DATE: NOVEMBER 23, 2016
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE:
Council Update: After-Action Report - 2016 Snow Emergencies, 2016-2017 Winter Implementation Plan.
BODY
_________________________________________________________________
ISSUE: Preparation for snow emergencies.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council receive this report.
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this memo is to provide City Council with an update on the City’s after-action activities since the snow emergencies of January 2016 and to inform Council of action items that City departments have taken in preparation for the 2016 -17 winter weather season.
The 2015 -16 winter season included an historic snowstorm that brought Alexandria 22 inches of snow in 31 hours. The January 22-23 blizzard (Winter Storm Jonas) was classified by the National Weather Service (NWS) as a Category 4 - Crippling Storm and it was the area’s largest single storm since 2003. Overall, it was the third largest snow event on record. A smaller storm clipper on January 20 also caused challenging road conditions across the region.
These weather emergencies, combined with several smaller-scale events, placed extreme stress on the City’s resources, which are typically sufficient for an average annual snow accumulation of about 15 inches and spread out over several events ranging from 4 to 8 inches. In an effort to continually improve the City’s response to snow and other major weather-related emergencies, staff performed an after-action review of snow emergency policies and procedures to determine how to retain good practices and improve others. In addition to this review process, the Alexandria Fire Department and Office of Emergency Management (OEM) conducted a thorough after-action study of the City’s response to Winter Storm Jonas. A detailed response timeline was prepared and 13 City agencies and organizations were interviewed.
Standard City Response to Snow Clearing and Removal
The City has snow clearing responsibility for 560 lane miles of roadways; 20 miles of publicly owned sidewalks, walkways, and pathways; 65 City-owned facilities and 44 acres of municipal parking lots and publicly-owned squares. For a typical storm, the City relies on approximately 35 City-owned trucks, approximately 20 pieces of heavy equipment operated by contractors, and hand clearing efforts by City laborers using dozens of small pieces of equipment (blowers, shovels, and small plows). During a peak emergency response, full mobilization will include approximately 85 City staff with both internal and external contractor resources, and approximately 80 units on streets and sidewalks, and facilities in all zones citywide. The City’s standard response is a coordinated effort that includes operational support from departments such as Transportation & Environmental Services (T&ES), Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities (RPCA), General Services (DGS) and the Public Safety agencies, as well as essential personnel from departments such as the City Manager’s Office, Finance, Information Technology and other departments as needed.
In preparation for snow and/or ice, all primary and secondary routes, bridges, overpasses, and hills are pretreated with brine. Once snowfall begins, internal and external crews mobilize citywide in all zones with the primary goal to make all primary routes passable for emergency vehicles. Passable may mean one lane for emergency vehicles in each direction. In addition, crews mobilize to ensure that all 24-hour City-owned facilities remain accessible. Once the snowfall has slowed and primary routes have been made passable, crews move onto secondary routes, and once completed onto residential streets. Staff works to clear City-owned sidewalks, parking lots, and entrances to City facilities and walkways near Metro stations concurrent with road clearing. Staff also coordinates snow removal efforts with Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) staff to ensure reopening of public schools in a timely manner.
During a snow emergency response, snow operational staff works closely with other agencies, including OEM, Office of Communications, Fire and Police, among others. The T&ES Snow Operations Center is staffed throughout the duration of the event and staff monitors weather conditions, tracks snow removal progress, routes service requests and phone calls, and coordinates logistics for emergency snow personnel (food, hotels, transportation, etc.). RPCA, DGS and other City departments also maintain a required level of staffing to support snow operations throughout the duration of the event.
Consistent with annual practice, staff performed an after-action review of snow emergency policies and procedures to identify areas in which the City performed well along with areas that can be improved upon moving forward. In the months following the event, key departments held after-action meetings with internal management, external agencies and snow plow drivers. In addition, the City sent out a Snow Survey to residents, to which we received over 800 responses. Overall, there were more positive than negative responses. Some of the most frequently-mentioned survey responses included concerns about large piles of snow in intersections blocking access to curb ramps, shoveling of sidewalks adjoining private property and the speed with which some secondary roads were plowed. Other common themes included requests for more real-time information on plowing, additional use of contractors and added training for snow plow operators.
Based on the City’s Snow Survey, data collected throughout the event, the AFD-OEM after-action report and feedback from the various after-action meetings, staff has identified the following overarching themes:
What Went Well
• Pre-season preparation including enhanced fleet maintenance, snow plow simulation training, snow rodeo, and classroom training resulted in more effective and efficient operations.
• City crews worked over 15,000 person hours and had only one accident resulting in property damage and one injury resulting in lost time.
• Alexandria was one of only two local jurisdictions to open schools on Friday, January 29.
• Enhanced technology and equipment facilitated good progress and tracking.
• In addition to core priority tasks, City crews and contractors cleared a significant number of DASH bus and school bus stops.
Room for Improvement
• Some sidewalks adjoining private properties were not fully cleared within the timeframe outlined in the City Code.
• Enforcement of the sidewalk clearing requirements was inconsistent.
• Sidewalks adjoining some City properties were not fully cleared within the required timeframe because of the allocation of the available resources to higher priority locations.
• Some secondary streets were not plowed quickly enough according to community response.
• Some secondary streets remained unplowed even though the City communicated crews had completed that priority.
• Some residents were disappointed with the time it took to clear residential streets and there remains confusion about the definition of “passable.”
• Technology can be further leveraged. Although most City-owned snow plows were outfitted this year with Automated Vehicle Location devices (improving situational awareness), City staff plans to explore future improvements to the clearing maps.
Part of the City’s after-action review included a regional perspective. Of particular interest are proposed changes that Arlington County (which had major issues in regard to the timing of the plowing of their residential streets) is making to its snow response plan as a result of Winter Storm Jonas. These proposed changes include simultaneous plowing of both major roads and residential streets, improved training and technology, and potential odd-even parking requirements during larger storms. City staff will continue conversations with County staff as these proposed changes are evaluated and will coordinate implementation, where appropriate.
Action Items
The following action items were identified as implementation items prior to winter 2016-17:
1. Improved Communication: Improve communications to increase transparency of snow operations by revising language on our website and in communication messages regarding definition of “passable,” add language in messaging that identifies who is responsible for clearing of access ramps (i.e. adjacent property owner), as well as look into providing real-time status updates through enhanced use of the City’s AVL system. Increased communication with residents and business owners who own property on snow emergency routes advising that no parking restrictions are in place during a snow emergency. This includes a targeted mailer to residents and businesses adjacent to snow emergency routes to remind them of snow emergency rules.
2. Additional priority articulation/levels between secondary and residential: Implement a new prioritization category of streets between secondary and residential, moving some secondary residential streets into this new category. This helps to address some streets that are more commercial/industrial in nature, but are currently categorized as residential. This new category will be called out on the City’s snow map which is published annually in December.
3. Continual improvements in management of external resources/contractors: Staff has developed scalable routes so, depending on level of storm, contractors are assigned to specific pre-determined routes to avoid delays in assignment of work. For significant snow storms that require snow hauling, staff is identifying and prioritizing hauling locations/routes throughout the city and creating a hauling plan. Additional resources will be identified for use in sidewalk clearing on sidewalks which are adjacent to City property.
4. Additional resources to meet 72-hour clearance requirement on sidewalks adjacent to City property: Staff is working to procure additional on - call contractor resources in the event of larger storms. These resources would be used to supplement existing internal and external sidewalk clearing crews and would allow for all sidewalks within the City’s snow clearing responsibility to be cleared within the 72 - hour clearance requirement for level 3 storms.
Fiscal Impact
The City budgets $836,127 in a non-departmental line item for snow and other storm response activities each fiscal year. At the height of this storm our spending was approximately $250,000 per 12 hour shift. For all snow events of FY 2016, the City spent $3.5 million for snow removal response and related costs. As Alexandria was declared a state of emergency during Winter Storm Jonas, staff is currently working with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for reimbursement of a to-be-determined level of storm related expenses. In addition to reimbursement opportunities AFD-OEM staff is working closely with City agencies and VDEM to identify opportunities for future grant funding to support snow removal as well as other emergency response activities citywide.