HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-12-30 OPH PW Director Email to City Administrator Re Snow Removal Complaint Page 1 of 1
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Eric A. Johnson
From: Tom Ozzello
Sent: Friday, December 30, 2005 3:25 PM
To: Eric A. Johnson
Subject: FW: Mr. Peterson Memo regarding snow piles
Attachments: Tom Ozzello (Business Fax).vcf
I responded to a complaint from Mr. Peterson at 5890 Newgate Circle. I was also responding to a call from
Raleigh Trucking about a resident at the same address. The snow plow driver notified me that the resident
expressed strong words to keep the snow plow operator from banking snow from the cul de sac in the 10 foot
easement located in the largest unrestricted area in the circle. The snow plow driver left the extra snow in a
center storage area and was concerned about emergency vehicle access and the wet snow pile freezing. When
plowing a dead end and circle, we try to quickly clear the paved areas and would normally distribute the snow
across everyone's curb line. There are restrictions in this circle that make this area a little more unique and, to
clear the road quickly without stacking snow in drives, we bank extra snow in the first lot boulevard area which is
in front of Mr. Peterson's lot and south of his drive. Mr. Peterson seems to think the city and the contractors are
somehow doing this unnecessarily to him.
I had a discussion with Mr. Peterson. I explained the need to eliminate the center storage area for emergency
access vehicles and that the city did not have loading equipment to remove such stored snow. I also reminded
him that his lot line is 10 foot off the curb. He has placed tall markers at the curb line and has some planting in
the city owned boulevard area. Because of the circle and the number and location of driveways, it is difficult to
find areas for snow storage in this circle. The majority of the curb line is taken up by driveways, fire hydrant and
storm outlet. Several of the driveways have insufficient width between them to push snow back without placing
part of it on the drive. There is a fire hydrant and a storm drain that we try to keep clear. The location and
number of mail boxes hinders the ability to push large quantities of snow from the circle and street plowing without
damaging the mail boxes. When a snow plow enters the circle, they are carrying a blade full of snow and the
circle also has a lot more surface area. There is extra snow because of this. This leads to much more snow
needing to be banked in the circle than is standard on a straight street with evenly placed drives. Basically we
have twice as much snow and half as much curb in the circle.
I asked Mr. Peterson if he had any ideas of how to deal with the extra snow that seems to accumulate near his
front yard. I mentioned an extra fee for a contractor or cooperation from the neighbors in having the quantities of
snow removed, relocating the mailboxes up the street to a central location that would not interfere with the snow
plowing operations, and limiting the amount of plowing done on the street to avoid the snow carried on the blade
in to the circle. He did not like any of the ideas and just wanted the city to not place extra snow in "his yard". I
cleared the center storage area and placed the center snow between different lots. This took a lot of time with
multiple pushes and required trying to minimize the impact to the drives that were already cleared.
Tom Ozzello, Public Works Director
City of Oak Park Heights, MN
651-439-4439
12/30/2005