Operations report: staff says backlog is declining while work-orders rise with seasonal storms

Operations manager Mr. Jade presented a quarterly operations report May 12, saying the district completed 237 drainage work orders in the first quarter (Jan. 1–April 30) and has made progress reducing the overall backlog through cyclic scheduling. He described vegetation cycles, a rising number of open work orders tied to recent storms and 10 recorded pumping events during the period.

Mr. Jade said the district completed 347 vegetation work orders to date and reported 317 open work orders across departments at the time of the report. He illustrated the labor intensity of major drainage jobs, noted 65 after-hours callouts since Jan. 1 and described how the district converts vegetation requests into recurring cycles so large spikes of work orders are addressed over time rather than all at once. "When you get vegetation work orders at the first of the year, we convert into running cycles," he said, explaining the scheduling approach.

Commissioners asked about process improvements to reduce errors where drainage requests are misrouted to vegetation and vice versa. Mr. Jade said the district is implementing a new work-order system and is in early phases of building workflows with a vendor to ensure requests route to the appropriate crews.

Mr. Jade thanked staff and noted the district completed an on-road mowing cycle earlier than in prior years; commissioners praised the team for proactive storm response and early-season vegetation work. Staff said no immediate action was required for the operations report; follow-up items include continued rollout of the work-order vendor workflows and reporting on progress.