MAYOR'S MESSAGE

Craig A. Stough 12/7/2007

"Street Division Crews on Double Duty"

With the onset of winter snow in early December and the leaf collection late due to the trees holding their leaves later this year, City of Sylvania Street Division Crews are now on double duty for both leaf collection and for snow and ice removal.

In many years, including last year, the leaves fall early enough that the leaf collection can be mostly completed before the snows come. A late leaf drop like this year complicates the process. Several years ago, street crews needed to use front end loaders to load the leaves onto trucks because the leaf vacuum units were unable to lift the matted and frozen leaves.

Last month I wrote you about the annual leaf collection process. Now let me share facts and figures with you about snow and ice removal.

Last winter City employees spent 1,240 hours removing ice and snow, and spread 1,885 tons of road salt. The City of Sylvania has six trucks equipped with plows and salt spreaders. One of these trucks is equipped with a liquid brine spreader to pretreat roads prior to predicted storms. Maybe you have noticed the white lines left on the pavement by this brine treatment.

Snow and ice removal costs, like leaf collection costs, are paid for out of the City's General Fund. City of Sylvania property owners are not assessed separately on their property tax bills for these services as they are in some nearby communities.

The City has categorized streets into four levels of importance: main arteries (Monroe, Main, Alexis, Harroun), secondary streets (Brint, McCord, Summit, Erie, etc), feeder streets (main neighborhood streets) and residential streets. Main arteries and secondary streets get attention first, with the trucks then moving to feeder and residential streets. All streets are plowed on predetermined routes that each driver follows in order.

Sylvania police officers keep an eye on road conditions 24 hours a day, and when conditions warrant, main and secondary streets are completely salted. On feeder and residential streets, crews salt intersections, hills and curves. When it snows three or more inches, the trucks begin plowing with their 10' wide blades. During very heavy snows, the city will rent an articulate loader to remove snow from cul-de-sacs.

Snow and ice removal often keeps the trucks on the road 24 hours a day until the roads are clear. The worse the storm, the longer the clearing process. Be assured our trucks are working and will get to your street soon. The trucks will make one pass down all 78 miles of city streets before coming back for a second pass to widen streets out to full width. Also this year, the trucks will return to leaf collection when not required for ice and snow removal, and will continue doing so beyond the normal mid-December completion until all the leaves are collected.