Since frosty temperatures and more snow will be coming to Polson soon, City of Polson department heads met with the community on Oct. 29 to outline plans for the coming season.

Tyler Leslie, city special projects director, facilitated the meeting and wanted to educate people on snow removal in Polson and how it works. Also attending were Fire Chief Clint Cottle, Police Chief George Simpson, John Hart of the street department, and Public Works director Ashley Walker.

“The purpose was to explain … how we attack (the snow) and how we approach snow removal, the priorities and snow-plowing routes and what we do not plow, which is private streets,” Leslie said in a recap after the meeting.

When there’s a snowstorm, the big priority is to get the main thoroughfares open for emergency traffic, such as fire engines and ambulances, according to Walker.

Main Street in Polson is a big piece of this, and Hart’s street department plows it as soon as possible. While the street department has limited personnel, it does have two brand-new plows. (See sidebar for the route priorities.)

By city ordinance, it is the property owner’s responsibility to shovel the sidewalk in front of their home or office to facility accessibility and increase safety.

A couple of other safety issues came up in the meeting. One issue is that fire hydrants need to be cleared of snow in case fire equipment needs to access them. The corner where the fire hydrant lives is not a place to pile snow, emphasized Cottle.

Polson has a new flagging system using long flexible rods called whips to mark a hydrant’s location. Hydrants were flagged by Oct. 15, the chief said.

Private snow-removal businesses are not allowed to just push or pile snow into city streets or rights-of-way. The white stuff needs to be removed, but not onto the city streets.

Cars parked on the streets are an issue for snowplow drivers. If vehicles line the edge of a street, the snowplow will probably just plow the middle.

“If you want the snow removal done better, you need to move your cars,” Walker said. “Those guys aren’t gonna weave their big plows in and out.”

“You can’t expect the city to make a miracle,” he added. “We all have to work together.”

Polson police officers and the street department will be taking a look at illegally parked vehicles and/or junk vehicles because they are hazards during snow season. They’ll contact owners to move those vehicles.

Winter means patience from property owners, too. Yes, if the snowplow goes by, it will plow snow onto your sidewalk or into your driveway, which may have already been shoveled. That might require more shovel duty.

For more information, go to the City of Polson website at cityofpolson.com and then click on departments and go to streets and then snow removal.

“If we all help (after a snow fall), it’ll happen quicker, it’ll look better, it’ll feel better,” Walker said. “Everybody is kicking in to make this happen.”

“We’re here to keep Polson safe, moving, and accessible – together,” Leslie explained.

Street priority for snow plowing

PRIORITY ROUTE NO. 1

Main Street                                                             

1st Street West                                       

1st Street East                                                         

7th Ave. East /West

Hillcrest Drive                                                       

7th Street East            

4th Ave. East                                                         

2nd Street West & Woodbine Way                  

11th Ave. East                                                       

12th Ave. East/West

14th Ave. West                                                     

17th Ave. West                                                     

Kootenai Ave.                                                        

Ridgewater Drive                                                 

Skyline Drive                                                         

PRIORITY ROUTE NO. 2

Mission View Drive

Claffey Drive

16th Ave. East

15th Ave. East

Hillside Court

Bayshore Drive

Bayview Drive

Hawk Road and Eagle Drive

Timberwolf Drive

Regatta Road

Shoreline Drive

4th Ave. West

5th Ave. East/West

6th Ave. East/West

6th Street West

19th Ave. West

PRIORITY ROUTE NO. 3

All other streets and avenues in the city