PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners said Tuesday that the head of the road department can send out sanding and plowing equipment on weekends and holidays if conditions are bad enough.
In severe weather, priority is to be given to known trouble spots, said commissioners, who took no formal action.
Commissioners, who said they were clarifying their policy Tuesday, added that they would not change the broader policy to refrain from sanding and plowing on weekends, holidays and furlough days unless conditions are very bad.
In November, Ross Tyler, Clallam County engineer, recommended the measure of eliminating plowing and sanding except for weekdays to save overtime costs.
The $150,000 savings to the road department budget saved two jobs in December. The road department has lost 17 out of 80 positions through attrition and layoffs over the past three years.
A robust discussion followed complaints that the county had not plowed roads Sunday or Monday after several inches of snowfall.
County officials said there was a breakdown in communication between the Sheriff’s Office, road department and Peninsula Communications on Sunday as to what authority the road department had to mobilize crews in overtime situations.
Tyler said he was unaware that an ambulance and a handful of other vehicles had slid into a ditch along Black Diamond Road until the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office closed it at about 5:30 p.m.
A county crew eventually sanded the road. It reopened about two hours later.
“It was a new policy, so any time we have a new policy, we’ll evaluate whether it is working or not,” Commissioner Mike Doherty said.
“Apparently, there were some portions of it that didn’t work.”
Road crews were out plowing county roads beginning at 5 a.m. Tuesday.
Plowing again today
Tyler said they would be plowing again at 5 a.m. today.
Snow removal is focused first on school bus routes and the main arterials.
After the bus routes are plowed, crews will move to the outlying areas.
“Fortunately, we don’t get these types of storms very often,” Tyler said.
Andrew May, who lives off Black Diamond Road, urged the county panel and the road department to “take a careful look at how this policy of plowing snow actually saves money.”
“I think there are numerous associated costs and harm to the public by having this kind of policy,” said May, a Peninsula Daily News gardening columnist.
May, who grew up in Green Bay, Wis., said he has plowed snow since he was 6.
He said the No. 1 imperative is to remove snow as soon as possible.
“Proper snow removal is proactive, not reactive,” May said.
May said Sunday’s storm can be used as a learning tool for better policy. He said the county has a “fiduciary responsibility” to keep its roads safe.
Public safety
Said Commissioner Mike Chapman: “Public safety trumps budgets every time.”
The road department, Sheriff’s Office, Prosecutor’s Office and courts must have the authority to use overtime outside of their budgets to ensure public safety, Chapman said.
“I think there’s a mix here,” he said.
“There’s a balance — public safety first and foremost — but obviously when we build a budget, if there were no snow, we might want to keep this overtime budget fairly tight just because that’s probably prudent.”
Other speakers in the business meeting said driving conditions were hazardous on Mount Pleasant Road on Sunday.
More snow today
Clallam County Emergency Management Program Coordinator Penelope Linterman said today’s predicted weather was being compared to the 1996 storm, when Clallam County got about 3 feet of snow.
As of Tuesday at noon, the courthouse was scheduled to be open today.
County Administrator Jim Jones said a bulletin would be posted on the county website early this morning if conditions are determined to be too dangerous for employees to report to work.
Anyone who doesn’t feel comfortable driving can report to their supervisor and take a vacation day.
Commissioner Jim McEntire did not attend the meeting because he was snowed in. He participated by speakerphone until his phone cut out.
The Clallam County Board of Health meeting Tuesday was canceled because of inclement weather.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.