DATE: October 17, 2007
TO: Wasco County Court
FROM: Marty Matherly, Wasco County Roadmaster
TOPIC: Snow Response Plan
CONTACT: Don Uhalde, Road Superintendent Wasco County Public Works
With the onset of inclement weather, the Wasco County Public Works Road Division will be out plowing and sanding roads in accordance with Road Division Snow Response Plan adopted in 1992 and revised in 2007.
There are significant changes in this 2007 Snow Response Plan that are directly related to the loss of Federal timber monies known as the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 or PL 106-393. This loss forced Wasco County Public Works to deeply reduce staff. This staff reduction will affect our ability to provide the same coverage as soon as we have in the past. Thus, some roads that have historically been opened on a first day snow event may not be opened until at least the second day.
The Snow Plow Policy and Snow Plow Routes can be viewed from the right menu bar.
Snow plowing will begin when the snow depth reaches six inches or more in the roads. However, plows may be sent out when the slush exceeds four inches. Under normal conditions the work crews begin plowing at approximately 4:00 a.m., but this can vary under extreme conditions. Arterial roads with bus and mail routes are the first to be cleared, then crews proceed to collector and local roads and also to widen arterials, then finally to non-County public access roads when manpower is available.
Even using all of the county's snow removal equipment and the entire road crew on overtime, all of the roads still may not be cleared until the second or third day of plowing. If we experience a heavy continuous snow fall, we may have to re-plow the first priority roads before all of the other roads have been cleared.
When we are plowing we receive numerous complaints about plowed-in driveways. We apologize for this inconvenience and ask for your patience and assistance with this problem. We cannot plow the snow quickly and still clear driveways and mail boxes.
There are local contractors who will remove snow from your driveways and mailboxes. Many of them offer discounts to seniors or the disabled. A number of these contractors can be found in the Yellow Pages and through their advertising. Other assistance may be obtained through volunteer organizations. Neighbors' providing volunteer assistance to neighbors is also encouraged.