Snow plow driver is dangerous

I'm not sure how productive it is to post on a public bulletin board that is not associated with the City. I think you'll get more action if you contact the City directly. Here's a link to their website:

http://www.rossland.ca/contact-staff-council

You want the Manager of City Works, Darrin Albo.

agreed.  The guy driving the belly/gravel truck is convinced that the loop up on iron colt is a race track.  It’s not, it’s also full of dogs and kids.  No regard for the city’s equipment or its inhabitants.  Mayor and council frequently comment on the discussions they find of interest on here, not sure how this isn’t a super efficient way to let them know what’s up.  hiring mistakes happen.  You can be wrong, just don’t be wrong long :)

I welcome any constructive criticism but I will not reply to comments such as if someone is killed you will be happy!! Come on Give your head a shake. 

The city and it’s employees actually really do care about safety of ourselves and the public We do have gps in our sand trucks that allow us to track where, when, and how fast they travel. I am happy to look up the speeds if you are concerned about us using the streets as a race track and abusing equipment. All you need to do is contact city hall with an approx time and location. Sometimes a large noisy truck can appear to be going faster than what its actually travelling. We have over 50km of roads to plow with two sand trucks with many challenging areas so in order to provide service to everyone we sometimes travel at the posted speed limits.

Snow plowing is sometimes a thankless job as we get many different concerns from citizens which some want the plow sooner, streets wider, no snow on my side, more sand, less sand as it’s to much to clean up in the spring, truck to turn the blade which if fixed, and many other concerns.

While I’m talking about plowing I would ask that people use their driveways and keep vehicles off the roads as it helps with keeping our streets safe. All dogs should be leashed as they sometimes bolt out around cars and snowbanks. The operators are always in radio contact so when they see potential hazards such as children playing they can be on a higher alert in those areas.

Darrin Albo 250-362-7396

darrin@rossland.ca

Sorry I should have added that I am the operations manager for our great City.

I think this a good place to have a discussion like this. I have been noticing a lack of respect for other people on the road from the pole trucks lately as well turning out of our ally with no regard for oncoming traffic and taking the right of way at narrow spots in the road when it may not be theirs. Maybe it’s theirs automatically because they’re doing maintenance? Not sure. Both of these things aren’t going to show up gps tracking. Anyway, I may not have been compelled to contact the city thinking it was isolated incidents if not for this thread. Contact the city for sure but no harm in communicating with the rest of the community as well

If I had a complaint, I'd connect directly with the city so managers can address whether there is an issue and rectify it.  As well, when I have a compliment, I do the same thing.  Posting to public site isn't always n effective approach.   

This post reminded me that I need to send a note to the Public Works department thanking them for their efforts clearing the snow, and enabling me to walk and drive safely.  Quite a challenging area to do this kind of job.  

Hey Wes,

regarding your alley its very difficult to stop coming up onto Nevada as its a steep incline and when you have a blade full of snow it would not be possible.

Depending on the situation we may legally not have the right away but most the time vehicleds are happy to give us the right away as it helps us make the roads safe in a timely manner.

Darrin Albo

i should have added when the equipment is coming out onto a street and they do encounter a vehicle or ?. They will stop and then back down or slide depending on the situatio.

I am glad to see this discussion as my neighbours and I have been talking about how different the snow removal has been this year from other years.  We have all noticed the speed of the drivers which I would call "whipping".  Big trucks or not, the snowplows and sanders are going fast.  It is not just our perception.

Our road, Victoria, is hard to navigate at the best of times but this year the snow has been plowed down to ice but often left unsanded. A snow island was left in the middle of the T intersection with Nevada making the corner pretty tough to take without one side of the car on ice and the other in snow.  And then last week I saw the snow plow whip around the corner onto Nevada and have to swerve to avoid a child of about 8 coming home from school, and he didn't slow down!  

As few of us can attend an open discussion at city hall on topics that concern us I like to see bhubble used, as long as it is a respectful and fact-based discussion, for talking about things.

Hey Darrin. Was going to wait to contact you till Monday. Not trying to ambush anyone here but this is a public forum and why can’t things be talked about here that are of concern to the people of the community? I agree that it’s not the most effective place to get changes made necessarily , but we can talk about whatever we want, can’t we? 

This is a fantastic place to discuss our city issues. 

This is a fantastic place to discuss our city issues. 

Hi All- I really appreciate the discussion going on here- its a good to share info. Its more effective for folks with complaints to contact City Hall directly. As Darrin (Mgr of Public Works) has stated, we have gps on our trucks so we can look up speed if there is a problem but we need to know the specifics- date, time, location. We also talk to our employees, Its just easier when the issue is brought to our attention directly. City employees are not encouraged to spend time on soclal media during work hours for obvious reasons so the response will not be as quick. The public works crew do their best to meet everyone's needs but as you can imagine, it just isn't possible to be everywhere at once. The speed limit in town is 30kph but all drivers need to use their heads and drive safely for the conditions. I will say that I tend to look at the discussions on Rossland Talks (facebook site) more frequently because people use their actual names there. Its nice to know who is speaking, plus in general the discussions stay civil. Not always true on bhubble. That said, this discussion was decent. The City is always open to constructive criticism and compliments are appreciated too! :)

My perspective: Yes, Bhubble is a good place to discuss, debate, ask if other people are having problems, ask for information from the community. It is not, however, a City website and while the counsellors and city crew do check here, the most direct line to them is to send them an email.....just as the most direct way to communicate with your friends is to send email them at their personal addy. If you are actually asking for action to be taken, it's faster and more efficient to contact someone directly.

The second point is strictly my own personal preference. It bothers me when I see assumptions and accusations thrown around on public media when the person/people/institution being accused has had no chance to have a discussion first. I don't mean just the City; I mean anyone. If you have a beef with someone, I think it is, again, more efficient and basic manners to contact them directly and give them a chance to defend themselves or give a reason or make it right, rather than go straight to a public slagging. And of course, if you're dissatisfied with their response, taking it the public is (in my opinion) the next step. 

I have read several complaints on here (and on the Rossland Talks Facebook page) about snow removal. I'm not talking about speed but rather about "Why in the world would the plows do this or that?" In at least a few instances, I knew the answer before the City responded. It's possible that is because I grew up here and over decades, you start to suss out how and why it happens that way. 

I get really discouraged by the disproportionate amount of outrage and vitriol on social media. 

By the way, I am not implying that anyone should share my opinion or that they should stop or start doing anything differently. Of course anyone can post about anything here as long as the admin is okay with it. I'm just giving a point of view; that is all.

Thanks SPortz, I couldn't agree with you more! :)

If the intent is make a constructive comment, get some results or communicate a concern, reaching out directly is the best way. If the intent is to see if others have the same issue, and want to unite in making change, social can be a good way to go. Of course, there are lots of other reasons for people to take to social media- not all of them productive.

I am going to come to the defense of city hall (more to our snow removal crew) by stating that things have changed considerably with the city’s financing.  This has caused a minor chain reaction across the board, including city services.  I live on Victoria Ave, right where it intersects with Navada and have to say, it can be a hair raising nightmare turning uphill onto Victoria from Navada after a heavy snowfall.  I have also heard dozens of complaints about the lateness in the day that the plows or graders get to our area.  The answer is easy, more graders, plow trucks, snow-blowers & more employees.  The ripple effect?  Higher taxes!  You can have your cake & icing and eat it too; however, someone has to pay for the cake’s ingredients.  With that being said however, “patience” must be our co-driver when living on a mountain side.   "Now for that rotten snowblower guy."

I just want to say thank you to the individuals who have been workin 24/7 to remove snow during our snowpocalypse! The roads are safer thanks to you!

I think the city does an excellent job on snow removal.

Have a safe fun Carnival Rossland! :)

Hey all- this is a really long post. I hope you stick with it to the end. I posted it on my FB mayor's page and the FB Rossland Talks page but I know some of just check Bhubble.

Ok so to continue the discussion about snow clearing I want to make sure everyone understands, in a statement of the obvious: We are currently dealing with a large amount of snow. Our crews worked 20hrs yesterday clearing snow. Crews started at 5:30 this morning some with very little sleep, but none of them are complaining.

We have an amazing crew at public works- most are locals and they are proud of the job they do for the community they love. I know most Rosslanders understand what it means to live in snow country but there some people who can't resist telling us how to do our job. Think for a moment how you'd feel if some of our staff or council came to your place of work and told you how to do your job? How would you feel if their comments were combined with obscenities? Or perhaps these people started yelling at your front desk staff who have absolutely no influence on snow clearing or policy? What happened to civil discourse?

I have to say, some of what I have heard lately is embarrassing. If you live in snow country its your responsibility to have good tires on your car, maybe even studded snow tires if you don't have an all wheel drive vehicle. Its unrealistic to expect the City to prepare your driving surface to match your individual vehicle's capabilities. Its like expecting us to keep sidewalks suitable for people in tennis shoes in the winter. Get yourself some snow boots with tread! That is just common sense. Having a suitable vehicle is the same thing.

I get my share of complaints and comments about snow clearing but I don't hear nearly all of them. In local government we often say, "ah well, dealing with the public can be rough and you have to take rude comments.Its just part of the job". But really it isn't. There is no excuse for some of the nasty behaviour our workers have been subjected to. Its often the way something is said, not the actual content of the message. Just ask yourself, if you were talking to your mother or friend, would you use these same words? Show some respect and be polite. You can make point without being a jerk.

Some of the comments have been very degrading to our employees. Citizens think is funny to blow or throw snow at our employees thru the window of the truck if opened or stand in front of our trucks so we can’t plow in their driveway, shovel the snow back in the middle of the road, constantly yelling at them, showing their fist or middle finger, yelling at our front desk staff in city hall like they are an actual servant. (Civil servant is different, please look it up if you are uncertain). Yet we keep asking our team to not stop the vehicle, just keep moving on and keep your head held high. As you can imagine, eventually this wears on them. They try to laugh it off but eventually it beats them down and instead of loving their job, they hate it.

Today the crews are doing downtown on Washington, which has a ton of snow to move. As is our protocol for large snow events, we brought in additional equipment and hired additional workers. Another crew is clearing Red Mountain (blower and grader) then after downtown we will go to Redstone (blower and grader). Two sand trucks are out plowing and sanding. We have three bobcats out plowing sidewalks. Our skid steer is out sanding behind them. On top of this we are to get the rail jam, bobsled run and other Carnival prep work done. Don't forget we have work to do at the water treatment plant, and all the other day-to-day stuff must get done.

We are doing the best we have with what we have. Some of the comments and suggestions we have heard would require us to buy more trucks and equipment and hire more people. It's all about level of service. If you want more service then you have to be willing to pay for it through higher taxes. Our taxes come from residential taxpayers. We don't have any large industry to contribute. We try to balance what we provide with what we can afford.

So in closing, and this has gotten to be a long post, I greatly appreciate all the positive comments from people who understand the challenges the city faces, especially after a huge storm like we just had. The public works crew really appreciates your positive comments. For those of you who can't yet grasp the situation, at least be polite when you offer a suggestion. Being nasty will get you nowhere.

I will come to the defense of our works yard people.  We got a dump without a doubt.  That doesn't mean we have to dump the crsp onto our snow removal crew.  I past the grader coming up Victoria Avenue at 11:30 last night.  How many times does that happen?  Great job guys!  To Les Anderson, your dirty rotten snowblower guy loves you.  Just look at all the free snow he is blowing your way: LOL  You have the patience of an angel.

I will come to the defense of our works yard people.  We got a dump without a doubt.  That doesn't mean we have to dump the crsp onto our snow removal crew.  I past the grader coming up Victoria Avenue at 11:30 last night.  How many times does that happen?  Great job guys!  To Les Anderson, your dirty rotten snowblower guy loves you.  Just look at all the free snow he is blowing your way: LOL  You have the patience of an angel.

Tanier;  I am assuming that you are referring to the snow load we ended up with on our yard this year.  Yup, we got the bulk of our block's snow.  I don't mind however.  We have a large boulevard and a wide yard and it's covered with a tarp.  The lady across the street from us has spent many, many hours putting in a beautiful flower garden, the fellow next to her has a fairly decorative yard and the fellow on the other side of her needs room for his equipment.   I think the fellow who operates the snow blower understands this, so our yard is the only alternative.  As well, usually, over the winter a crew comes around to haul away some of the snow load from the yards.  So no harm done or complaints warranted.  The crew fought an uphill battle this year and they are winning.  Good for them.

How about a thumbs up campaign for our plow drivers. Lets all give them the thumbs when we see them up so they know they're appreciated. I think it would be horribly demoralizing to work 20 hour days and feel like everyone is down on you.

Great idea, Esther!

Everyone concerned with snow removal certainly gets a thumbs up from this senior citizen - I think they are doing a remarkable job.  Especially pleased with street cleaning on Kootenay Avenue this afternoon - great job guys and very much appreciated - Thank You!