This post got so long, I had to break it into 5 parts. The first part is a review of the snow report. The next parts will be:
Part 2 – A peculiar Board of Estimates discussion during the budget
Part 3 – Budget review back to 1998
Part 4 – Comments on Paul Soglin’s posts on snow. Some good, some bad.
Part 5 – Suggestions/comments
Here’s some things in the snow report that I found of interest, some highlights in case you didn’t read the report and I list other pieces of information I’d like to see and made a few comments.
EQUIPMENT
According to the report, we have
p.4 A general plowing operation includes about 90 pieces of equipment on 88 routes and usually takes about 10 hours.
p. 2
So the decision was made to continue with plowing residential streets and not to divert 30 salt and plow units, which is one-third of the City’s plow force, back to the arterials to re-plow and re-salt.p. 3
As mentioned above, the City uses 178 pieces of equipment to plow its 1,708 lane miles of streets. Approximately 90 of those pieces of equipment are owned by the City and driven by City employees. Sixteen private contractors provide the other 88 pieces of equipment and workers.
The report is a little confusing, using different numbers in different places, but I think was I got out of it was that the city has 90 pieces of equipment and and approximately an equal amount of equipment is provided by private contractors, for 178 pieces of equipment. Half of our equipment used for plowing isn’t our own, so all the talk of employees and equipment and decisions about where to plow, only impacts half our capacity. Additionally, taking 30 plows off the arterial roads just doesn’t make sense when there are 148 other pieces of equipment available. It’s simply shouldn’t make that big of a difference.
What I’d like to see is a report on how often we use the private contractors, how much we are paying and how the decisions to use them being made. Who are these 16 private contractors, where to they plow? I know when former Alder Brandon and I were comparing notes one year, they had private contractors on the far west side and excellent services, whereas the downtown was quite a different story, but we weren’t sure for which reasons. I suspected that they had more equipment in a smaller area and could devote more time to it.
Also, In the 2000 budget, it says we have 85 – 90 and in 2010 we have 90 pieces of equipment. Something seems odd about that. I’d like to see what the equipment was in 2000 and what it is now. Plus, how did changing to the new trash pick up vehicles impact the snow plowing operations, as they used to be able to put plows on the old vehicles. No mention of any of that anywhere in the report.
EMPLOYEES
p. 3 In order to continue plowing operations around the clock, City Streets Superintendent Al Schumacher needs to fill three shifts a day of 90 city employees each. To fill those slots, he draws from a pool of 184 employees from three departments (Streets, Engineering, and Parks) represented by two different unions: Laborers Local 236 or AFSCME Local 60. All of these employees normally work one daytime shift.
I’d like to see some history on how often they need to have a 24 hour snow plow operation. And when they do, how many employees come in. And, I’d like to see the report include what the union contracts require and how that impacts the work.
p. 5 For example, about 112 employees from the Madison Parks and City Engineering use 49 pieces of equipment to plow 143 miles of City bike paths, parking lots and sidewalks. In addition, six Parks employees from Mall Maintenance are responsible for snow cleanup around the Capitol Square and down State Street. The nature of this work requires that it be performed with smaller, more manueverable equipment than is used to salt and plow snow from the City’s streets. As such, these are not resources that can be reassigned for this purpose.
I couldn’t tell if these 112 people are part of the 184 employees used for snow plowing, but I think so . . . I also couldn’t tell if these 49 pieces of equipment should be added to the 178 or not, but I think so. It’d be nice for the report to be clearer on this issue.
p. 5 Fleet Services staff work to repair equipment that takes a beating out on the roads. Parking Enforcement Officers from the Police Department enforce alternate side parking ordinances. Forestry staff from the Madison Parks Department work on trees and branches downed by the storm. Staff from Building Inspection ensure that sidewalks are passable. Engineering staff remove snow from private sidewalks that were cited by Building Inspection. In addition, staff from other City agencies such as Police, Fire, Metro and the Water Utility work under sometimes extreme conditions to continue to provide critical City services during a storm.
No questions here, just more info of interest.
LANE MILES AND HOW LONG IT TAKES TO PLOW
p.4 The City has 766 miles of streets and 1,708 lane miles of streets, which is roughly equivalent to the distance from Madison to Las Vegas. A general plowing operation includes about 90 pieces of equipment on 88 routes and usually takes about 10 hours.
p. 3
It takes about two hours to complete each pass through a salt route under ideal conditions with minimal traffic. Because most of the streets on salt routes are at least four lanes, it takes twice that long – four hours – to salt each lane mile of the salt routes.p. 2
So the decision was made to continue with plowing residential streets and not to divert 30 salt and plow units, which is one-third of the City’s plow force, back to the arterials to re-plow and re-salt. This would have delayed completing the residential plowing by more than 8 additional hours.
Random thoughts:
– The Las Vegas reference is kinda funny given how much time Schumacher is spending there.
– So, a general plowing takes 10 hours on 88 routes with 90 pieces of equipment. However, removing 30 plows from salt routes would add 8 hours to the plowing. How does that math work when they had 178 pieces of equipment out? Something just isn’t adding up here.
WHEN WE PLOW
p. 4 A general plowing operation includes about 90 pieces of equipment on 88 routes and usually takes about 10 hours. It is ideally performed during the overnight hours when traffic is light, but if the snow stops falling in the middle of the day, a general plowing operation will begin immediately.
p. 3
Crews are sent out as soon as conditions warrant, and they continue plowing and salting the main arterials throughout the storm as long as salt is effective.p.3
The City typically doesn’t begin a full-scale plowing operation until the snow stops or is almost over. This is done to prevent the necessity of performing a very expensive operation more than once. At this point, the City can also usually pull the 30 plows off the salt routes and add them to the resources needed for the general plowing operation.
The report doesn’t mention anything about looking at when they start plowing. If you get 14 inches of snow, waiting til it stops snowing doesn’t sound appropriate. Yes, they might have to do it twice, if it takes longer with 14 inches of snow, what is the cost differential and is it worth it to have better service?
How do they make the determination of if “conditions warrant” snowplowing? Also, I’m unclear how the salt effectiveness impacts the plowing or if that is just unfortunate sentence structure in the report.
CROSS WALKS, BUS STOPS, CITY PARKING RAMPS
p. 4
Removing snow from crosswalks, bus stops and City parking ramps can continue for up to two weeks.
Two weeks?
STAFF DECISIONS MADE
p. 6 [Al Schumacher used] several new approaches to get ahead of and manage the storm:
– He declared a snow emergency as soon as it began to snow instead of waiting for a three-inch accumulation.
– He started general plowing operations, which normally don’t begin until the snow has stopped or nearly stopped, 22 hours before the snow stopped falling.
– He extended a snow emergency for a third night, instead of the usual two-night declaration.
– He called the City’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) into action to ensure that the City’s response was well coordinated and communicated.
– He put contractors on notice as soon as it began to snow.
– He used a new product called Ice Slicer to try to break the ice bond on the main arterial streets when temperatures became too cold for salt to work, but it wasn’t effective.
– He also used a 50% sand/50% salt mix on arterials after the cold rendered salt ineffective, with some success. Normally the City uses a 90% sand/10% salt mix.
– When he saw the City was still losing the battle, he initiated a discussion that led to the Mayor’s decision to make residential streets the priority.
– He also used contractors to plow bus stops.
What’s hard for me to sort out is how many of these things were policy decisions or exactly how they changed from past practices. Since so little has been voted on by the council and little is written down any place I can find, its hard to know if these decisions were meant to be administrative or policy decisions and what authority there was to make these decisions. Since they are noted as shifts from something, its be nice to have that laid out for the council.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND STRATEGIES
A. Recommended changes to the City’s standard plowing operations
1. Research other emerging technologies that are used to fight snow and ice in cold temperatures.
I recommend that Mr. Schumacher consult with the College [UW-Madison College of Engineering] and issue a report to the Mayor by February 15th that analyzes the various alternatives and includes recommendations on their application to our standard plowing operations.
Great, another report. Haven’t they been researching this all along, especially since the problems the last few years? It is also interesting to note that the college contacted the city.
2. Use a 50% sand/50% salt mix when cold temperatures render salt ineffective.
How does this comply with current policies. The report notes “The Streets Division can easily do this and as long as the new mix is used only on arterials, it does not violate our existing salt policy.” I’d like to hear how this is so.
3. Gather more data on pavement temperatures.
Pavement temperature sensors are already on order for all supervisors’ vehicles. I’d further recommend that pavement temperature forecasts be included in the City’s RFP for weather forecasting when the current contract expires next year.
The report notes that on cold clear days the sun can warm the pavement temperature above the air temperature. I’m wondering how much these sensors cost and how we’ve gotten along without them for years and why they are necessary now. There report doesn’t say much about how they will help.
4. Take maximum advantage of the City’s new ELAM program.
Telestaff, which allows managers to call all staff simultaneously to assign them to a shift. Currently, supervisors need to call dozens of staff individually, often at multiple numbers. Something as simple as this can literally save hours of time when fighting a multi-day storm.
Good improvement. I’m sure there will be some glitches to this system and I hope they are quickly worked out.
After those recommendations, the report notes that:
While these recommendations are important and practical, I’m not confident any of them would have made a significant difference on the condition of the City’s arterials after the December 8-9 storm. That’s why the City also needs to expand the tools at its disposal in major winter storms.
B. New tools to fight major storms that can be implemented under current authority.
1. Concentrate resources on high priority arterials
Mr. Schumacher identify the major arterials and concentrate on them not only first, but repeatedly throughout the storm. These major arterials would include streets such as E. Washington Ave., University Ave., Sherman Ave., Northport Dr., Mineral Point Rd., Gammon Rd., etc. For example, if these main arterials comprised half of the City’s 30 salt routes, then 15 of the 30 plows could continue to salt and plow the main arterials even after the other 15 were diverted to plowing residential streets in a general plowing operation.
I guess I’m just stunned that of 178 pieces of equipment, 15 pieces will make that big of a difference city wide. And, I’m stunned that this is even a question after years of plowing city streets much more successfully. I’d like to see what kinds of decisions have been made in the past and how this has changed. I also wonder if there should be a broader review of the salt routes and if more trucks should be concentrated there earlier, before it stops snowing.
2. Activate the City’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in every major storm.
The City’s EOC was activated at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, December 9th. This was the first time the EOC was activated for a winter storm. The EOC is a relatively new phenomenon that was first used for Halloween in 2005.
I don’t know why, but this one just seems silly – getting people in one room where they have phones and computers? Is this the only way they can communicate with each other with the technology we have. The recommendation also includes having a “pre-meeting” before the storm. I can’t believe they haven’t been doing this the whole time, it seems so basic.
3. Provide the public and the Common Council with an After Action Report after every major storm.
The public and the Council deserve to have more information on the City’s approach to major storms. I recommend that any time a winter storm warrants the activation of the EOC, Mr. Schumacher should prepare an After Action Report that includes a description of the resources and approaches used to fight the storm. Mr. Briski should likewise prepare the After Action Report for summer storms.
Information after the fact is a whole lot different than a public discussion BEFORE we end up with more problems. Also, are they just going to get a report in their mailbox, or are they going to have it presented to them at a public meeting where the public can address them and they can have input into changes that might be made? If it is only a report is there a committee or committees that should review the reports and lend their expertise?
4. Continue the extraordinary measures used in the Dec. 8-9 storm.
Mr. Schumacher should continue to use the extraordinary approaches he used in this month’s storm, including calling snow emergencies early in the storm and extending them beyond the usual two days, making liberal use of the City’s towing authority and initiating a general plowing operation before the snowfall ends even if it means plowing some neighborhoods more than once.
Again, how many of these “extraordinary approaches” are major changes that should be policy discussions. And, how much more liberal will the towing get. And will they continue with the public education. As I recall, they cut the budget again for public education. With the towing areas being in high turnover areas of the city, annual education of the snow polices is critical to compliance, but it seems not a top priority for the city. Things as simple as putting the rules with tickets on the cars have been resisted.
5. Purchase additional tire chains for plows to prevent them from getting stuck in poor road conditions.
This costs about $11,000 for the chains but the use of chains also has a downside in that they tend to cause serious vehicle maintenance issues. Someone should ask what kind of serious issues this will cause and how much it will cost. They’ve lived without chains for this long.
C. New tools to fight major winter storms that need further study or authority.
1. Additional resources.
I do not recommend adding significant permanent resources to the City’s snow fighting efforts. It doesn’t make sense to spend significant amounts of taxpayer dollars to have the permanent staff and equipment necessary to fight the kind of storm we may only see once every few years.
I’ll get to this in part III of this series, but an inital review looks like we haven’t increased resources in the past 10 years, while the number of road miles have significantly increased. More info on that later.
a. Internal resources: equipment.
I am recommending that Fleet Services Director Bill Vandenbrook conduct a study of the City’s fleet to determine whether it makes sense to add plows to additional vehicles. A cost estimate should be included in the report. Plow kits cost about $15,000 per vehicle, so while not insignificant, it would not be a major investment. Orders take about six months to fill, so even if additional plows were ordered today, they could not be installed until the 2010 – 2011 winter season.
I would think that when they changed to the new garbage trucks, they had studied this. A glaring error that we should have asked about at the time. My bad on that one. Can’t wait to see how much this ends up costing us.
b. Internal resources: staff.
If mounting plows on additional City vehicles is feasible, Human Resources Director Brad Wirtz should conduct a review of City staff to see if other employees who have commercial drivers licenses (CDLs) could be used to drive the plows in a storm with proper training. Attention should be given to union contract issues and the tasks that would not get done in a particular City agency if its employees were used to fight a winter storm.
The next post will give you some insight into what the Mayor is thinking here. He’s already heard an answer once, but apparently he didn’t like it so he’s asking someone else. Also, I hope the report includes a discussion on the union contract issues and doesn’t just brush over them.
c. External resources: contractors.
Mr. Schumacher should direct his staff to do an immediate review of additional contractors that could be used in extreme conditions yet this winter. He should perform a longer-term and more careful review of private resources by conducting a request for proposals (RFP) in time for the 2010- 2011 winter season.
Privatization? Is this really the right answer? Is someone lobbying to get more business from the city? I don’t understand the resistance to having adequate staff to do this and so many other things we are lacking in. Mowing parks, large item pick up, etc. etc. etc.
2. Prohibit parking on major arterials in extreme conditions.
Keeping priority arterials clear in an extreme winter storm would be easier without parked cars to plow around, especially with narrow arterials such as Johnson and Gorham streets. The City could change its ordinances to prohibit parking on priority arterials during major winter storms. This would be a major policy change that deserves further study and input before I would recommend its adoption, but I do recommend that it be considered.
Mr. Schumacher should convene the Snow Team and some representatives of the Common Council to review and report back on this initiative.
This one makes my blood boil. There already is no place to park downtown, where the hell do they think these cars are going to go? What alternatives are they going to provide. Will they actually put up signs indicating that parking is restricted? Also, are these going to be private meetings, or will they be public meetings where people impacted can give their input. Will there be neighborhood meetings on this issue? What other streets will be impacted besides Johnson/Gorham?
3. Exceed the City’s salt policy in extreme conditions.
Again, I recommend that Mr. Schumacher convene the Snow Team along with representatives from the Common Council and the Commission on the Environment to study whether to exceed the City’s salt policy in extreme conditions.
Again, I have to ask, are these public meetings or private meetings? Will they be publicly noticed? Will the public be allowed to comment? How will the alders be involved? I know when I was an alder there was great resistance to the alders and public being involved in these discussions. I never fully understood the source or reason for this resistance, but I believe it might be part of the problem.
4. Implement a snow emergency Metro bus schedule.
The possible benefit of a separate storm route is that buses could potentially operate on a more timely basis during or after a major winter storm if routes were scaled back. Even in extreme conditions, Metro could potentially operate on major arterials if the extra resources were added to clearing these streets as mentioned above. The significant disadvantage of a major storm route system is the confusion it would create for passengers who are used to the normal schedule and the potential of the complete loss of a bus option for others.
Isn’t there already a focus on clearing the major arterials where many of the buses run? And they don’t mention, what would happen to paratransit riders under this scenario – or is that the “others” and just artfully avoided?
Overall, I find this report kind of sloppy. And lacking in depth of information as indicated by the questions above. I’ve been doing some research which I will share over the next week or two, but in some ways, this totally ignores several of the issues that the alders tried to raise in the last two years. Some of these things you can find in past posts on this blog. Our mistake was trying to handle these issues in those private meetings, but I think this can no longer be a discussion for a chosen few and it needs to be assigned to a committee that holds public meetings. Anyways, stay tuned, more to come in the next two weeks.
