwide attention in July when Lon-
don sewer officials reported removing a 15-ton "bus-
sized lump" of wrongly flushed grease and wet wipes,
dubbed the "fatberg."
The complaints have prompted a renewed look at
solving the problem.
The Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, the
trade group known as INDA, recently revised voluntary
guidelines and specified seven tests for manufacturers
to use to determine which wipes to call flushable. It
also recommends a universal do-not-flush logo — a
crossed-out stick figure and toilet — be prominently
displayed on non-dispersible products.
The wastewater industry would prefer mandatory
guidelines and a say in what's included but supports
the INDA initiatives as a start. Three major wastewater
associations issued a joint statement with INDA last
week to signal a desire to reach a consensus on flusha-
bility standards.
"If I'm doing the test, I'm going to throw a wipe in a
bucket of water and say it has to disintegrate," said
Rob Villee, executive director of the Plainfield Area
Regional Sewage Authority in New Jersey.
Nicholas Arhontes, director of facilities support services
in Orange County, Calif., has an even simpler rule for
what should go down the toilet.
"Only flush pee, poop and toilet paper," he said,
"because those are the only things that sanitary sewers
were really designed for in the old days."
Help our Meter ReadersHelp our Meter Readers
When doing yard work this fall, please trim shrubbery and vege-
tation around your electric meter and water remote. When clear-
ing snow from your property, please try to keep a path clear to
the meter and remote. These simple actions will allow safer and
easier access for the meter readers.
Thank you for your help and cooperation.
We greatly appreciate it.
Buffalo Wireless Internet Group Internet Help Desk/Sales: 763-684-5423 Administrative Offices: 763-682-1181 Billing: 763-682-1001
Email: [email protected]
Buffalo Wireless Internet Group (BWIG), owned and operated by the City of Buffalo, continues to serve as the support center for
providing Internet service to our customers.
BWIG prides itself on local service and local support. You can walk in and speak in person with our technicians anytime. You
won't find personalized service like that anywhere else. We
have technicians who also live in Buffalo and use the same Internet service in their homes that our customers use.
We trust Buffalo's Internet service in our homes, you can too.
Administrative Offices ..... 682-1181 Buffalo Allied Transit 763-477-8596 Buffalo Wine & Spirits ..... 682-2234 Building Inspector ........... 684-0383 BWIG Help Desk ............. 684-5423 Civic Center .................... 682-4132 Community Center .......... 682-6036 Downtown Wine & Spirits 682-1138 Electrical Inspector .......... 684-0321 Fax Admin. Office ........... 682-6376 Library ............................. 682-2753 Utilities Services Campus 682-5370 Parkshore Pavilion .......... 682-4590 Police Non Emergency.... 682-5976 Streets/Parks Facility ...... 682-0006 TDD ................................ 682-6158 Utility Billing ..................... 682-1001 Utility Locations……..651-454-0002 or 811 Water Plant ..................... 682-4040 Wild Marsh Golf Course…….... 682-4476 Wright County Communications 682-7600 FIRE AND POLICE EMERGENCY 911
Website: www.ci.buffalo.mn.us
Email: [email protected]
Office Hours: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday - Friday. After hours call 682-1181 for a re-cording of on-duty phone numbers.
Administrator: Merton Auger
Assistant Administrator: Laureen Bodin
Community Center Director: Sue Kolbinger
Fire Chief: John Harnois
Liquor Stores Manager: Jason Swanson
Parks & Rec Director: Lee Ryan
Police Chief: Mitch Weinzetl
Utilities Director: Joseph Steffel
Wild Marsh General Manager: Joe Malone
Staff DirectoryStaff DirectoryStaff Directory
City of BuffaloCity of BuffaloCity of Buffalo
Service DirectoryService DirectoryService Directory
Fall 2013 City of Buffalo 8
City Council City Council City Council
DirectoryDirectoryDirectory
Brad Nauman Mayor
1310 Grandview Circle Buffalo MN 55313
682-9075 [email protected]
Steve Downer
Council Member 809 Myrtle Street Buffalo MN 55313
682-1064 [email protected]
Scott Enter
Council Member 607 7th Street Court NW
Buffalo MN 55313 684-5274
Teri Lachermeier Council Member
203 Hwy 55 Buffalo MN 55313
682-6486 [email protected]
Paul Olson
Council Member 1507 Anne Circle Buffalo MN 55313
682-1620 [email protected]
