by April Scheinoha
Reporter
The predicted snowfall didn’t materialize last week, but it led to a few headaches for Thief River Falls residents. At its meeting Tuesday, Nov. 15, the Thief River Falls City Council heard about the city’s snow removal efforts.
Council member Anthony Bolduc, who represents Ward 2, said he had fielded complaints from a few of his constituents. Two avenues in Ward 2 were plowed and quite a few weren’t plowed. Bolduc wanted to know why.
About two to three inches of snow had fallen, triggering the city to begin its plowing operations. City crews were hampered by the milder temperatures and, in the midst of removing snow, one manhole and a water can valve were struck. Public Works Director Travis Giffen said they then decided to pull the plows Friday, Nov. 11 and allow the snow to pack where it was sitting.
Meteorologists had predicted that Thief River Falls would receive 12 to 18 inches of snow, said Giffen, who noted that he had been watching the forecasts for three days prior to that day. He added that city leaders felt that the city needed to be prepared for calendar parking. As a result, Mayor Brian Holmer called a snow emergency immediately on Thursday, Nov. 10. Calendar parking was set to start five days later, but Holmer has the ability to call a snow emergency prior to that time.
At the council meeting, Holmer questioned the city policy to plow snow when snowfall reaches two inches. He asked what the city would do if snowfall reached 1-1/2 inches each day for several consecutive days.
“I think citizens deserve to have their roads plowed,” said Holmer, who noted that plowing decisions should be up to Giffen’s discretion.
Giffen keeps records of his department’s past plowing activities. He said they had plowed many times last year when the snowfall hadn’t reached two inches.
Even though Thief River Falls didn’t receive the large amount of snowfall predicted, cleanup continues. Earlier this week, crews removed snow piles in downtown Thief River Falls. They were expected to remove snow from berms Tuesday night. Giffen expected that crews would possibly skim the snow again Thursday, Nov. 17 and Friday, Nov. 18.
Residents were reminded to slow down when driving on slippery roadways. Council member Mike Lorenson said the city recently replaced a guardrail at the Pennington Avenue roundabout near Greenwood Cemetery. It was damaged a short time after being repaired. After the recent snowfall, someone had also clipped a sign at the roundabout.