Snow makes some chicken out

At first I thought it was a snow creature.

                It sounded like someone was shivering.

                But then I realized what it was.

                It was a frozen chicken so large that Frank Perdue would have been envious.

                It was Chicken Little.

                I could not imagine why he was out in the snow and cold this past weekend, but as always he had an explanation.

                “When I heard about the cold, rain and snow, I wanted to be grateful and not

Chicken Little examines the snow situation

dead, so I got my stuff, put it in the back of the chicken coupe and was ready to flee the coop before the sky fell in.”

                So why didn’t you?

                “Well I tried, but I the coupe couldn’t garner up enough traction to get out of Dodge.”

                I asked him if it was a case of bad tires.

                “Nope, more like bad planning.”

                Ah, so you should have planned to have left earlier.

                “Hardly, unlike Pete Carroll, I stick to my plan.” 

                So you were in a rush, but decided to pass on your plans?

                “Nope.  My plan was good, but the village’s wasn’t.”

                Not that it takes a lot, I told him, but I’m confused – how does the village factor into your plans?

                “Simple, I was planning to head south on Sunday, but the snow hit and I couldn’t make it out of my driveway,” he clucked.

                So you’re saying the streets were still snow covered and you couldn’t drive anywhere.

                “Exactly,” he clucked.

                Sounds familiar.  Seems as though the village’s new plan for snow removal had a hiccup, if not an upset stomach.

                The plan, which is in its first year, was designed to make maximum use of equipment and more efficient cycle times based on the routes.  But as Pete Carroll found out on Sunday, as did some folks at Village Hall, even the best plans don’t always materialize.

                Needless to say, Village Hall, despite the efforts of Public Works to keep up with nearly 20 inches of snow, was besieged with phone calls, emails, not to mention postings on social media, by people who were ::ahem:: more than a little upset by what they deemed was an unacceptable plan.

                Heavy snows do that. It’s the tangible items that make folks storm the Bastille.

                “You bet,” Chicken Little said.

                As luck would have it, the Village Board met Monday night and heard from village staff who addressed the situation.  My guess is they felt like Pete Carroll addressing the people in Seattle.

                The Board was told that the plan will be re-examined (probably a good idea) to avoid a similar situation when the village gets dumped on.

                “So what did the governing fathers and mothers have to say?” C.L. asked.

                Most said what you thought they’d say.  The village needs to do a better job by decreasing the time between cycles (the time the plows do streets) and more efficient use equipment.  One trustee, Mike Terson, seemed satisfied that the village had done a decent job, saying he thought the snow removal process went better than the storm in 2011. 

                There was concern by trustees Andy Stein and Beverly Sussman about residual snow left after the plows went by making it difficult for residents to get out of their driveways.  Public Works Director Mike Reynolds indicated that keeping snow away from residents’ driveways is a difficult thing to do, especially given the thousands of driveways there are in the village.

                Resident Leon Gopon said residents should know that different agencies handled the snow removal on some roads and suggested signs indicated what agency maintains what street.  Interestingly enough, that information is available on the village’s web site by simply entering your address under “property search” on the lower left side of the web page.  In addition to information about crime rates, flood plains and construction project, there’s a spot marked “outside agency snow plowing service areas” and with one click, you can find out who handles every street in the village.

                “That’s all fine and dandy” C.L. said, “but I think we need more trucks, snow plows, salt spreaders.”

                That’s a key part of the plan, I told my fine-feathered fowl.  The village uses a variety of equipment from pick-up trucks to one-ton trucks. Reynolds noted that the village had 18 pieces of equipment on the streets at the peak of the storm.

                So while it may not be completely back to the drawing board, a revised plan is more than probably.

                “I have an idea,” C.L. said.

                I had to ask what it was.

                “Well I only have one suggestion for the Board,” he noted.  “Consider getting some 16-ton trucks.”

                Seriously?

                “Well, maybe, but it probably wouldn’t work, especially once they were placed into service.”

                And why is that?

                “Well, they’d be another day older and we’d be deeper in debt.”

                Are you saying there’s a Ford in your future?

                “Only if it’s part of a revised plan,” he said.

                Ford or not, they key will be the effectiveness of the revisions.