Three Public Works Agencies Receive Snow and Ice Control Awards

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (March 25, 2015)—Three city public works agencies have been selected to receive the American Public Works Association (APWA) 2015 national Excellence in Snow and Ice Control Awards. Established to promote excellence in the management and administration of public works snow and ice operations, the Excellence in Snow and Ice Control award promotes the best practices in snow and ice removal while minimizing environmental impacts. This year, the Excellence in Snow and Ice Control Awards will be presented at the 2015 APWA North American Snow Conference, April 12-15, 2015 in DeVos Place Convention Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The three recipients selected for this year’s APWA Excellence in Snow and Ice Control Awards are listed below.

• City of Columbus, Ohio, Department of Public Service: With the city’s average of 28 inches of snow a year and 6,387 lane miles of roadways to manage, Columbus’ Public Services Department snow and ice control program must be high-performing and able to adapt to changing climate events. The Public Services snow and ice control plan is the city’s guide for providing residents efficient and timely snow and ice control. To meet the travel demands of its population of roughly 825,000, and to ensure road safety during winter months, the city employs key elements in its snow and ice control program. The plan’s top priority is public safety. The three main goals of the plan are to reduce life threatening and injury-producing conditions, reduce interruption to commerce and reduce damage to property. The plan is also committed to minimizing environmental impacts associated with snow and ice removal. The city reviews and revises the plan annually to continue to improve the levels of service provided to citizens and visitors.

• City of Waconia, Minnesota, Department of Public Service: With Waconia’s community of approximately 11,065 residents located 30 minutes west of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, the Public Services Department conducts winter maintenance with snow falls occurring as early as October and ending as late as May. The department manages winter maintenance and chloride applications on 48 center-lane miles, municipal parking lots and 27 miles of trail and sidewalks. The department’s employees have worked to reduce chloride applications in the effort of protecting the wetlands, streams and lakes for recreational use, while maintaining a level of service that allows individuals to travel to and from work, and provides business sectors commerce to meet customer expectations. Waconia’s Public Services Department was the first community in Carver County to use liquids in winter maintenance operations. Brine production and anti-icing were implemented into the community’s winter maintenance practices, and increases in calibration, education, training and community outreach were also added.

• City of Lenexa, Kansas, Municipal Services Department: Lenexa’s Municipal Services Department, an APWA Accredited Agency, is responsible for clearing snow and ice from 660 lane miles within the city, including 502 cul-de-sacs within residential areas. The Municipal Services Department includes materials and handling, with approximately 2,900 tons of salt stored at three locations throughout the city to handle winter events. Two salt structures are located in the southern and western portions of the city to help reduce downtime of trucks having to travel back to the service center to load up during storms. City crews also performed the construction of two additional hoop style fabric lined salt storage structures in the past two years that have added 1, 500 tons of salt capacity. The city has a total of 30 trucks equipped for snow and ice control, and the entire fleet of single and tandem axles trucks are equipped with spreaders, front plows and wing plows, while the one-ton trucks have front plows and spreaders.

For more infromation, visit APWA.