Procedures

The following procedures are part of MSD's Service Levels For Drainage which is a guidance document and is intended to provide the MSD user with an explanation of how a drainage service request is received and recorded by MSD and how each drainage service request is reviewed.

Receipt and recording of a drainage service request is handled as follows:

Step 1 - A drainage service request is received from a MSD customer or an elected official.

Step 2 - Confirmation is made that the request is located within MSD's drainage service area.   This is accomplished by reviewing the service area map.

Step 3 - The request information is entered into the Complaint Monitoring System.  The entry information includes the customer name, address and phone number, the location of the drainage problem and a description of the drainage condition.

Step 4 - The appropriate drainage category is assigned based on the nature of the condition.

Step 5 - The request is routed to the appropriate MSD staff member for review, application of the Service Levels For Drainage Manual and for resolution.

The Service Levels For Drainage Manual is applied as follows:

Step 1 - Review the request.  The purpose of the review is to define the drainage problem and its cause.  The review may include any one or more of the following:

• review of Complaint Monitoring System information, including related requests from nearby properties
• a field inspection of the customer's property and of nearby properties both upstream and downstream
• discussions with the customer
• office file review
• creation of relevant LOJIC maps
• consultation with Engineering or Maintenance

Step 2 - Apply the Guidelines Section.  The purpose of applying the guidelines is to determine whether the drainage condition described identified through the review of the request is the responsibility of MSD.  The relevant issues in establishing MSD's responsibility are defined by the "Principles" contained within the guidelines.  The principles base MSD's responsibility on whether the drainage need is caused by public water or caused by a MSD drainage facility or by MSD drainage improvement operations.

Step 3 - Apply the Standards Section.  The purpose of applying the standards is to identify an appropriate solution to the drainage need through the application of any relevant standards contained within the manual.  Following the identification of a solution, a determination can be made as to whether an engineering solution or a maintenance solution is involved.

Step 4 - Apply the Prioritization Section.  The purpose in applying the Prioritization Section is to establish the severity or relative priority of the drainage need.  For maintenance solutions, this will result in the drainage request being assigned for resolution as a Single Request or as a Neighborhood Request.

Step 5 - Establish a schedule for resolution.  If Step 4 resulted in a determination that a maintenance solution was appropriate, the schedule for resolution of the request can then be established from the then current schedule for the Single or Neighborhood Program.   If Step 4 resulted in a determination that an engineering solution was appropriate, the relative priority is established by application of the Project Priority Rating System.  The request is then included on the list of engineering projects to be considered for funding.

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