City snow plowing plan could be tweaked

If four inches of new snow falls at City Hall by 4 a.m., city plows hit the streets. That’s the city’s official policy today — but is it working well enough?

Public works employees and city council met March 12 to discuss the city’s snow plowing procedure and ideas for improvement. Councilor Chris Hyatt asked for the work session due to the sheer volume of phone calls he receives regarding icy roads in residential neighborhoods.

Under the current plan, city plows are called out if four inches of new snow is tallied, or if a succession of storms add up.

A crew of six scrapes and hauls away snow from the downtown area at night, then a crew of eight plows residential areas during the day. The city plows on weekends with a partial crew, although workers are called in if needed.

Hyatt said he’s most concerned about ice and deep ruts left in the street when they aren’t plowed.

“If it warms up and freezes, then it’s a mess,” Hyatt said.

Public works director John Wilson said there are some options to tweak the city’s plan, like switching to a two-inch policy, but that has draw backs.

“With a two-inch policy we are looking at more expense and we may just end up chasing our tail,” Wilson said. “It won’t work the way we want it to.”

Another idea was to tweak on-street parking rules in the winter. Vehicles would be required to be parked on one side of the street or the other, depending on the day of the week. The plan allows plows to tackle most of the street at one time without having to weave between parked cars. Vehicles that aren’t moved to the appropriate side of the street would be ticketed or towed.

“With alternate days we can plow more and faster — there’s no doubt about it,” said city manager Chuck Stearns. “It would probably be a big help, but are you going to get citizen complaints [about tickets and towing]?”

Wilson said with alternate parking, crews could plow more aggressively and all the way to the curb.

The city’s current policy is to plow east-west streets in the morning, then north-south streets after noon. Vehicles are not to be parked on the street during the established plow times, although it was suggested not many residents are aware of that rule.

“We have a communication problem with the current plan,” Stearns said.

Wilson agrees, noting that a public information campaign about the current policy could go a long way in improving the city’s ability to plow.

Councilman Bill Kahle was decidedly less concerned about the state of the city’s snow plowing. He said the city is within a few minor tweaks of where it should be.

“Guess what? We live in a town where it snows,” Kahle said. “That’s why most of us have four-wheel drive vehicles. There are times when we’re going to be frustrated, but we’ve got to live with it.”

Richard Hildner agreed, saying the city could be making a mountain out of a molehill.

“I don’t think what we have is terribly bad,” he said. “If we start ticketing and towing cars, then my phone is going to ring off the hook, that’s for sure.”

Wilson said the city does a good job given the budget, amount of staff and access to equipment.

“To hit every street in town within 10 hours is about as good as you’ll see in most cities,” Wilson said. “Part of it is public patience.”