Council discusses snow-removal process

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Mickelson also said he referred those in need of driveway clearing to call the local high school FFA adviser, who would send high school students to remove the snow.

The council also heard from Ontario Postmaster Alan Schuster who lamented the city’s current method of removing snow.

The clearing, he said, often blocks mailboxes, which means the mail carriers must get out of their vehicles to place letters in boxes. Climbing out of the vehicles, he said, increases the amount of time a mail carrier will spend at a particular mailbox, increasing overtime pay. He also expressed concern about the limited amount of roadway the vehicles have to park in when the snow is too far into the road.

“Is it possible to blade closer to the mail boxes?” he asked the council.

Mickelson said he would look at the manner in which the city removes snow. However, Ontario Councilman Lewie Allen said he believed it is the homeowner’s responsibility to ensure their mailboxes and driveways are cleared.

Ontario Police Chief Mike Kee said city law also reflects this idea. Mickelson said plowing closer to the curb would get snow on sidewalks. Kee said ordinances reflect clearing sidewalks is again a homeowner responsibility.

Ontario City Council member Dan Cummings said he recommended receiving mail by hand when a resident sees the mail truck approaching.

Cummings spoke out against spending a great deal of money funding extensive snow removal since he said Ontario rarely receives a large amount of snow.

He, Ontario Councilwoman Susann Mills and Ontario Councilman John Gaskill said local residents have other options for removing snow from driveways and mailboxes other than relying on the city. Gaskill spoke about local residents who will often clear snow from driveways as a good samaritan act or for payment.

The council also discussed the possibility of adding de-icer to the city’s snow removal fleet. Ontario City Manager Henry Lawrence said de-icing agent costs $5,000 for 214 lane miles. Mickelson said adding the agent to the fleet would also rack up further costs such as purchasing the devices to spread the de-icer as well as a storage facility to house it.

He also said, if the city does opt for de-icer, it might only be used on some intersections as well as areas such as “hospital hill.”

After the meeting, Mickelson said he would return to the council in two weeks with prices for various snow removal options.

The council also discussed a meeting with Malheur County’s economic director, which included talks about President-elect Barack Obama’s $700 billion infrastructure package, Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s potential $1.2 billion transportation package and Senate President Peter Courtney’s suggested construction package worth $2 billion. Ontario Mayor Joe Dominick said he took issue with a number of plans brought up by private businesses and schools.

Lawrence said one of the issues discussed was a science wing for Treasure Valley Community College. Dominick said he believed the money was for transportation projects such as the East Idaho underpass or North Oregon Street.

“I brought up the underpass issue right away,” he said. “That’s infrastructure. When all of these other things were brought up, we did more listing than we did talking.”

Dominick said he felt he would probably take a lot of flack, but he did not think the money was for schools or private businesses. Schools, prisons and private businesses have their own funding sources, and this money was supposed to be for cities, he said.

Ontario City Councilman Ron Verini said he believed the money could be used for education and technology.

According to the Associated Press, Obama has said schools would share with roads in an immediate infusion of $25 billion for repairs and rebuilding.