Snowstorms drain plow budgets for cities

If the snowplowing budgets of Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake were written down on paper and run through a snowblower, they might look a little better than they do now.

The record-breaking amounts of snowfall in December made both cites blow through their snow removal budgets faster than water over Spokane Falls in spring.

The city of Spokane Valley, which contracts with Spokane County for snow removal, had $500,000 set aside for plowing. The city has also hired multiple private contractors. Mayor Rich Munson said he hasn’t seen exact numbers, but doesn’t think any of that money is left. “With the amount of private contractors we have, this isn’t cheap,” he said. “We had up to 18 of them over the weekend.”

The contractors, however, don’t have the proper equipment to plow major arterials. “They’re very good at plowing residential streets, but their equipment isn’t quite adapted to wide arterials like Sprague,” he said. “We need to use the county for that.”

Munson said he’s been pleased with the work done by county workers. “They have roads other than Spokane Valley to worry about. We are very, very thankful on the amount of work we’ve received from the County. I think they’re doing the best job they can.”

The excess money needed to pay for the ongoing snow removal efforts will come from the city’s reserves. “There’s money in our contingency funds,” he said.

But Munson is hoping to get some sort of reimbursement from the state after he declared a state of emergency last week. He was soon followed by the city of Spokane and Spokane County. “We hope to be able to recover some of the cost,” he said.

Being hit with one snowstorm after another has left the city scrambling to keep ahead. Last weekend’s warm weather was the only breather before another storm unleashed about eight inches in many Valley neighborhoods on Monday. “We actually had all the streets plowed before (Monday),” he said. The new snow forced the city to start over again.

The city of Liberty Lake hasn’t seen many problems thanks to its small size, but has spent double the $50,000 set aside for snow removal in 2008.

“Prior to the big event we were up to $70,000 because of last year’s big event,” said community development director Doug Smith. That number is now up to $100,000. Money will be taken from the street fund to fill the hole.

The city set aside $70,000 for plowing in 2009 and Smith is hoping for less snow in the new year so perhaps the budget will even out. “Hopefully the weather will be kind to us.”

Liberty Lake contracts with Peplinski Construction for snow removal and the mostly flat city can be completely plowed in 12 hours. The only real challenge is where to put the snow. “It’s been getting slower and slower all the time because there’s less room for snow storage,” said Smith.

Soon the city may have to consider paying to have dump truck loads of snow hauled away, which will add significantly to the cost. “If we have one or two more of these (storms), we’re going to have to start looking at that.”

Aside from plowed-in driveways and huge snow berms, the city has lost the battle to keep its large network of trails clear of snow. “They’re impassible,” he said. “We don’t have snow equipment large enough. The priority has been to keep the streets open.”

The city plans to have sidewalks and paths used by children to get to school open before classes resume on Monday.

While Liberty Lake may be free of large numbers of complaints about plowing, that’s not a luxury enjoyed by Spokane Valley. “We certainly understand people’s frustrations,” Munson said. “Most people have been pretty understanding. People are almost apologetic when they call in. Most of them really need some help.”

All that’s left to do now is to wait for the next storm to roll in while watching money flow out the door. “We’re looking at a lot of snow this winter,” Munson said. “We had our fingers crossed, but it didn’t work.”