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Resident complains council’s snow-plowing contracts pushed "about six feet" of snow onto her property; council outlines limits and options
Summary
A Franklin Township resident told the council its snowplow contractors pushed about six feet of snow onto her corner lot, blocking a bus stop. Township officials said contractors are low-bid vendors supervised by public works foremen, vehicles have GPS tracking, and council members discussed operational limitations, possible equipment changes and changes to sidewalk-clearing timeframes.
Deborah Enman, 67 Roberts Road, told the Franklin Township Council on Feb. 24 that contractors “pushed about six feet of snow up onto my property,” leaving children forced to wait for buses in the street and causing repeated property damage concerns.
“Every time there’s a significant amount of snow that falls, you need to rethink who which who plows where,” Enman said during the public-comment period, urging the township to change contractors or routes after a pattern of pileups in her neighborhood.
Councilmember Carl Wright, who said he represents Enman’s area, and other council members answered during the meeting’s response period. Township Manager Vorn Locker explained the procurement and supervision framework, saying snow routes are awarded to the lowest responsive bidder and that contractor crews work under public-works foremen. “Every plow operator, whether they’re a township plow operator or a contractor, their vehicles are equipped with GPS tracking devices that allow us to see where they are and what streets they’ve plowed,” Locker said, noting the township can verify whether a street was serviced.
Council members framed the problem as partly technical: several speakers, including Councilman Singh, described the situation as a trade-off of “operational physics.” Singh noted that with the 18-inch storm the township cannot put all snow at curb level and that options such as sidewalk-attachment plows or more passes would raise costs substantially. He said the council will consider alternatives but warned that they would require more staff time and money.
Several council members recommended pragmatic steps: increased public communication about problem locations, targeted enforcement of vehicle clearances during storms, and a review of the 12-hour sidewalk-clear ordinance (several members suggested a 24-hour window for extreme storms). Manager Locker and council members asked residents to report incidents so staff can document recurring contractor performance issues and evaluate vendors at contract renewal.
The council took no formal action on contracts at the meeting but directed staff to review complaints, consider operational and procurement constraints, and return with options for improving performance while balancing fiscal impacts.
