Yardwork — not snow removal — was on Deb Hassenstab's mind Tuesday.
Even so, she cautiously endorsed the city's decision to hire private contractors to handle snow plowing in some residential areas, including Hassenstab's neighborhood near 159th and Spaulding Streets.
As she took advantage of a breezy October day to tackle some mowing and raking, Hassenstab said she's glad that the city is trying something new. She said she rarely sees city crews plow in her neighborhood after a snowfall. “It doesn't take much for snow and ice to become slick.”
Mayor Jim Suttle declared a “war on snow” Wednesday, announcing that seven snow removal companies will be assigned to specific residential areas this winter. Those areas are scattered across the city but include many neighborhoods in far west Omaha.
Contractors were assigned to those areas based in part on their preference.
The pilot program was created in response to residents' complaints. Snow removal is one of the most frequent topics when people call the mayor's hot line.
Suttle said he hopes the move to private contractors will speed up the clearing of snow from neighborhoods.
The city has in the past used private contractors to help with snow removal, but they were used sporadically, often after major storms.
This year is different because the crews will be on call all winter and will be required to start plowing residential areas an hour after the snow stops and finish the job within 24 hours. The city will call in the private contractors if an inch or more of snow falls.
One of those companies, Blademasters Ground Maintenance Inc., will handle about 100 miles of snow plowing in west Omaha, including the area where Hassenstab lives. Owner Larry Goertz said his team hopes to finish plowing snow within eight hours after the city calls its plows to duty.
About 15 percent to 20 percent of the city's residential streets will be plowed by the private contractors this winter, costing the city $100,000 to $200,000, depending on how often it snows, said Public Works Director Bob Stubbe. Private crews will be paid using gas tax revenues.
City crews will take care of the rest of the residential streets as well as all major roadways. In addition, city crews will be responsible for spreading salt on streets after they are plowed.
“If there is an overnight snowfall, the goal is to get people out by morning,” said Suttle spokesman Ron Gerard.
Suttle said the city will evaluate the cost-effectiveness of using private contractors after this winter. If the new plans “work, great. If not, we'll try something else,” he said. “The word ‘pilot' is very key in all this.”
The city also is planning to change how it handles snow removal on six one-way downtown streets — 13th, 14th, Dodge, Douglas, Farnam and Harney. The change also will apply to a longer stretch of Dodge east of Happy Hollow Boulevard. Snow will be piled in the middle of the road, instead of being cleared to the side, to avoid snow accumulating on sidewalks and in parking areas.
That will help improve access to curbside parking and be more accommodating to pedestrian traffic, especially downtown, Stubbe said.
Stubbe said snow in those areas will be removed each day — either late in the evening or early in the morning — to avoid big snow piles.
The city used to plow snow to the middle of the street downtown but stopped about 12 years ago.
Joe Gudenrath, director of the Downtown Improvement District, said downtown property owners advocated for the change, seeing it as a way to improve conditions after snowfalls.
But, Gudenrath added, they want to see how well the change works. “Implementation is the key.”
Next spring, the city for the first time will use a technique called flushing that will clean salt from landscaped medians to protect flowers and plants. “Salt is deadly to vegetation,” Gerard said.
Contact the writer:
444-3100, maggie.obrien@owh.com
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
