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City of Little Canada: 12/14/2017 <br />Snowplowing Policy Page 1 <br /> <br />City of Little Canada, Minnesota <br />Snowplowing Policy <br /> <br /> <br />1. Introduction <br />The city of Little Canada, Minnesota, finds that it is in the best interest of the residents of the <br />city to assume basic responsibility for control of snow and ice on city streets. Reasonable ice <br />and snow control is necessary for routine travel and emergency services. The city will <br />attempt to provide such control in a safe and cost effective manner, keeping in mind safety, <br />budget, personnel, and environmental concerns. The city will use city employees, equipment <br />and/or private contractors to provide this service. This policy does not relieve the operator of <br />private vehicles, pedestrians, property owners, residents and all others that may be using <br />public streets, of their responsibility to act in a reasonable, prudent and cautious manner, <br />given the prevailing street conditions. <br />The City of Little Canada currently maintains 75 lane miles of streets, 62 cul-de-sacs, and 12 <br />parking lots. <br />2. Goal <br />It is the goal of the City of Little Canada Public Works Department to provide safe winter <br />driving conditions appropriate for the type of travel typical to city streets. The level of <br />service described herein shall be considered a guideline with the understanding that <br />immediately after a storm, the level of service provided may be less than described herein <br />and may vary across the City, depending on storm conditions and other circumstances. <br />Streets shall be plowed and/or salted with emphasis given to intersection approaches, hills, <br />and curves, in order to provide the safest conditions practical under the circumstances. <br /> <br />3. When Will the City Start Snow or Ice Control Operations? <br />The Public Works Director, or designated representative, will decide when to begin snow or <br />ice control operations based on immediate and anticipated conditions. Each event is unique <br />due to the many changing weather conditions. The criteria for the decision are: <br /> Snow accumulation of two (2) inches or more; <br /> Drifting of snow that causes problems for travel; <br /> Icy conditions which seriously affect travel; and <br /> Time of snowfall in relationship to heavy use of streets. <br /> <br />Snow and ice control operations are expensive and involve the use of limited personnel and <br />equipment. Consequently, snowplowing operations will not generally be conducted for <br />snowfall of less than two (2) inches unless it is determined that plowing is the best method to <br />clear the streets based on temperatures or an accumulation of nuisance snow events. Plowing <br />the streets reduces the amount of salt applied on streets and that will also be taken into <br />consideration.