snow removal

Is Milquetoast Mark the unlikely defender of snow gates?

l3wis September 4, 2010 7Comments

Trust me, I was the most surprised to see SF Public Works director Mark Cotter defend snowgates, but it probably has more to do with job security then anything;

Also, Cotter received information last fall that snow gates could save time cleaning up intersections.

Typically, a sanding truck has to follow motor-graders to clean up the ridge of snow they leave behind in the intersections. The action includes a lot of backing up, which snow gates might eliminate, Cotter said.

But Mark is right. If you are concerned about saving money on fuel, it would seem this would be the place to start. But this quote from Street Manager Galynn Huber about snowgates really got my goat;

but he said it comes down to whether taxpayers are willing to pay extra.

Well, are taxpayers willing to pay extra for monkey crappers, flamingo sheds, Rhino barns, golf course clubhouses, wood and rock thingies, football fields, tennis court lockerooms, snow making machines . . . I could go on and on. I am amazed that public works is concerned about taxpayer money when cleaning snow from our streets and improving public safety but don’t think twice about installing a monkey toilet or buying Galynn a brand new super duty big ass gigantic truck that he doesn’t need.

The other thing that is blatant bullshit? Snowgates work if you use the right ones. All over Canada and the Northwest they can use them in up to 4 feet of snow. Google snowgates. There is tons of demonstration videos. Maybe the city council and Galynn Huber need to do a little Google research themselves. Of course, I wouldn’t want them to waste 30 minutes of their time.

Galynn Huber basically said he will purposely sabotage the snowgate experiment

l3wis August 16, 2010 7Comments

I was shocked and appalled when I watched this testimony during the informational meeting of Galynn Huber (Street Utility manager for the City of Sioux Falls) talking about using snowgates, you can tell he will do everything in his power to make sure they don’t work.

Don’t be a Negative Nancy.

They do work, if you purchase the right ones. In Canada and Idaho, they have used them up to 48″ of snow. The nice part about them is they help homeowners that live on emergency snow routes and corner lot owners. But Galynn seems hellbent on making sure they don’t work. The irony of his testimony is that he doesn’t mention that most of snow removal is done by private contractors. All you simply have to do is write an ordinance that requires them to use them, in other words, THEY HAVE TO PURCHASE THEM OR THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO REMOVE SNOW FOR THE CITY.

I won’t go into detail about all the BS he spews, just watch him talk about how ‘useless’ they are. It is so fanatical you would think he started his own tea-bagger, anti-snowgate group.

It kind of sounds like he is scared of more responsibility. Boo-Hoo.

Snowgates. A matter of priorities?

l3wis January 15, 2010 13Comments

Theresa Stehly writes a great letter about the snowgates. But more importantly she touches on priorities;

The issue of cost concerning snow gates is about priorities. We spend hundreds of thousands of tax dollars each year on consultants. We spend millions of tax dollars each year on subsidies for facilities and special-interest projects that many citizens never will use. And sometimes we spend money on frills such as $33,000 for the city calendar last year and the $50,000 art wall at the Falls.

Trying a few snow gates for $18,000 and seeing for ourselves if they will help citizens make sense to me.

Trying new progressive ideas is what will keep Sioux Falls vibrant and strong as we work on customer service for all people.

I have often argued that it is more about public safety then anything (eliminating dangerous windrows). And even though the cost would be more for the city initially, it would probably SAVE citizens money in repairs to their autos. I once had to drop $75 to fix a power steering pump after getting my car trapped in a windrow.