MANSFIELD — Mansfield City Council member Donnie Bryant said he wants the administration to hear from the public regarding snow plowing and salting.
Mayor Tim Theaker said he wants local residents to understand salt limitations and fiscal realities.
In the wake of the major winter storm that dumped up to a foot of snow on Mansfield a couple of weeks ago, and the ensuing chill that encased the community in ice, it should make for an interesting public meeting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
That’s when City Council’s streets committee will take up the issue, one of four committee meetings scheduled before council’s caucus begins at 7 p.m. Others are zoning at 5:45 p.m., economic development at 6 p.m.and utilities at 6:15 p.m.
But with Winter Storm Harper still fresh in people’s minds, it’s the streets committee that is drawing attention, especially with Bryant’s open invitation for public comment.
“What I am hoping is anyone who wants to comment or express themselves with an issue regarding the city’s streets or roads and snow and salt can make their comments public so that the mayor and council can hear their concerns and get a direct response,” said Bryant, a Democrat running for mayor this year.
“I would just like for the mayor to keep us informed as best he can,” said Bryant, vice chair of the streets committee. “City Council should have known beforehand about the (city’s new) salting policy. He should keep us in the loop instead of telling us out of nowhere we have a new salt policy.
“I want to make sure the administration is getting back to people (who have questions), because it’s understanding that’s not happening right now.”
Theaker, a Republican seeking his third term in November’s election, said the recent snowfall was the largest in 40 years and the city’s employees worked around the clock to try to clear the streets.
The mayor said there has been confusion over the city’s salt supply.
Theaker said Mansfield didn’t reduce the amount of salt it purchased this winter as a cost-cutting method. He said there are three major salt suppliers, all of which have production issues, and the supply simply isn’t available.
“We bid out the salt supply three times and we have 11 rejections in hand,” Theaker said. “The city normally goes through 10 to 14 tons of salt per winter. We had one bidder (who said) they could supply (about half) that much.”
Theaker pointed to Shelby’s announcement after the January storm that the city’s salt bin is down to about one-fourth full and that it’s implementing a new strategic salting policy, as Mansfield announced last fall.
The Republican mayor said the city had 12 trucks working before, during and after the storm. He said it kept two trucks in reserve to respond to specific emergencies.
“I commend our employees,” Theaker said. “They worked 12-hour shifts until they got the snow cleaned up. That amount of snow beat on the trucks. We had some trucks break down and we had to repair them. We spent a lot of money to get them back out on the road.
“In today’s environment, I understand people want an immediate response. (But) there is an awful lot of money that would have to be invested (in manpower and equipment) to provide that immediate response. We have to be cautious. The city is just out of fiscal emergency and we can’t go back.”
