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City plans review of snow removal efforts

Eloise Ogden/MDN A snow crew loads snow into a truck to be hauled away from a Minot cul de sac Jan. 4.

The Minot City Council elected not to create an ad hoc committee Monday but instead directed its Public Works and Safety Committee to conduct a review and develop recommendations. The public works committee had recommmended the council set up a committee to conduct a review in light of community concerns following three large snowfalls since Nov. 30

Council member Stephan Podrygula, who had proposed the ad hoc committee, said he can support referring a study to the public works committee because of progress already being made.

“What I was pushing for was a substantive look at this issue,” he said. “We are already seeing that. I think we are making some progress. I don’t think it will take very long to get the objective I wanted to accomplish.”

Mayor Chuck Barney said he wants to see a better job done in ticketing and towing parked vehicles that have clogged streets and hindered snow removal efforts.

The city has issued 120 tow tags for vehicles since Dec. 27, said City Manager Tom Barry.

Barry said the city is following the snow removal plan that has been in place for almost two decades. Emergency snow routes are cleared first, followed by hillside streets and school areas and then residential and downtown areas. The process takes 72 to 96 hours.

The city has received many complaints about snowplows leaving piles of snow in front of driveways. In snows of more than 7 inches, snow gates on plows become worthless, Barry said.

Overall, though, the public has been understanding of the challenges facing the city in removing up to 52 inches of snowfall, he said.

“We had overwhelming support in our community. People have come to the street department, given the street department great kudos, goodies, pizza, recognizing they are doing the best they can with the circumstances we have. But we also have people who aren’t satisfied with the snow removal.”

Barry outlined the snow removal costs, which average nearly $23,000 a day, including $13,516 in labor time. This does not include maintenance or contractors. The city has hired five contractors to assist.

“It is an expensive proposition, but we are moving forward to get the streets back in shape,” Barry said.

The average homeowner pays about $2,100 a year in property tax, of which $588 goes to the city. The city allocates $2 million for streets. That’s roughly $80 that the average household pays for snow removal a year, Barry said.

The city also is working on improving communication and community education with regard to the city’s snow removal policies, he said. Council members were presented with a draft fact sheet that the city is developing.

Regardless of what happens with the committee study, Barry said snow removal efforts will be reviewed.

“We are going to look internally at our operations to have a good and thorough review,” he said. “We have had several great ideas from the community and we appreciate all of those.”

 

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