Snow Removal

The death of a boy struck by a SEPTA bus that skidded through a North Philadelphia intersection on Tuesday has renewed criticism of the city's snow- removal efforts, adding intensity to a controversy that flared when a snowstorm paralyzed the city Jan. 22. To its critics, the city's snow-fighting program is a poorly managed, slow reacting apparatus that falls short of providing one of city government's fundamental services. City officials, however, insist that they have put together an effective program to fight snow.

Don't blame Mother Nature for the general havoc on the roads last Thursday. Instead, blame those who panicked during the snowstorm. At least, that's the way several municipal officials saw it this week, as they evaluated their snow-removal efforts and tallied up the financial damage from the storm that dumped up to 12 inches of snow on their suburban communities during a 12-hour period. The second snowfall that fell Sunday night and Monday morning was cleaned up fairly quickly compared with Thursday's storm, municipal officials said.

With two storms past and one expected, snow was the topic of the day for the Downingtown Borough Council. At a work session Wednesday night, council members said residents had been calling the borough hall and complaining on a local radio program about ice and snow on their streets and on busy Route 30. Council President William J. Whiteman said that the borough had done a "fine job" removing snow but that one big obstacle stood in the...

On a cool, crisp evening signaling the start of fall weather, Aldan Borough Council members turned their thoughts to snow removal. The members plan to accept bids at Wednesday's meeting for 1988-89 snow removal. This Wednesday, the members talked about ways to cut the winter costs. "I feel we should incorporate the cost of loading salt onto the trucks into the bid," said Councilman Joseph A. McCollian. "Last year, the hour spent loading the truck was billed the same as an hour spent plowing the streets.

Upper Darby Mayor James J. Ward said he was dissatisfied with the removal of snow from township streets after the two recent snowstorms. The mayor voiced his displeasure after a Drexel Hill resident, Joan Young, upbraided Upper Darby officials at a Township Council meeting Wednesday. Young, of the 4000 block of Dayton Road, criticized Upper Darby for "poor snow removal in almost the whole area of the township. " It was, she said, "a total disaster. " An ambulance that had come to her block to pick up a patient became stuck in the snow and neighbors had to push it, she said.

City union leaders acknowledged yesterday that the overtime bill for snow removal by city workers "seems a bit much," but they contended that the city is otherwise ill-equipped to deal with snow removal because of a shortage of personnel and equipment. The president and business agent of Local 403 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees said they had no immediate plans to fight a directive from Mayor Goode to curb overtime during snow emergencies. But John White, business agent of Local 403, said, "They are going to have a very big problem.

You can't say Rose Valley Borough Council doesn't plan ahead. The temperature still may be in the 80s, but the council already has taken steps to prepare for the cold winter months by accepting a bid for snowplowing. "We don't drag our feet," joked Councilman William Schwarze when the agenda item came up Wednesday night. The council voted to accept the bid of Alex Pastuszek of Swarthmore for snow removal in the winter. He was the sole bidder. According to the bid, Pastuszek will charge the borough $69.50 an hour for a pickup truck with an 8-foot plow and $67 a hour for a pickup truck with a salt spreader.

In post-layoff Camden, officials rearranged personnel Thursday to get the city's 20 pieces of snow-removal equipment out to clean up the mess left by 2011's first major storm. About a foot of snow fell Wednesday and early Thursday in the region, and though the city said the number of the people who worked removing snow was not affected, residents had mixed reactions on the quality of the cleanup. More than 300 city employees were laid off last week, including 35 from the Public Works Department, which handles snow removal.

To Peter Black, a retired city employee who lives in Mayfair, the job of clearing Philadelphia streets after the Jan. 22 snowstorm "just wasn't done right. " Black, 58, who retired in July as a deputy fire chief, was believed to have been the only resident of the Northeast to attend a City Council hearing Tuesday on snow-removal problems resulting from the recent storm. "I was determined to come because certain sections of the city were completely ignored by the city," he said in an interview.

Whitpain Township has ended its tradition of shoveling snow to make a path for children who walk to school, but many parents say the township should reinstitute the practice of clearing the sidewalks when homeowners fail to do so. During its meeting Monday, the Board of Supervisors heard a similar request by David Martin of Vernon Road, who said January's mounds of snow needed to be cleared from sidewalks leading to the Stony Creek Elementary School...

For John Davis, it was a dream winter - over by Halloween. That would have been just after a freak Oct. 29 storm of heavy, wet snow collapsed tree limbs, ripped down power lines, and set Davis and his public-works colleagues throughout the region to worrying: Here we go again. But after back-to-back brutal winters, neither Davis nor his peers or the best minds of meteorology imagined that that storm would be the worst of the "winter" of 2011-12. "Ordinarily you spend the winter plowing or getting ready for plowing," said Davis, borough manager in Doylestown, where tight streets and well-used sidewalks make snow removal an adventure.

For John Davis, it was a dream winter - over by Halloween. That would have been just after a freak Oct. 29 storm of heavy, wet snow collapsed tree limbs, ripped down power lines and set Davis and his public-works colleagues throughout the region to worrying: Here we go again. But after back-to-back brutal winters, neither Davis - nor his peers nor the best minds of meteorology - imagined that storm would be the very worst of the "winter" of 2011-12. "Ordinarily you spend the winter plowing or getting ready for plowing," said Davis, public-works chief in Doylestown, Bucks County, where the tight streets and well-used sidewalks make snow removal an adventure.

Winter has been so mild, with so many seductive previews of spring, that it seems churlish to suggest we may still see some snow before the first robins and dandelions. Over the years, we've had some major dumps in February and March. Punxsutawney Phil, the prognosticating groundhog, saw his shadow earlier this month, and you know what that means. More convincing still: Accu-Tony, the paper's in-house weather sage, told me not to write off Old Man Winter yet. Thus the timing of today's topic: two nifty human-powered snow-removal devices guaranteed to do the job quickly and efficiently while giving you a dandy workout.

Though many Bucks County towns, including Bristol, Langhorne, and Yardley Boroughs, are holding the line on property taxes for 2012, Newtown Borough is raising its tax rate by 50 percent. The increase - Newtown's first in 16 years - amounts to an extra $126 for the owner of property assessed at the borough average of $42,000, raising the bill to $378. But the impact on the total property-tax bill, including about $5,300 in school and county levies, "is more like 2 to 3 percent," Councilman Gerard O'Malley said this week.

A Bucks County man who pulled a gun on a snowblower operator who had buried his car in an apartment parking lot was sentenced today to serve three months in prison. Eddie Lee Simmons Jr., 26, a recent transplant from North Carolina who had excelled in college and had no criminal record, "snapped" when he looked out of his Bensalem window Jan. 12 to see his 2004 Mazda disappearing under a mountain of snow, his lawyer said. "He completely overreacted to an ugly situation," defense attorney Craig Penglase said after the hearing in Bucks County Court.

Back-to-back profoundly snowy winters perhaps could have come at a worse time, but right now the region's municipal managers can't think of one. With tax revenues down and budgets under attack, they say that yet another disruptive winter was about as welcome as a major car-repair bill after getting a pay cut. "It's been a nerve-racking year," said Tom Micozzie, mayor of Upper Darby Township. Stunned by two seasons that have deposited a total of more than 10 feet of snow on parts of the region, some local officials are even wondering whether this is the future of winter.

AS WE PREPARE for yet another winter blast, many are still criticizing the city's response to the last storm . . . and not just the speed and efficiency of the Streets Department's effort to wrestle "hardpack" to the ground. We've also heard grumblings about why the city budget doesn't have a line item for snow removal. Snow removal has already cost $6 million this winter (not counting the last two storms), so shouldn't the city try to predict the expense so taxpayers can see how their money is going to be spent?

Snowplows have swept across 99 percent of the city's 2,575 miles of roadway. Crews have sprinkled 8,500 tons of salt - twice the normal amount for foot-deep snow. Streets workers and contractors will work through the weekend. And yet, for all the time and money spent on clearing this week's snowstorm, this one is going to be harder than most to push aside and forget. Blame the weather - again. Managing Director Richard Negrin told reporters Friday that a little sunshine would go a long way toward melting the thick layer of snow and ice that seems to be glued to blacktop across the city.

Going green has caused some Philadelphians, including City Councilman Frank Rizzo, to see white. "The new LED traffic-bulb lights were completely coated by snow and ice, preventing drivers from seeing the signal," Rizzo said about his commute to work Thursday. Although energy-efficient and cost-effective, LED lights have a downside. The LED bulbs burn cooler than the old incandescent lights, meaning snow that covers them melts more slowly, said Mark McDonald, Mayor Nutter's spokesman.

In post-layoff Camden, officials rearranged personnel Thursday to get the city's 20 pieces of snow-removal equipment out to clean up the mess left by 2011's first major storm. About a foot of snow fell Wednesday and early Thursday in the region, and though the city said the number of the people who worked removing snow was not affected, residents had mixed reactions on the quality of the cleanup. More than 300 city employees were laid off last week, including 35 from the Public Works Department, which handles snow removal.