TOWN OF CLINTON WINTER ROAD MAINTENANCE POLICY TOWN OF CLINTON WINTER ROAD MAINTENANCE POLICY Page | 1 TOWN OF CLINTON WINTER ROAD MAINTENANCE POLICY The town of Clinton roads are subject to freezing rain, ice and snow during the fall, winter and spring months. The responsibility for keeping vehicular traffic moving on the Town of Clinton’s approximately 60 miles of roads during snow and ice storms lies with the Town’s employees under the direction of the Town Chairperson and Supervisors. The following policy and plan of operations for winter road maintenance has been adopted by the Town of Clinton Board. SNOW AND ICE CONTROL The Town of Clinton’s goal is to maintain good driving conditions on the roads to the extent that weather, equipment and budget allows. Planning and preparing for storm operations is difficult because no two storms are identical. Factors such as rate of snowfall, moisture content, accumulation, temperature, time of day, plus wind direction and velocity determine the uniqueness of each storm and the Town’s response. The Town operations must be flexible enough to combat all storms. Snow Removal Preparation for snow removal operations begins when two inches or more of snow is expected to accumulate. The Town has up to 21 days to clear Town roads after a storm. Due to the specific nature of each storm and the variation of drifting snow (one storm may drift north and south roads and another storm may drift east and west roads) the Town Board does not classify the Town roads in terms of plowing priority. All roads will be plowed as soon as feasible. Stalled cars will only be moved to allow efficient roadway snow removal operations. The Town employees are instructed to be very careful when operating near mailboxes. However, the Town assumes no liability for mail box damage or losses. Page | 2 TOWN OF CLINTON WINTER ROAD MAINTENANCE POLICY ICE REMOVAL Due to cost, the Town does not apply straight rock salt to their roads. The Town uses a sand and salt (approximately 10% salt) mix which is obtained on an as needed basis from the Barron County Highway Department. The sand and salt mix is applied only at stop sign areas of intersections, hills, curves, steep grades and bridge decks as necessary. The mix also may be applied continuously during black ice conditions. EMERGENCY CONDITIONS During snow and ice storms Town of Clinton employees will respond to emergency conditions to the best of their ability. The Town will not respond to unverified emergency requests directly from the public. The request must come from the appropriate emergency agency (fire department, sheriff’s department, ambulance service, etc.). SNOW AND ICE REMOVAL EQUIPMENT Following is a brief inventory of available snow and ice removal equipment: a. Peterbilt truck with 6 yard dump box with sand spreader. Also equipped with reversible one-way plow, v-plow and underbelly blade. b. Caterpillar motor grader with v-plow, blade and wing. c. John Deere Front End Loader with front bucket and backhoe. The Town Of Clinton may not have sufficient equipment or qualified operators to handle all snow or ice storms due to limited budgets or specific conditions. The Town of Clinton may request assistance from the Barron County Highway Department if available. Page | 3 TOWN OF CLINTON WINTER ROAD MAINTENANCE POLICY Exceptions to The Policy Plowing snow may be limited in storms in the early fall and late spring on gravel surface roads due to the lack of frost to support the snow plows. Plowing gravel off the road creates a hazard as well as being very expensive for the taxpayer. Operations may be suspended or reduced if: - Fuel is not available due to loss of electricity (generator backup is available) - Qualified operators are not available - Equipment breaks down The Chairperson or Supervisors have the authority to suspend snow and ice control operations due to hazardous conditions or if it is not practical or cost effective to continue operations. COMPLAINTS Complaints should be directed to the Town Chairperson or Supervisor if the Chairperson is not available. The complaint will be investigated and discussed with the Town Board. Final action on complaints rests with the Town Board. Belligerent complaints will be ignored. Complaints regarding individual employees must be submitted in writing, signed and dated by the person complaining and sent to the Town Chairperson. The complaint will be reviewed by the Town Board at their first regular posted meeting. All individuals involved in the complaint must be present at that time. OVERTIME The determination of when to authorize overtime in the removal of snow or ice shall be made by the Town Chairperson or Supervisor in the Chairperson’s absence. The need for overtime shall be determined from the severity of a storm or emergency condition. HOURS 14 HOURS ON, MINIMUM OF 8 HOURS OFF EXCEPT IN EXTREME EMERGENCY CONDITIONS. EMPLOYEES TO ROTATE HOURS AS NEEDED. Page | 4 TOWN OF CLINTON WINTER ROAD MAINTENANCE POLICY DRIVEWAY/PARKING LOTS The Town does not have any obligation to clean snow out of driveways blocked by Town plowing operations. State statutes prohibit plowing any snow from the driveways on to the Town Roads. The Owner or Occupant of the property will be liable for fines and damages. Furthermore, state statutes authorize the Town to enter into contracts to remove snow from private roads or driveways. The plowing of private parking lots is not authorized. The Town of Clinton does not plow driveways and will provide wing-outs as requested at a cost of $75.00 per time with a signed contract and must be prepaid prior to wing-out. No wing-outs will be done until all Town roads have been cleared. POLICY APPROVAL This Winter Road Maintenance Policy shall be deemed to be in force after its passage and approval. The foregoing Winter Road Maintenance Policy was adopted at a regular meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Clinton on March 8, 2011. Approved by the Town Board of the Town of Clinton this Eighth Day of March, 2011. Chairperson- James Gores_________________________________________________________ Supervisor- Dennis Landro________________________________________________________ Supervisor- Robert Heil___________________________________________________________ Filed this Eighth day of March, 2011 Clerk- Angela Hoff_________________________________________________________________ Page | 5