Plowing County Road??

[Avenger]

Plow the road, THEN CHARGE THE TOWN OR COUNTY for your services...!!!

I'm confused. Did you create an account in 2019, never post anything until this?!

I'm not under any contract with the county to charge them anything. You can't just drop off an invoice for services that you preformed at the road department front office!

 

[Johnb0311]

My county road used to be on a school bus route, which meant that our road was plowed quite often. Since the kids that used to ride the bus not longer do so, our road is no longer plowed, like at all. We have had two separate snow events this winter. Each dumped about 6 inches of snow. For some, that's not a ton, for us, that's worthy of sending the grader down the road, which has yet to happen.

My county road is gravel, well, somewhat. Its mostly dirt with some old gravel they put down at least 10 years ago. Its about 3 miles long, with windy twists and turns and steep climbs. Everyone on my road has my phone number and call me when they inevitably end up in the ditch. Even when the road is plowed, they end up in the ditch. I am happy to pull them out using my tractor.

Here I am a few years ago pulling a truck out
View attachment 771827

Since we are no longer getting plowed out, at least in a timely fashion, I am considering running my tractor with my inverted snow blower down the road and back. What are your thoughts on this?

The county has been receptive of us doing our own road "maintenance" during the summer with washboard smoothing. We just cant use a steel blade for fear of sparking a fire, but they recommended dragging tires and chain link fence down the road. But snow removal might be pushing it?

I donno, just a thought. We are expecting another storm soon, that is forecast to dump about 9 inches in a few days.

 

[Johnb0311]

My county road used to be on a school bus route, which meant that our road was plowed quite often. Since the kids that used to ride the bus not longer do so, our road is no longer plowed, like at all. We have had two separate snow events this winter. Each dumped about 6 inches of snow. For some, that's not a ton, for us, that's worthy of sending the grader down the road, which has yet to happen.

My county road is gravel, well, somewhat. Its mostly dirt with some old gravel they put down at least 10 years ago. Its about 3 miles long, with windy twists and turns and steep climbs. Everyone on my road has my phone number and call me when they inevitably end up in the ditch. Even when the road is plowed, they end up in the ditch. I am happy to pull them out using my tractor.

Here I am a few years ago pulling a truck out
View attachment 771827

Since we are no longer getting plowed out, at least in a timely fashion, I am considering running my tractor with my inverted snow blower down the road and back. What are your thoughts on this?

The county has been receptive of us doing our own road "maintenance" during the summer with washboard smoothing. We just cant use a steel blade for fear of sparking a fire, but they recommended dragging tires and chain link fence down the road. But snow removal might be pushing it?

I donno, just a thought. We are expecting another storm soon, that is forecast to dump about 9 inches in a few days.

Hydraulic Snow Plow Pinnacle Series I got mine from Homestead Implements. Along with a WoodMax 72in. Snowblower on the rear works great on long laneway and the plow has adjustable shoes so you don't tear up your neighbors driveways. And they give military discounts. Both comanies​

 

[Aquamoose]

I plow the county road from time to time during heavy snow storms and don’t expect anything back from the neighbors. If the road that meets the main road is full of slush that can strand even AWD/4WD vehicles, I’m out there taking care of that stuff and nobody bats an eye but they would gladly wait while I quickly clean it up. It’s one of those things that I don’t worry about liability and just trust the hearts of everyone involved because I’m a strong believer that kindness wins.

For YEARS, there’s this old guy who would never wave or acknowledge whenever I cheerfully wave while plowing or driving by his place on our road. He recently started returning the acknowledgment when he realized that for YEARS I’ve taken care of his blocked driveway left by the county plows.

Kindness always fixes things. Especially when you expect absolutely nothing in return.

 

[SonomaCountyGentleman]

My county road used to be on a school bus route, which meant that our road was plowed quite often. Since the kids that used to ride the bus not longer do so, our road is no longer plowed, like at all. We have had two separate snow events this winter. Each dumped about 6 inches of snow. For some, that's not a ton, for us, that's worthy of sending the grader down the road, which has yet to happen.

My county road is gravel, well, somewhat. Its mostly dirt with some old gravel they put down at least 10 years ago. Its about 3 miles long, with windy twists and turns and steep climbs. Everyone on my road has my phone number and call me when they inevitably end up in the ditch. Even when the road is plowed, they end up in the ditch. I am happy to pull them out using my tractor.

Here I am a few years ago pulling a truck out
View attachment 771827

Since we are no longer getting plowed out, at least in a timely fashion, I am considering running my tractor with my inverted snow blower down the road and back. What are your thoughts on this?

The county has been receptive of us doing our own road "maintenance" during the summer with washboard smoothing. We just cant use a steel blade for fear of sparking a fire, but they recommended dragging tires and chain link fence down the road. But snow removal might be pushing it?

I donno, just a thought. We are expecting another storm soon, that is forecast to dump about 9 inches in a few days.

All of your neighbors will probably be grateful unless you screw something up. Then you will be in trouble. Sadly, it’s often a no win situation when you try to do something nice.

I grade the potholes and washboards out of our gravel road whenever they get bad. I don’t know if any of my neighbors realize I do it. I’ve never once been thanked. I’ve been thinking about ordering a few truck loads of road base because we need it. The thing is, I’m just an amateur. I really don’t want the liability.

 

[ovrszd]

I plow the county road from time to time during heavy snow storms and don’t expect anything back from the neighbors. If the road that meets the main road is full of slush that can strand even AWD/4WD vehicles, I’m out there taking care of that stuff and nobody bats an eye but they would gladly wait while I quickly clean it up. It’s one of those things that I don’t worry about liability and just trust the hearts of everyone involved because I’m a strong believer that kindness wins.

For YEARS, there’s this old guy who would never wave or acknowledge whenever I cheerfully wave while plowing or driving by his place on our road. He recently started returning the acknowledgment when he realized that for YEARS I’ve taken care of his blocked driveway left by the county plows.

Kindness always fixes things. Especially when you expect absolutely nothing in return.

Well stated.

 

[Pro Marinero]

I’ve read this with a combination of sympathy and bemusement as my day job is….. a county commissioner in Eastern WA.

Plowing snow in a timely manner is something every county struggles with after a big dump. Last year’s January event was especially a mess that left some folks stuck for a few days. It’s not just Spokane County that struggles with this.

A couple of thoughts:

1) You will not be indemnified if someone pursues litigation against you for working in the county right-of-way. That is simply the law. You could potentially get a franchise agreement to legally work in the county right-of-way if you have a creative public works team willing to work with you, but that won’t shield you from liability. This is the unfortunate situation in our litigious world at this point. Don’t let it stop you, just understand the reality. County staff may be telling you one thing, but the prosecutor is a different department that shows up to tell everyone they’ve all been doing it wrong when the SHTF.

2) Call your public works department and ask to be plowed. You may have to do this after every snowfall if you want it done, but squeaky wheels get grease. Arterials and bus routes get the attention first. After that, plows get pulled in a lot of different directions depending on conditions. If you call you can be assured you have been heard and can monitor performance at that point. Considering the fact that you’re rated as a secondary arterial if you read that right, that’s worth a meeting request with your PW director. I would call and confirm that with PW staff before requesting a meeting though. On the other hand, if you‘re on a winding three-mile goat path no longer has school bus service and is now calling out the arterial status, don’t be surprised if you get knocked down a service level after analysis.

3) Call your commissioner. I don’t know who yours is, but I can tell you from experience that Mary Kuney is good people and won’t blow you off. I don’t know Al or Josh. I take these calls quite a bit, and 95% of the time people simply want to be heard. Have I hung up on some folks? Yep, absolutely. It’s usually the ones that threaten me, say they’re not going to pay their taxes, or have no desire to have a conversation because they simply want to berate me. If someone calls me honestly trying to understand the reason why something isn’t getting accomplished, I will bend over backwards to try to explain why and/or work to fix the situation - or at least improve it. I also appreciate people that pay attention to budgets. Sometimes the hardest part of this job is getting information in front of people who aren’t looking for it, especially as local newspapers continue their death spiral. Don’t forget that 90% of county staff and electeds really want to do the right thing, but the very best ones are willing to be in customer service to find solutions beyond just quoting code and saying ”well, too bad”. I got into this gig to serve the public, and I took a hell of a pay cut for the privilege of doing it.

From what I read, you seem like a good person to work with who should expect to be treated well. I wouldn’t necessarily stop what you’re doing if you can live with possibly having some jackass sue you, but you seem to be at peace with that. I don’t think I gave you anything you didn’t already know, but maybe the folks telling you to just go (insert bad advice) might be able to adjust their own thinking if faced with a similar situation. Good luck.

 

[ovrszd]

I’ve read this with a combination of sympathy and bemusement as my day job is….. a county commissioner in Eastern WA.

Plowing snow in a timely manner is something every county struggles with after a big dump. Last year’s January event was especially a mess that left some folks stuck for a few days. It’s not just Spokane County that struggles with this.

A couple of thoughts:

1) You will not be indemnified if someone pursues litigation against you for working in the county right-of-way. That is simply the law. You could potentially get a franchise agreement to legally work in the county right-of-way if you have a creative public works team willing to work with you, but that won’t shield you from liability. This is the unfortunate situation in our litigious world at this point. Don’t let it stop you, just understand the reality. County staff may be telling you one thing, but the prosecutor is a different department that shows up to tell everyone they’ve all been doing it wrong when the SHTF.

2) Call your public works department and ask to be plowed. You may have to do this after every snowfall if you want it done, but squeaky wheels get grease. Arterials and bus routes get the attention first. After that, plows get pulled in a lot of different directions depending on conditions. If you call you can be assured you have been heard and can monitor performance at that point. Considering the fact that you’re rated as a secondary arterial if you read that right, that’s worth a meeting request with your PW director. I would call and confirm that with PW staff before requesting a meeting though. On the other hand, if you‘re on a winding three-mile goat path no longer has school bus service and is now calling out the arterial status, don’t be surprised if you get knocked down a service level after analysis.

3) Call your commissioner. I don’t know who yours is, but I can tell you from experience that Mary Kuney is good people and won’t blow you off. I don’t know Al or Josh. I take these calls quite a bit, and 95% of the time people simply want to be heard. Have I hung up on some folks? Yep, absolutely. It’s usually the ones that threaten me, say they’re not going to pay their taxes, or have no desire to have a conversation because they simply want to berate me. If someone calls me honestly trying to understand the reason why something isn’t getting accomplished, I will bend over backwards to try to explain why and/or work to fix the situation - or at least improve it. I also appreciate people that pay attention to budgets. Sometimes the hardest part of this job is getting information in front of people who aren’t looking for it, especially as local newspapers continue their death spiral. Don’t forget that 90% of county staff and electeds really want to do the right thing, but the very best ones are willing to be in customer service to find solutions beyond just quoting code and saying ”well, too bad”. I got into this gig to serve the public, and I took a hell of a pay cut for the privilege of doing it.

From what I read, you seem like a good person to work with who should expect to be treated well. I wouldn’t necessarily stop what you’re doing if you can live with possibly having some jackass sue you, but you seem to be at peace with that. I don’t think I gave you anything you didn’t already know, but maybe the folks telling you to just go (insert bad advice) might be able to adjust their own thinking if faced with a similar situation. Good luck.

Excellent post.

 

[ArlyA]

We find that many people like to complain that their ditches weren't mowed, culverts not cleaned out, storm pipes not replaced, snow not cleared fast enough AND their taxes are TO high. Do you see a pattern here?

 

[smartdog]

I live in SW Spokane county. Hard to understand why they will not plow your county road. Must be that your property taxes aren't high enough.

Based upon the property taxes on my 80 - the county road should be gold plated.

I plow a short bit of our county road - access for the mailman. I've always found that my rear blade works just fine. Offset - angled - - go like smoke and oakem.

View attachment 771840

Yes, but it doesn’t look like you have skids on your plow. I have the same set up on my Kubota, and if skids are set for a low blade you scrap up a lot of gravel. If they are set for a higher blade you leave more snow - probably the better way.
Road needs to be fairly smooth + level side to side.