Annapolis And Snow Don’t Mix
Arundel Muckraker Doesn’t Discover Snow Plan
Last month, Annapolis authorities were busy warning residents to get their cars off of “emergency snow routes“ and “emergency snow connector routes“, to prepare for the snow storm that blanketed the area a week before Christmas.
Little did the residents know that it was mostly lip service. Sure it makes sense to remove your cars to allow for the proper clearing of the roads. But it also seems that the City should have a plan as well.
Not so much. The Arundel Muckraker has discovered that there was no plan in place to clear the streets and much of it was left up to plow drivers and the number of residents who called to complain.
As we have said before, we are looking to give new Mayor Cohen the benefit of a doubt, but it seems that every time we do, something else pops up. The Arundel Muckraker interviewed Phill McGowan, the spokesperson for the City and it is painfully obvious that Annapolis is woefully unprepared for the next snow–but rest assured, there’s a task force on the case.
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Category: Local News, Local Politics, NEWS, POLITICAL NEWS
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I submitted this response tonight to the Arundel Muckraker. I would appreciate your posting this comment to your blog as well. Thank you.
Ryan,
For the benefit of your readers, I wanted to restate information I gave you during our discussion on Dec. 30.
First, the city has a plan to clear snow from streets. I again refer you to the citywide storm response listed on our Web site (http://www.ci.annapolis.md.us/info.asp?page=8462). When a snowstorm hits, the city makes the plowing of the emergency snow routes the highest priority, followed by the snow connector routes, then secondary roads. A list of the specific streets, along with a snow route map, is included for the benefit of residents.
Our snow removal plan lays out the plowing priorities, but it gives the Department of Public Works enough latitude to respond to the constantly changing conditions in the field. For example, in our discussion, I explained that because the snowfall occurred the weekend before Christmas, DPW put a priority on clearing Main Street and other roads in and around City Dock to keep local businesses up and running.
As far as who was responsible for deciding which streets were plowed, DPW officials, including Acting Director Bob Agee, made those decisions. I explained that the mayor’s office received many phone calls and e-mails about snow removal, and those requests were forwarded to the DPW operations center and to supervisors. The operations number was also published on the city’s Web site, so residents also called there directly. On the day of the storm, Dec. 19, Agee was on duty in Annapolis supervising the snow removal effort.
To amplify my comments on another area, Chief Administrative Officer Doug Smith also coordinated city response efforts from City Hall on Dec. 19. He kept in regular contact with officials from Emergency Management, Transportation, Police, DPW and other relevant agencies. He also passed along urgent requests from residents and City Council members to DPW.
Phill McGowan
Public Information Officer
City of Annapolis