[Grovenet] council meeting to discuss city's (lack of) response tosnow

[Gregory Gritton]

At 06:41 PM 1/4/2009 -0800, you wrote:
>allen-
>
>those are great suggestions.  I  agree it doesn't make sense to equip the 
>city for this kind of snowfall, when it only happens every 40 years.
>
>honestly I don't know what the answer is - but then again, I don't work 
>for the city.  but if I did, I would have done something.   first of all I 
>would have answered the public's phone calls.  then when I realized this 
>wasn't going to thaw out in 2 or 3 days, I would have tried to find a 
>creative solution - maybe one of yours.
>
>as far as I can tell, the city did diddly to help us.


Forest Grove doesn't need the level of snow preparation that
cities in Ohio, Utah, Idaho, or other places where it snows
regularly need, but that doesn't mean it needs none.

Consider our neighbors.  It doesn't snow any more often in
Portland than it does in Forest Grove.  Yet, from a recent
newspaper article, I gathered that Portland has 50 snowplows.
With 575,930 people vs. Forest Grove's 20,775 (from Wikipedia),
it has 27 times the population.  If Forest Grove had the same
level of snowplows per capita it would have 2.

Another article mentioned Cannon Beach breaking out its only
snowplow for the first time in a long time.  Cannon beach only
has 1,680 people (less than Banks), and it snows less often on
the coast than it does here, but at least they are prepared
with a snowplow.

Finally, Washington County obviously has snow plowing equipment,
as Katie mentioned.

This argument is a "keeping up with the Jonses" argument.
Just because Portland, Cannon Beach, or Washington County has
snowplows doesn't mean, necessarily, that Forest Grove should.
Even so, they have obviously assessed it as worthwhile.
Why have we come to the opposite conclusion?

Having two weeks of snow on the ground is extremely rare,
but it isn't that rare to have a day or two with snow on the
ground.  In either case, schools shut down, getting to work
(unless you can work from your home) is difficult.
While a couple of days off from school is nice, I wonder
what the lack of mobility does for the local economy.

How much does having snowplow capability cost.
Another news time article mentioned that having buying
a heavy truck capable of taking a snowplow attachment
would cost the city $100,000.  That is $5 per person in the city.
Would that investment be worth it to you.  Would you be
willing to pay $5 for every person in your family for the
city to have some sort of plowing capability?
I know that I would, but perhaps that isn't universal.

I hope that the city can come up with some plan to
plow at least the major streets (and eventually the
smaller ones) in the future, whether it is owning a
snowplow capable truck, contracting with the county,
or contracting with private individuals.

Sincerely,

Greg Gritton