Pittsfield Councilors Question Snow-Removal Problems
 Mayor Daniel Bianchi, left, Commissioner Bruce Collingwood, and Superintendent Kevin Swail fielded two hours of questions from the City Council on the response to a snowstorm on Feb. 14. |
Highway Superintendent Kevin Swail, Commissioner of Public Works Bruce Collingwood, and Mayor Daniel Bianchi fielded two hours of questions from the City Council on Tuesday on why the city's roads were slicker than all of the neighboring towns during the last big snowstorm.
The city ran low on salt during the Valentine's Day storm. If there were more or larger storage sheds, the city wouldn't have had to ration treatment of the roads, said officials.
A shipment to replenish the stock had been delayed and city officials limited the use of salt until the shipment arrived.
"I had enough material and every street could have been bare in the city. But that would have wiped me out and they were calling for another storm on the 17th with just as much snowfall," Swail told the City Council.
"I had no idea when I would get my material. I just can't burn it all on one event. I have to save it for the next one because I didn't know if I would have it for it."
Swail said two orders the city placed for salt from the Port of Albany, N.Y., hadn't come in by the time the storm hit. He was down to the last 600 tons of the more expensive Magic salt for two pending storms with zero or below temperatures. The city's rock salt doesn't work below 15 degrees.
The city started the year with 2,500 tons of the Magic salt, Swail said. The series of storms depleted the rock salt supply and the city dipped into the Magic salt — leaving only 600 tons of the treated salt that would have worked during the frigid temperatures of Feb.14.
"We used our regular salt and we weren't getting our orders," Swail said. "We depleted our regular rock salt on the higher temperature storms and then moved to the Magic salt."
A storm could require up to 1,500 tons of salt to treat the roads, he said. Swail said the department mixed half of the remaining product in with sand and first treated hills and intersections. When the snow came, the city focused on plowing and then treated the roads afterward.
Everyone agreed that the city roads were icier than in neighboring communities and the City Council wanted to know why. Three councilors submitted petitions calling for administrators to come before the board and provide answers.
"My main concern here is public safety. We have a lot of people who have to go to work despite the conditions," said Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi.
Councilor at Large Barry Clairmont said the Police Department told him that over the course of the storm, there were 63 accidents. That is three times as many as the previous storm, he said.
The mayor said the biggest culprit is mother nature, which handed the Berkshires back-to-back snowstorms coupled with subzero temperatures and high winds.
"This is really a unique experience we've had this year ... You don't budget, you don't plan for a one in a 50-year event," Bianchi said. "You plan for a designed winter, which is a little above normal, and you operate that way."
Collingwood said there isn't anything the city could have done differently.
"I can't say we'd do anything different. Hindsight is 20/20," Collingwood said. "We anticipated it; we placed the order. It didn't come in ... We didn't get the deliveries."
City councilors said having more salt on hand to start the winter could help alleviate that concern.
"Clearly a big part of where we went wrong is trying to ration this stuff," said Ward 6 Councilor John Krol, who was one of three to petition for answers. "I would be in favor of increasing the amount of storage we have."
The City Council kicked around other options to help improve efficiency in winter road maintenance.
Council Vice President Christopher Connell suggested the city look to contract with private entities with sanding capacity.
The city hires some 30 contractors to plow the roads at about $70 an hour. For about $30 more an hour, those contractors could sand as well, which Connell feels will ultimately pay for itself because city trucks don't have to go back to those roads to sand.
 Councilors Barry Clairmont and Kevin Morandi both say the snow-covered roads caused a public safety hazard. |
"We cannot be taking private contractors that don't have sanding capabilities," Connell said. "If we are hiring people, they have to have sanding capabilities so we aren't doing it twice... I know it costs a little more but I think we are going to be saving on the other side."
The mayor said the pool of contractors is already small and he isn't sure how many would purchase sanders for their trucks if the requirement is made.
He suggested polling them at the end of this season to see if they will make the investment.
"There isn't a large pool of contractors to do the plowing. If you make it a requirement that they have to invest in a sand system, you are going to reduce the pool even further," Bianchi said.
"It would be a luxury if we could get everybody to do that."
During that long weekend of the 14th, councilors said they didn't see any evidence of sanding at all. Swail assured them that it was done.
"If we can't use the salt because we are shorthanded on that, we need to circle back and use the sand," said Ward 5 Councilor Jonathan Lothrop.
Clairmont said two plow drivers told him that they were specifically told not to salt and sand the roads.
Swail responded saying that the sand and salt was being used sparingly at first by treating hills and intersections. It wasn't until after the two-day snow removal effort that they went back to treat the flat roads again.
"It boils down to having the product on hand," Swail said. "It has been a hard winter on the supplier as well to keep up with the demand."
The council also questioned snow removal efforts. Collingwood said the frequency of storms has backlogged those efforts. There are about 18 city workers plowing the roads in 12-hour shifts and the storms kept coming.
When they could, the workers dumped truckloads of snow into Clapp Park, Wahconah Park, in space near Lakeway and Valentine Roads, and at the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The question also veered into discussion of cars parked on the road and enforcement, when contractors are dispatched, and how routes are chosen. Nearly all of the councilors said once problem spots were reported to the city, it was handled in a quick manner.
"I think a lot of important things came out tonight," said Ward 1 Councilor Lisa Tully. "Is was a really bad storm and I think in every situation you look back and say 'what could I have done differently.'"
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