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Public Works Committee adopts modest updates to snow-and-ice control manual
Summary
The committee approved annual updates to the city's snow-and-ice control manual, adding seven salt locations, about two miles of roads to plow, and two new emergency overnight parking lots; staff said the manual would not have prevented issues during a recent intense storm.
Kenosha's Public Works Committee voted to adopt updates to the city's snow-and-ice control manual after staff outlined a small set of additions that will change how the city salts and plows certain routes.
Staff told the committee that "the biggest changes this year are just some additions," listing seven new stop/yield curve and hill salt locations, roughly two miles of paved roads newly added to the plow list, and two new emergency overnight parking lots in Uptown between 24th and 23rd and north of 63rd Street near the Nequila Building. The staff presentation also said Columbus Park is being removed from the temporary parking list because the new lots will serve that need.
Committee members asked whether any adjustments to the manual would have altered the city's response to a recent intense storm. A committee member asked whether staff would recommend any changes to the manual; staff replied that the storm's intensity and timing — with heavy snowfall rates "2 inch per hour" at peak, as discussed in the meeting — made it difficult to get ahead of the event and that no change in the manual would have prevented those specific challenges. A committee member and an agency official noted the department's relatively young workforce and said operational "clean up" and learning will continue.
A motion to approve the manual updates was moved and seconded; the committee voted in favor and the motion carried. Staff said they will continue to evaluate operational staffing and budget options during the CIP process.
The approved manual changes take effect for the coming winter season; staff emphasized they are additions to existing practice rather than a wholesale rewrite.
