Agenda - Council - 05/08/1990 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

PURPOSE The purpose of this policy is to provide guidelines for officers to follow when weather conditions create a need for plowing or sanding of streets and highways within this city. POLICY The policy of this department will be to monitor, by patrol and by information from other sources, road conditions and by applying reason- able standards determine the need for plowing and/or sanding of those roads. Public safety will be the controlling and primary consideration when app)ying this po]icy. PROCEDURE Officers will, during and after snow or ice storms, be alert for slippery conditions or snow accumulation problems which could create hazardous driving situations for motorists. When a complaint is made concerning the condition of a street or an intersection the officer or his designate wil] personally inspect th~'location. He will, using standards of reasonableness based on his experience and training, make a determination whether or not to the have the area sanded or plowed. In making this determination the officer will always lean towards calling' for remedial action whenever he feels that the less-than-careful1 drivers cou]d be endangered. During a storm, or just after the end of a storm the officers will usually not call for sanding or plowing since fa]ling snow, winds or freezing rain wil] only defeat the effort. There wi]] be times however when traffic is such that in the officers judgement the area must be sanded or plowed to prevent the lik]ihood of an accident. In these in- stances the city crews will be notified to respond as appropriate. Officers should generally try to avoid calling out city crews at other than normal working hours un]ess conditions are such as to indi- cate an urgent need for remedial actions, based on the officer's rea- sonab]e judgement. All questions about the plowing schedules afer the end of a snow- fall will be answered by telling the callers that the plows are coming · out, or are out, and wi]l be p]owing the streets in their pre-determined order. If this doesn't bring satisfaction, the person will be directed twcall-the'city admini'strat.ion offices or the road supervisor. If, in responding to an emergency call, officers believe they may not be able to get to the scene due to road conditions they will call for the nearest road crews immediately via Central Communications using state, county or local units.