Richmond officials outline winter-storm response, promise March 2 after-action report

Chief Administrative Officer Donald told the Richmond City Council on Tuesday that the city will deliver a full written after-action report on its January winter-storm response by March 2, in order to meet the deadline set by city code 12-19.

The interim briefing outlined preliminary figures for equipment, materials and treated mileage. "We treated about 2,010 lane miles," Donald said, describing roughly "2,500 lane miles" citywide across about 147 neighborhoods. He said crews used "more than 4,000 tons of salt and over 3,000 tons of sand," and that material costs alone were "a little bit more than $550,000." The administration said roughly 75 pieces of equipment were in use across the two back-to-back storms.

The report will include more precise fiscal and operational detail: "Within 30 days after an emergency has ended, the chief administrative officer shall submit to the city council a written report detailing the full fiscal and budgetary impact of the emergency," Donald said, referencing the statutory reporting requirement and the March 2 target date for delivery.

Why some streets were cleared sooner than others

Council members pressed officials on how the city prioritized which streets to treat. "The streets are prioritized based upon the Federal Highway Administration in terms of the classifications," said Bobby Vincent, director of public works. He said the city treats first the major arterials (about 700 miles, roughly 28% of the network), then collector streets (about 200 lane miles), and finally local residential routes (about 1,600 miles, roughly 65% of the network). Vincent said primary routes often receive multiple pretreatments and that prioritization is based on where drivers can safely enter neighborhoods to preserve emergency access rather than by council district or demographic characteristics.

Officials described operational constraints during an ice event. Donald noted that the storms shifted from snow to ice in forecasting, which complicated pretreatment choices and limited access in steep or narrow neighborhoods. He said the city activated a Multi-Agency Coordinating center (MAC) and used a direct communications tree recommended by a prior Hagerty audit to coordinate with utilities and private partners; that coordination, Donald said, helped limit a potentially large outage in one district to a much smaller number of customers.

Sidewalk warnings, enforcement and the difference between a notice and a ticket

Council members raised a news report that "more than 300 warnings" were issued for failure to clear sidewalks after the storm. Donald and Vincent emphasized that those communications were notices of violation (NOVs), which the administration characterized as warnings that carry no immediate monetary penalty. As Donald put it, "A notice of violation does not require you to pay a fine or a fee. It's not a ticket." The administration said it will verify which departments issued the NOVs (DPW, code enforcement or others) and include a breakdown by department and geography in the March 2 materials or in follow-up provided to councilors who supply specific examples.

Materials and logistics

Vincent said the city had large stockpiles in its facilities but that sand deliveries are periodic and can be depleted at a given location for a shift. "We had over 6,000 tons of salt in our vaults. We had over 2,000 tons of sand," he said, and added that sand shipments arrived to restock both Forest Hill and Hopkins Road locations on the Monday after the storms. He told the council the city plans additional ordering to prepare for future events.

Help for seniors and other vulnerable residents

Several council members described seniors and residents who could not get oil deliveries or prescriptions because trucks could not reach steep streets or local roads. Council Member Trammell recounted calls from constituents who said "they couldn't even get oil" and described at least one resident whose spouse was ill and could not get service. Donald said the administration is working to formalize targeted protocols and "white-glove" supports to identify and assist vulnerable residents in future storms, including using neighborhood services teams and constituent lists to provide prioritized outreach.

Next steps

The administration committed to provide the council a more detailed after-action and fiscal report by March 2 that will include: a full accounting of expenditures, a breakdown of notices of violation and which department issued them, a more detailed inventory of materials and equipment used, and lessons learned for communications and operational procedures. Vice President Jared said his office will also revisit sidewalk-clearing legislation and invited other council members to participate.

The informal meeting closed after the administration's commitments; no formal votes were taken during the discussion.