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Mayor reviews plans to fight snow |
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Monday, 15 February 2010 |
By WILLIAM LANEY
Managing Editor
After 14 inches of snow fell on the area in less than a week, Wapakoneta’s mayor says he is investigating ways to improve the response to snow removal from city streets.
Mayor Rodney Metz said Sunday he intends to review the entire process of plowing snow with Public Works Superintendent Meril Simpson, but he does not question the effort of the city crews.
“I think the crews did a pretty good job when they were out, but the snow did not come up off the streets the way we intended,” Metz told the Wapakoneta Daily News. “The way we snowplow streets will be looked at by members of the administration.
“I intend to have Meril pulling manhours together tomorrow (today) as well as equipment and material lists to see what we did and what we can do in the future,” the mayor said. “I have talked to the mayor of St. Marys (Greg Freewalt) and he will pull some figures together to show me what they do.”
Metz said the extra revenue that St. Marys collects through the income tax permits them to have more crews on the streets at one time than does Wapakoneta. St. Marys collects on a 1.5 percent income tax, while the city of Wapakoneta levies a 1 percent income tax.
“They have us outnumbered — they have four to five more trucks out on the roads which gets the streets plowed a lot sooner and permits crews to work on removing snow from sidewalks on bridges and city property quicker,” Metz said, noting Wapakoneta typically has three crews out at one time. “I fielded some complaints and I certainly sympathize with the property owners, residents and businesses, but city crews were out 24 hours each day from the time the snow started and the crew worked clear through for five or six days.”
Members of the city’s Electric Department helped the city’s Public Works Department with manpower and trucks. Simpson divided the six crews in half with each working 12-hour shifts.
Metz also explained some of the problem is the snowplow blade runs on the top of the asphalt, but it will run along the highest point of the street so it will leave areas where it doesn’t hit the pavement.
He also said crews have to be careful where there are cracks and crack sealant applied to the road because the blade will pick up the crack sealant and leave a gap for water to enter and to create a pothole.
Another factor is if shade does not permit the sun to hit the pavement and warm the ground to let the plows break up the packed snow on the roads.
“The sun hitting the street also helps and plays a part, especially if there are trees overhanging the roadway or houses packed together and the street does not get much sun then it doesn’t heat up as fast,” Metz said. “We have that problem with the south side of Auglaize Street, where the buildings shade that section and then we are dependent on the salt and the temperature.”
He said crews would salt at night with hopes the sun and warmer temperatures during the day would loosen the snow so the plows could clean the streets.
The mayor does not intend to have Council President Don Jump put the issue into a committee during the Wapakoneta City Council meeting scheduled for 7:30 p.m. today.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 16 February 2010 )
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