SAINT PAUL, Minn — Saint Paul Public Works held its first "Snow Summit" to improve communication with residents, educate, and recruit on Saturday.
The department organized dozens of booths and vehicles for residents to explore.
"It snows a lot in Saint Paul we use the plows to move the snow off the street," Nick Crudo told his 8-year-old son as they waited in line to sit in a snow plow. "There's a lot of buttons and switches."
On Saturday, he showed his son and other kids what goes on behind the scenes.
"It's nice to see my son and all the kids, everybody who's coming out," said Crudo, a street maintenance supervisor for the department. "They maybe don't quite recognize all the work that the people do."
Residents were invited to ask all the questions they wanted for the first snow summit.
"They learned how we do snow operations, when and where piles go, responsibility to shovel sidewalks, why we need to work together," said Lisa Hiebert, a public information officer for Saint Paul Public Works. "Last winter was a tough year for everybody in Saint Paul, we had over 90 inches of snow. Third snowiest season on record."
Hiebert said communication was the biggest lesson the department learned from this past winter and is hoping to improve on for their workers and impacted residents.
"It's a really great start to bring us all together, show us we are all connected," said Michael Venske, a volunteer who helps alleys in Saint Paul get cleared.
Venske got connected with a number of volunteer Alley Captains, leaders in their neighborhoods who organize efforts to make sure alleys are safe in the winter.
"We all get to learn from one another," said Venske. "And it really kind of helps underscore that sense of community here in Saint Paul."
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