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 The purpose of the document will be to have a written procedure,
posted to the city website that will enlighten the community on how
the city street department functions during a snow event.
Johnson commented at the beginning of his discussion that city
street superintendent Walt Landers deserved a huge “hat tip” for the
work he did on developing a draft document.
He said the document was important because it would make the public
aware of the city priorities and show that the local plow pattern
was an organized effort.
In the draft, Johnson said there would be three priority levels:
Level one would be the first streets to be plowed. These would
include main arteries that lead to schools, hospitals, nursing homes
and the homes of the terminally ill or shut-ins with health issues.
This would be done to open the throughways for emergency vehicles.
 Level two, or the second priority would be subdivisions, through
streets and city parking lots.
Level three would be dead-end streets and cul-de-sacs.
In addition to defining the priority levels, Johnson said a map
would be produced to provide a visual of these levels.
Johnson also said plowing would be curb to curb throughout the city.
He said in some cities plowing is one swipe down the middle of the
street, but in Lincoln it would be complete plowing. However, doing
complete plowing also raises other issues, especially the issue of
street side parking.
Johnson said he would like for the city to consider no parking rules
specifically for large snow events.
During discussion of the topic, Jonie Tibbs said she would like to
see the downtown Post Office placed in Level One. Johnson said it
already was along with the entire downtown.
Tibbs said she thought the city already had a no parking rule for
snow events, but Landers and Mayor Keith Snyder confirmed that it
did not. Landers went on to say there is a no-parking rule in the
downtown area during snow events. Downtown there is to be no parking
between the hours of 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.
What the city administrator and Landers are looking at is the
establishment of snow emergency rules for city streets.
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Scott Cooper asked if the city could post snow emergency
signs that would alert residents that they need to take a
certain action, such as getting their cars off the street.
Michelle Bauer said she understood that the cars on the street
were a hindrance to snow plows. However, she noted that in
Lincoln, there are many neighborhoods where there is no off
street parking available. She said the city needed to be
considerate of that fact in making rules. It was also noted
that there are several narrow streets in the city, and curbside
parking on those streets cause bigger issues for snow plows. Tibbs
said that at one point in time, she had suggested that during snow
events, there be rules for parking all vehicles on the same side of
the street. She felt that in the area of Sherman to LaDue Streets if
cars could all be parked on one side or the other, it would make the
city’s job much easier.
Johnson said that was an idea worth considering.
As the discussion wound down, Bauer said she was happy to see a
written policy and also to see that the city was looking ahead and
planning a "preemptive strike" on how to deal with winter weather.
It was also indicated that the final document would include
information and education for the public on the equipment that is
used by the city and how residents can assist in helping the city
handle accumulated snow.
The document is still in draft, and there will be no action taken at
the next voting session. Johnson indicated that he would continue to
work with Landers on this policy and procedure, and the two would
look at incorporating some of the suggestions made by aldermen.
[Nila Smith]
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