Council Member Amber Waldref, (509) 625-6719
Tuesday, March 7, 2017 at 4:22 p.m.
The Spokane City Council will consider a resolution at its 6 p.m. legislative meeting on Monday, March 13, to establish a joint process with City Administration to make improvements to the City’s Snow Plan and other coordinated responses to winter weather events.
Council Member Amber Waldref, Chair of the Council’s Public Works Committee, sponsored the resolution. “It is critical that we learn from a difficult winter season, improve the timing and speed of snow removal procedures, and identify additional resources as necessary to ensure better mobility for our residents and visitors,” Waldref says.
The resolution proposes engaging all stakeholders to strengthen the City’s preparedness and response efforts for future extreme winter conditions and to identify the appropriate level of service for ice and snow removal. “Council will work with the Administration to ensure the City does a better job at snow removal,” stated Council Member Lori Kinnear. “The citizens have spoken clearly that they expect a better outcome. It's our job to listen and respond.”
The resolution calls for the City Council and City Administration, including the Street Department, Code Enforcement and Parking Enforcement, to work jointly over the next several months to identify possible changes to the City’s approach to winter weather events, such as reducing city-wide plowing times; improving snow removal services in high density areas like downtown; improving communication about on-street vehicle storage during plowing; and identifying better strategies to keep sidewalks and driveway approaches clear. The goal is to ensure any changes can be properly resourced in the current and future City budgets.
“Operations like snow removal can always be improved,” says Scott Simmons, the City’s Director of Public Work and Utilities. “We want to engage with the City Council and citizens to consider meaningful changes that would improve mobility for all in the winter.”
