As icy conditions and frigid windchills grip the area, winter was on the mind of the Lennox City Council as they approved a formal set of snow removal and ice control policies.
Because of questions about the City’s snow removal posed by the community after the snowstorm that hit the day after Christmas this winter, City employees that work in snow removal decided to meet to discuss the possibility of a formal set of procedures. No formal procedure or set of protocol was written or available previously.
The publicly available snow removal procedures from Alebert Lea, MN were used by City employees as a reference as they drafted a set of procedures to have on the books.
A set of proposed procedures were then set before the council for approval.
The proposal included procedures and policies about sanding and salting, snowplowing priorities, snow alerts, parking restrictions, and alleyway/sidewalk snow removal.
The new snow removal procedures stated that streets will be spot sanded with controlled intersections, school zones, bridges, and curves receiving the top priority and emergency routes receiving the second priority.
Snowplowing and ice control operations were listed as occurring only if accumulation is two inches or more, drifting or icy conditions that affect travel, and the time of the snowfall in relationship to the use of the streets. The priority for snow and ice removal is as follows: 1 - emergency routes and school zones, 2 - emergency vehicle locations, 3 - residential streets, alleys, and city parking lots. City staff will work through the three priority zones together and assist each other as needed.
It’s worth noting that the City is not planning to plow snow down to the bare pavement due to the wear and tear on equipment.
The new snow removal policy was unanimously approved by the council.
(Photo by Michael Bauman)
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