Snow removal changes bring flurry of reactions

By BRIAN WALKER

Staff Writer

POST FALLS — Post Falls' move to snow gates for street maintenance hasn't cleared the conversation highway from citizens on the topic.

Last week's snowstorm, the first true test of the city's opening winter of using snow gates on loaders to reduce driveway berms for all homes, drew 36 comments to the special email address snowworries@postfallsidaho.org and about 100 phone calls.

While that's a far cry from more than 300 comments during some storms of previous years, it shows that residents still are passionate about the service, whether it's praise or outrage.

Many of the comments during the latest storm were related to the time it took to clear neighborhood streets, said Paul Kinney, the city's public works maintenance manager.

Before snow gates, it took 12 to 14 hours to clear all streets. It took about 38 hours last week when the gates were unleashed.

"Ideally, we'd like to have the whole city completed in 24 to 36 hours, depending on the type of storm it is," Kinney said.

While citizens overwhelmingly supported the city's decision to implement the gates to reduce driveway berms for all homes — the service was only performed for seniors or those with disabilities who applied before — city officials said they warned the tradeoff would be longer time to reach 572 lane miles in the city.

"As people were saying yes, yes we want them, Paul tried to explain it was going to take longer to plow the neighborhoods," said Kit Hoffer, the city's spokeswoman. "It's just going to take longer to slow down and clear the driveways."

Snow gates are hydraulic attachments on loaders that prevent snow from entering entrances to driveways as the equipment passes.

Kinney said, as drivers become more accustomed to operating the gates, the snow removal time should be reduced. The nature of the conditions — snow followed by rain — also made removal challenging.

"Each storm is different," Kinney said.

Comments on snow removal are as widespread as Super Bowl halftime shows.

"Give them time to adjust to the growing pains," Juju Munson wrote online. "It may take a year or two. Last year my street wasn't touched one time, but it's been kept clear this year."

Tandy Gilmour called this year's plan "a mess."

"This cannot be the new normal," Gilmour wrote. "As a taxpayer, I expect better oversight and accurate updates regarding progress …"

Vicky Jo Carey said she believes crews work as fast as they can.

"They can't be everywhere at once," she wrote. "I'm just thankful we get plowed at all."

Kinney said the city realizes complications arise with snow removal and it tries to work with residents if possible.

He said one woman was mad that the city didn't clear her cul-de-sac because vehicles parked in the street prevented crews from safely doing so.

"She had the cars moved and we came back to clear the street," he said.

Citizens can also do their part to speed up the snow removal process by removing vehicles, basketball hoops, trailers and other obstacles from the streets, Kinney said.

"That would expedite our plowing efforts significantly," he said. "We can also do a much better job if we're not weaving in and out of cars."

City law prohibits residents and business contractors from moving snow from driveways and parking lots into the city streets.

"That creates serious problems for the plows," he said, adding that frozen snow can damage equipment. "We'll start addressing that with code enforcement. The bulk of the problem is private contractors."

Kinney said as plows are preparing to move to residential areas — main arterials are plowed first — the city will post an alert on social media. The city is also starting to develop an interactive online map to show where crews are in the process.

Kinney said residents are strongly encouraged to send comments on snow removal to the dedicated email address, which is monitored by supervisors as streets are being cleared. Citizens will also receive a faster response to their inquiry using that method as opposed to leaving a message at 208-773-1722.

Kinney said loader operators who use snow gates and plow drivers work in tandem, so streets and driveway berms should be cleared around the same time.

Also new to the city's snow removal program this year is clearing sidewalks on main arterials and near bus stops. Kinney said residents should remove snow on their sidewalks and help their neighbors if possible.

Kinney was asked to respond to resident concerns about having to remove snow from sidewalks twice if plows move it onto sidewalks that were earlier cleared.

"Our drivers have been told to not plow snow onto sidewalks," he said, adding that factors such as visibility may prevent that from happening in some cases. "We'll try to make every effort to not get it on the sidewalks."

As a result, however, that also extends overall plow times, Kinney said.

Kinney said there's no way to please everyone and snow removal challenges are not unique to Post Falls, but he also believes the city is heading in the right direction with snow gates. The gates won't completely remove berms, so they aren't a cure-all, he said.

"The whole reason behind snow gates is to increase customer service to the citizens," he said. "Nobody wants to get bermed in. We've heard that from citizens for years. We're definitely headed in the right direction."