CM Berliner Memo on Snow Response

7/25/2019 CM Berliner Memo on Snow Response

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MONTGOMERY COUNTY COUNCILRO C K V I L L E , M A R Y L A N D

ROGER

BER LINER

CHAIR MAN

COUNC ILMEMB ER TR ANSPOR TATION, INFR AST R UC T URE

D ISTR IC T 1 ENERGY & EN VIRO NMENT COMMITTEE

STELLAB. WERNEROFFICEBUILDING100 MARYLANDAVENUE, 6THFLOOR, ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND20850

240-777-7828 OR240-777-7900, TTY 240-777-7914, FAX 240-777-7989WWW.MONTGOMERYCOUNTYMD.GOV

M E M O R A N D U M

February 10, 2016

TO: Isiah Leggett, County ExecutiveTim Firestine, Chief Administrative Officer

Al Roshdieh, Director, Montgomery County Department of Transportation

FROM: Councilmember Roger Berliner, Chair, T&E Committee

As you know, following the historic snow storm of the weekend of January 22-24 and the small,

unexpected snowstorm that preceded it, I asked our residents to share with me their thoughts on how ourcounty performed and how we might do better. We received more than 300 such communications from

our residents.

I am attaching those responses (with their names and email addresses redacted) for your review.Given the postponement of our after action assessment due to the predicted snow event yesterday, I

thought it might serve the Administration to see these responses now in advance of whenever the after

action assessment is rescheduled.

Not surprisingly, there were a wide range of opinions expressed. Approximately 18% of the

responses were quite complimentary of the overall efforts made given the historic circumstances underwhich the county labored and the long hours worked by our front-line county employees. My personal

experience is that we often hear more from residents who are unsatisfied than satisfied, so I wouldimagine that this number underrepresents broader public sentiment. However, it is also clearly the case

that a significant portion of our community was less positive in their assessment of the countysperformance.

Below I have summarized the seven major categories of comments we received (positive

feedback, state and major roads, neighborhood plowing, the 311 call center, the snow map, sidewalk anddriveway clearing, and overall communication during the storm) as well as a number of the suggestions

for improvements that were offered.

I hope you find this report helpful as we collectively assess how we can better serve our residentsin the future.


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Comments (around 300 total)1

Positive Feedback (54 comments) Many residents expressed strong satisfaction with the crews

that worked tirelessly to plow the roads and the general response of the county to a snowstorm oflargely unprecedented proportions. Many noted that certain plow operators took great care to

move tremendous amounts of snow carefully. We are certainly indebted to the work of thecountless county employees and contractors who served around the clock during this storm.

State and Major Roads (87 comments) Many residents were quite upset regarding how long it

took before our major state thoroughfares were restored. Because it took days before state roadswere plowed, many commuters voiced frustration at multi-hour commutes along major routes.

Residents felt that the State Highway Administration provided scant information updatingresidents of the plowing progress.

Neighborhood Plowing(142 comments) The largest number of comments were from residentsunhappy with how long it took to get to neighborhoods and, once there, the passable standardused. Linked to this were concerns about evacuating those in medically fragile conditions in a

timely manner. Some neighborhoods expressed concern that they are always last on the chain ofplowing.

Issues with 311 Call Center (21 comments) Commenters found that 311 call center did notpick up their calls or had very long wait times and dropped many calls. When the call was picked

up, residents felt that the staff were often unable to provide detailed information during the storm. Issues with Snow Map (30 comments) The snow map was ineffective at providing current

information to residents. Many residents expressed frustration at being designated in progresswhen a plow had not yet touched their neighborhood, leading residents to be concerned that they

had been missed.

Sidewalk and Driveway Clearing (61 comments) Many concerns were focused on this area.There were sidewalks left unshoveled for many days, while residents raised concern that plows

had pushed significant snow into sidewalks and curb ramps. Second and third passes of streets ledto driveways being blocked and sidewalks recovered with significant snow piles.

General Communication Practices (38 comments) Residents felt that generally the Countywas unable to provide detailed information before and during the storm. Many felt that there

should be a clearer road cleaning plan that should be publicly available so that residents canunderstand the planned sequence of the operations. Additionally, some residents felt that the orderof neighborhood clearance should be made known to residents and news updated on plowing

progress should be shared frequently throughout the day. Some felt that the County did notadequately publicly address some of the challenges and issues faced during the storm.

Suggestions

We also received a number of suggestions from residents. I have pulled a representative sampling

here. More are contained in the hundreds of responses attached.

Snow MapResidents expressed strong interest in more real-time data and an enhanced interface.

How about enabling annotation on the snow map, so that residents can leave a note that the plow

operators can see. One option would be letting 311 operators make entries after a phone call, but

letting everyone see them.

Make the snow plow map more interactive and user friendly.

1We received around 300 total responses, and have provided summary statistics of the different category of responses as a

guide. Many individuals wrote in on multiple topics. All of the responses are attached.


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Several commenters expressed support for real-time GPS information on plows.

Update the MoCo snow map. Its built on very old, no longer supported technology.

County needs to educate users of the map as to the plow routes.

The online snow map could do with some relatively minor improvements in color coding: thecurrent colors are generally not very legible (too fat, the yellow outline is too close to the mutedyellow background color of the map) and generally it seems more geared towards the needs of the

snow plow managers than for the consumer homeowners: it is very clear to see whether a street isdesignated emergency, primary or neighborhood, but it not straightforward to see at a glance what

the state of a given street is.

CommunicationsResidents presented ideas for more communication prior to storm.

A clear plan on a web site explaining the order of snow clearing so residents and businesses can

plan.

I actually think the county did a good jobI think an e-mail prior to the storm remindingresidents of their responsibility for clearing sidewalks, bus stops, and fire hydrants would behelpful.

"Communication with neighborhood associations is essential to remediate emergency situations."

SidewalksResidents had strong interest in more focus on sidewalks, but some residents were interested in changes

to enforcement.

The shovel-your-sidewalk law should not be enforced on homeowners until the county has

cleared its sidewalks along county buildings and parks.

Can the requirement for residents to remove snow from the sidewalk within a certain amount oftime be adjusted depending on the amount of snow?

I really liked that Mayor Bowser has a shovel brigade to help people shovel out neighbors who

may need a little extra help. Maybe Montgomery County could do something similar?

There are large stretches of sidewalk that are never cleared because no home fronts on thatsidewalkIdentify those areas and notify the property owner(s) of their responsibility.

Bus stops and sidewalks near locations like schools, hospitals, and metro stations should beprioritized.

Leave street margins unplowed so that sidewalks and street corners are not made impassable.

"Although public schools were closed for a week, when kids returned to school, many of the

school sidewalks and drop-off routes were not adequately plowed...Schools must be required, justlike property owners, to clear their public sidewalks and remove snow on their lots before school

reopens."

Snow Operations

Residents had diversity of views on potential changes to snow operations.

Could Montgomery County use a mutual aid program with other jurisdictions for snow response?

Can neighborhood streets be plowed while snow is ongoing?... Would it be possible to formalizea rotational schedule, so the same neighborhood is not always the first or last plowed?

Banning unnecessary travel (like what NYC did) would be a good idea for non-essentialpersonnel.

Elevate the priority of digging out schools and school bus routes.

On multi-lane roads, move the snow to the center of the road


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Mark snow emergency routes more stridently and begin ticketing and towing as soon as an

emergency is declaredattach tall flags to all fire hydrants.

Plow entire neighborhoods at the same time.

When a plow comes into a neighborhood, especially after a heavy storm, a Bobcat or equivalentcollaborating with the plow(s) would enhance the operation.

CC: Montgomery County Councilmembers

Attachments:1. Councilmember Berliner e-mail to residents soliciting feedback on snow response

2. Citizen comments provided via e-mail


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Getting Better After Winter Storm Jonas

I received hundreds of emails from residents during the recent historic storm andits aftermath. Most of those communications conveyed tremendous frustrationand many questions about the manner in which our county performed the

important responsibility of clearing our roads. Our residents asked foraccountability.

Our Council will ensure accountability. On Tuesday, February 9, at 2 pm, theCouncil will hold a special session devoted to examining how the countyperformed before, during, and after the event. The Executive Branch of ourcounty government has responsibility for all snow operations, including the onlinesnow map and 311, and will be in attendance and offer their own thoughts andreflections. The session will be held in the Council Hearing Room (Council OfficeBuilding, Third Floor, 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850). While therewill not be an opportunity for the public to testify, the meeting will be open to the

public, televised live, and streamed on our website.

I invite you to be part of the solution and share with me your own reflections andsuggestions as to how our county can improve for future weather events. I willcompile the suggestions and provide them to the Executive Branch for theirconsideration. Simply write [email protected] advance of the February 9th hearing with how you think our county could havedone this big job better. Please put "Snow Suggestion" in the subject line.

For myself, I fully appreciate how hard and long our front line county staff

worked. Nonetheless, I am convinced our county could have performed better. Ihave preliminarily identified several areas of concern that I would like to seeaddressed by our Department of Transportation and other members of theExecutive Branch:

In preparing for the storm, did DOT acquire as many pieces of equipment andcontractors as we could have or was there a decision made that the amount we


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acquired was sufficient. If so, what assumptions were made at the time as to howlong it would take to dig out?

Communications are critical at times like this, particularly when it comes tosetting realistic expectations. How could communication with residents be

improved using all the tools available to us? In the future, would it be possible forresidents to be given realistic estimates at the front end when we are confident ofthe magnitude of the storm rather than the standard this will be a multi-dayeffort response?

When Pepco experiences outages, we insist upon their best estimate of whenspecific outages will be fixed. DOT refused to provide such estimates forneighborhoods. Why?

In an era when you can track the movement of every vehicle, why was the snow

map so unhelpful and the cause of even greater stress? What improvements arebeing made? What would it take to be able to track each and every plow withGPS in order to improve communications and efficiency?

How is the order in which neighborhoods are plowed determined? Should thatorder be changed from storm to storm so that some neighborhoods arent alwayslast?

The Executive Branch initially requested that people call 311 to report missedroutes and snow related concerns. However, the system was simply incapable ofresponding to the volume of calls, causing greater frustration. What could thecounty have done better given that there was plenty of notice that this was goingto be an unprecedented storm? How was the level of staffing determined and canthat level be increased for future events like this one?

What was the plan for sidewalk and bus shelter clearing? Were contractorsbrought in for this specific purpose and if not, why? What more, if anything, canbe done to ensure pedestrians arent forced into the streets in the aftermath ofsuch storms?

While it is a sensible policy to make an initial run in the neighborhoods to make

roads passable, what is the standard for passable and is it sufficient forresidents to safely travel in their neighborhoods? When second and third passesare made, what can be done to minimize the dumping of snow onto sidewalksand driveways?


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Should there be an official humanitarian list of residents who, for reasons asvaried as having to attend a funeral or get out of town to be with a strickenrelative, require priority? And if not, why?

I look forward to receiving your own suggestions, and the many improvements

that my colleagues will be proposing. Our goal, as always, should be to learnfrom this experience so that our county serves you better in the future. That iscertainly my goal.


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Documents

CM Berliner Memo on Snow Response