MANSFIELD — Mansfield will make a formal request this week to the Ohio Dept. of Transportation to plow snow off U.S. 30 within the city limits.
That was the word Tuesday night from Public Works Director Dave Remy as part of the city administration’s response to a City Council directed “to-do” list after a winter storm dumped about a foot of snow on the community Feb. 3 and 4.
Council issued the requests during a special Sunday afternoon meeting on Feb. 6 after hearing from residents complaining about the city’s road-clearing efforts.
Getting ODOT to plow the several miles of the four-lane U.S. 30 that rolls across the city’s north side would free up the city’s crews and plows to focus more on residential streets.
Remy said he had spoken with ODOT District 3 officials and was told the state agency would consider the move after receiving a written request. An in-person meeting with ODOT officials will likely then be scheduled, he said.
Also from the “to-do” list, Remy said:
— he had spoken to street operations Supervisor Steve Brown about potential equipment purchases, though state-approved bids for 2022 have not yet been approved. Remy said a Ford F-650 with a plow package will cost about $145,000 each and a Freightliner dump truck with a plow sells for about $190,000.
Remy said the smaller trucks function better on the city’s narrower streets, but are big enough to also do larger streets. He said the vehicles provide versatile, year-round flexibility. He told council he would like to order four or five of the F-650s, a purchase funded by a combination of water, sewer and street funds. Delivery of the new trucks would not come until sometime in 2023, he said.
— out-sourcing snow plowing efforts to private contractors is not allowable under the current collective bargaining agreement with AFSCME Local Local 3088.
“That provision in that contract is extremely limited and subject to union counter proposals,” Remy said. “By the language of the contract, we have spoken to the union in, in a labor-management meeting at the end of last week. They are not open to considering contracting out.
“In my opinion, in 20 years of working with unions, an attempt to outsource (plowing) would result in an arbitration and we would not prevail in that situation,” he said.
— discussed with council their concerns about wages being paid to street department employees. Remy said he had spoken to the city’s HR department and told council that street employees are operating under a contract that went into effect in May of 2021 and runs through April 2024.
He cited an example of a motor equipment operator with a CDL went from a grade 13 to a grade 14, earning a 4.8 percent pay increase. In addition, that that MEO got a 3 percent pay increase for the first year of the contract and will receive 2.7-percent pay increases each of the remaining two years of the contract.
He said an MEO at the top grade makes a base rate of a little over $45,000 annually and is eligible for time-and-a-half for overtime hours. Operators with a CDL also receive an additional $40 per month, which is paid in lump sum at the beginning of the year.
He said AFSCME workers also benefit from participating in the state’s Public Employee Retirement System.
— said he had reviewed with Brown the “snow ban” streets, where on-street parking is prohibited during snow emergencies, and found that 98 percent of them are legitimate for the ban.
The “snow bans” have been in place for more than 50 years. Remy told council previously the signs indicating the restrictions had been removed for some reason and the city had stopped enforcing it.
He said new signs would be ordered and placed on appropriate streets when they arrived.
— told council he had learned there were no current city ordinances preventing private, commercial haulers from moving snow into the streets as they cleared driveways and parking lots. At council’s request, Remy will have current ordinances updated to include “snow” and have it ready for council consideration at its next meeting on March 1.
Also on Tuesday, Assistant Law Director Christopher Brown told council that residents are not permitted to hire private contractors to clear streets, largely due to liability concerns.
At-large Councilwoman Stephanie Zader, who has been one of the legislators pushing for snow-plowing improvements, again asked Remy to review the city’s entire street-plowing policy.
“I think there are some (streets) maybe being overlooked because the boundaries of Mansfield are not straight lines,” she said, pointing to examples where city streets end and township roads begin and vice versa.
“It’s not as simple as going straight down a road and plowing to the end of it,” she said. “I think some of it is communication with drivers and training of drivers.”
