Rubbing salt in the wound
Thursday, December 27, 2007
IT is clear that there will be no change in the city’s snow removal policy, at least in the foreseeable future.
For many years, except for a few swipes at heavily traveled streets and city parking lots, the city’s attitude to snow and ice on the streets has been, “God put it there, and God will take it away.”
That might be a good policy for, say, north Florida, but in the Great Plains, God is not so quick to clear the streets. In a winter such as the one Kansas is currently enduring, many Emporia streets do not have a chance to lose their ice and snow before the next storm rolls in. As a result, side streets have managed to build up a surplus of slush. Every evening, the slush turns into an arctic landscape of ice mountains and crevasses. The streets are not just slick; they also develop hard ruts that grab at tires and make it difficult to steer a car or truck in a straight line.
In North Dakota, the winter motto is “Forty below keeps out the riffraff.” Emporia is ready for its own winter motto: “A hard winter keeps the body shops and garages in business.”
If the city is not willing to budget the money to clear the streets, would it be willing to invest enough to let the people clear their own streets?
This is how it would work:
The city would identify those streets that just never seem to thaw after a storm.
When snow or ice is forecast, city trucks would be sent out to those neighborhoods to drop a bag or two of salt at each address.
After the storm,folks who live or work at those addresses could go out and spread the salt on the streets.
Spreading rock salt is not rocket science — anyone can do it. It’s good exercise and it doesn’t take long. It doesn’t take much salt at all to tip the balance on an icebound street.
Come on, city commissioners: If you won’t clear the streets, at least give the people the tools to fight the ice themselves.
Comments
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Posted by zeepmonk (anonymous) on December 27, 2007 at 12:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Unfortunantly not many people come out during the budget process (mid summer when it is 90+ degrees outside) to express their concern and desire to allocate money for snow removal.
Posted by create (anonymous) on December 27, 2007 at 2:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I like that idea for each house to be allotted some salt. May not work in some neighborhoods, but most would probably be responsible. I like the way they do it in Milwaukee. Every major street corner has a bin of sand and some shovels. No one ever steals the shovels either.
Posted by djh (anonymous) on December 27, 2007 at 5:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I was in Emporia Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I was shocked at how little time and work was spent on clearing the Emporia main and side streets. I live in Olathe and even my side street gets 100% more care. I work in Paola, and I would say the same for the streets I travel there on my way to work. I used to live and work in Emporia and I don't remember the streets receiving that poor of care back then. That was a mere 14 plus years ago. Come on Emporia, you can make a better impression than that!
Posted by Renegade (anonymous) on December 27, 2007 at 6:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think the City Commissioners should hire a "Salt Allottment Consultant" to check out this problem....
Sorry folks,but I'm going to keep "rubbing salt in the wound" of our Commissioners ...for voting to bring in Consultants for every issue they don't want to deal with.
Apparently, Emporia doesn't have any money problems when it comes to hiring high priced Consultants.
Posted by alficher (anonymous) on December 27, 2007 at 7:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
They need to hire more people & get more equipment. Instead of hiring a consultant for thousands of dollars. Those commisioners sure don't want to let go of those purse strings. Yet we waste money on putting in a clock. That half the people don't look at.
Posted by Paccifier (anonymous) on December 27, 2007 at 9:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Why can't we put blades on the fronts of sanitation trucks, surely they have the transmissions and power to run a blade.
Posted by zippy (anonymous) on December 27, 2007 at 9:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The streets around and leading to the hospital should definitely be cleared and salted but they are not. The city needs to get these streets at the very least!
Posted by sciguy (anonymous) on December 28, 2007 at 12:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
How is it that we can fund the fire department, though we do not know how many fires we will experience in any given year...
...yet we cannot fund snow removal, given that it is also impossible to accurately predict how many winter storms we will endure?
Posted by Observer (anonymous) on December 28, 2007 at 11:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There is a trade-off.
Limited budget and high-profile funding of Zoo and Parks Department, Water Park, Image Consultants, Round Abouts, fireworks, bandstand, etc. The items which satisfy the largest number of citizens.
The infrastructure and unseen items take the hit:
Low funding for City Crews, deteriorating Fire Station, fire-fighters leaving to find better paying jobs in larger cities, a lack of proper snow removal, and street treatment.
Is Emporia attempting to operate a Lexus on a used Chevy budget?
Posted by emporian (anonymous) on December 28, 2007 at 12:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
That is exactly it Observer. What are people willing to pay for. You complain because of high taxes,so they decrease the amount of people that work in public works to appease the public. Now we get a bad winter and people want the roads bladed with fewer employees to run the equipment.
You dont want to fund public works until something like this happens. They did what the had to do to appease you by letting people go and not hiring open positions to save you the taxpayer money. Then you complain cause they can't get all the work done with fewer employees.
People in Emporia are a funny lot. You dont really want to fund or support anything(public works, emergency services, capital improvement, etc) until a high profile incident comes along or you need it, and then you want it NOW.
Its easy to see that Emporians cares nothing of their city until it needs something from it.
Do you folks still wonder why the first Police Chief candidate turned down a job here?
Posted by Renegade (anonymous) on December 28, 2007 at 1:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, you all should submit your bill for 'Consultation' fees, to the Commissioners....I believe you have some great thoughts and suggestions for snow removal.......
Have I mentioned that I have issues with hiring high-priced consultants in Emporia, to tell us what our problems are, and how to fix them? :-) ....Maybe the Commissioners should read the Forum, before they vote on Consultants, from out of the area.
Posted by Cliffy (anonymous) on December 28, 2007 at 8:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You are exactly right about the high priced surveys. $70,000 would go a long way toward snow removal. Of course, the street department has less employees and equipment because taxes were too high. I just don't understand. We don't have the money to give our employees a decent raise but we can pay for a high priced City Manage and a high priced Police Chief. We want to study what retail businesses are needed in Emporia? How about a Target and a Lowes. We certainly don' t need anymore car dealerships or payday loan shops. All that and I didn't charge $70,000.
I guanntee if when had bins with shovels, sand and salt...all of the above would be stolen the first night. And some shopping cart pushing looney would be living in the bin.
Posted by MelissaE (anonymous) on December 29, 2007 at 12:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hmmmm. I lived in New England for many years (Maine, to be exact) and not only was it a law that I clear my own sidewalks & driveway, but it was also a law that no cars were parked in front of my home in order to plow snow (but, in defense, we are talking FEET of snow, not just inches).
Believe me, if you left your car on the street, well, too bad for you. Because it was a city-wide ordinance that no-parking bans during storms were stictly enforced. It was also my own problem to clear my own sidewalk (regardless of taxes) and to do so required lots of salt (sand is useless, really). And it sucked when it refroze overnight.
Stop complaining. Emporia has many many more issues than snow removal.
M
Posted by create (anonymous) on December 29, 2007 at 6:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Oh Cliffy, what a great laugh I had reading about what you said, " And some shopping cart pushing looney would be living in the bin." Thank you, you are so right!
And I see we have yet another payday loan place in town. My dear Gussy, we'll never get a Target, or Olive Gardens.
Posted by rah (anonymous) on December 30, 2007 at 11:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is the first real snow we have had since 1999 to 2000 so that would mean would should have a quarry of sand, salt and brine stock pileed up some place. I dont know how in the world could we waste it or are we (the City) fudgeing it again! Where could it be? Oh, We have to waste it when we dont need it in order to keep the cost up and ask for more allocation of money for the up comeing year so keep spending and wasteing as usual. The last time I looked the salt I have kept at home stored year to year and the sand in the kids play box is still there hasnt disolved either. HMMMM!!
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