Supervisors discuss snow removal route times
This is an Iowa DOT snowplow, but Humboldt County Secondary Roads workers say they are often clearing county roads before Highway 169 gets cleared of snow. Snow removal operations and start and end times were a matter of discussion Monday during the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors meeting. Submitted photo.
By KENT THOMPSON
Up well before the break of day, Humboldt County’s secondary road workers clean roads and move snow long before most people have had their first cup of coffee.
So, would there be any benefit for county road crews to be out any earlier?
That was the point of discussion during a work session between County Engineer Ben Loots and the three county shop foremen: Jeff George (Humboldt), Denny Lippolt (Hardy) and Tom Collins (Bode).
The consensus from the engineer and road foremen was that heading out earlier would have little benefit in most cases and could be a safety and efficiency of work issue in some cases.
The standard operating procedure for cases of overnight snowfalls of a measurable amount is for the three foremen to go out at 3 a.m. to 3:15 a.m. and run the route, or at least a portion of the route.
“If it’s iffy, we’ll drive further, then we talk to each other and decide if we decide to run. We call the crew at 4 a.m. and they are to work by 5 a.m.,” Lippolt stated.
“We get complaints about why roads aren’t opened when people go to work,” Humboldt County Supervisor Chair Dave Lee said. After much discussion, the Board of Supervisors took no action, as it was just a work session.
