Snow Plan

Communication will be established prior/during all winter storms between the Sheriff’s Office, Public Works Department, and Emergency Preparedness Director.

POSITION	NAME	PHONE #
Dispatch	Sheriff's Office	330-1000
Sheriff	Bobby Dierks	205-8167
Undersheriff	Troy Mackie	330-0143

POSITION	NAME	PHONE #
Road Supervisor	Fred Long	330-2077
Assist. Public Works Coordinator	Jim Wright	330-2405
Public Works Coordinator	Robert Bever	330-3240
County Shop	Office	331-0770

POSITION	NAME	PHONE #
Emergency Preparedness Director	Jim Miller	330-0146

Public Works Department will consult with Emergency Personnel during extreme emergency situations and then the local media will alert the public.

The County may also call upon local contractors to aid in snow/ice removal at various locations throughout the county during extreme snow/ice storms.

MEDIA	OFFICE #	FAX #
KGGF Radio	251-3800	251-9210
KIND Radio	331-3000	331-8008
Independence Reporter	331-3550	331-3550
Coffeyville Journal	251-3300	251-1905

The clearance of roads at any cost, under any circumstances, day or night, is NOT the County’s policy, NOR is it the policy of Montgomery County to provide a “dry” pavement condition or to provide snow and ice control services 24 hours a day.

Typical hours of operations for snow and ice control are from the hours of 4:00 AM to approximately 9:00 PM. Snow and ice control operations will be primarily focused on morning and evening commuter travel times. During Blizzard and White Out conditions the county will not attempt to provide any snow and ice services until such conditions have ended.

Due to the nature of winter weather conditions, it is unrealistic expectation to have a roadway completely and immediately clear from snow or ice. Montgomery County’s goal is to maintain roads in a passable driving condition for vehicles properly equipped for winter driving conditions. Motorists are expected to modify their driving practices in accordance with the road conditions.

At times there may be sections of roadways that have been treated for winter travel that may still continue to have residual snow and ice in compacted conditions until warmer temperatures or de-icing materials are applied to allow for complete melt-off after a storm. These conditions may be continuous or they may be localized in certain areas of the road depending on temperature and other factors.

The asphalt roads will be chemically treated with salt and chips spread first at intersections, bridges, curves and hills and then the asphalt roads will be plowed. Rural gravel roads will only be bladed with motorgraders and will not be chemically treated. In extreme weather situations some roads may be closed due to the winter weather conditions.

In the implementation of snow and ice removal of the county asphalt roads, the Public Works officials shall select the actual sequence of roads to be cleared in the following order:

The County’s level of service will be one-wheel path in each lane and will have intermittent bare/wet wheel paths. Once the level of service for a given route has been achieved equipment may be reduced or reassigned. Snow removal of gravel roads will be based upon the school bus routes, with those roads being opened up first.

In extreme situations of heavy snow and prolonged cold weather, after the roads have been deemed passable, it may be necessary to load and haul away snow from various roads and intersections.

It is prohibited to deposit snow from driveways or parking areas on to county roads.

Mail boxes - It shall be the policy of the Public Works Department to repair or replace only those mailboxes that have been damaged due to direct contact with the plow. Most damage to mailboxes is caused not by direct contact but by the heavy windrow of snow being carried by the plow blade and deposited along the roadside as the truck moves forward. Mailboxes being directly struck by a plow will be temporarily repaired as soon as possible, with permanent repairs usually being done at a later date depending upon the weather. Any replacement of mailboxes damaged by direct contact with the plow will consist of a generic, standard size metal mailbox mounted on a wooden post.

Turf/Landscaping - Landscaping and lawns, including but not limited to; shrubs, trees, inanimate objects, etc. installed by a property owner within the ROW will be the responsibility of the owner and the owner assumes all risk of damage to such items. Furthermore, the County cannot reasonable control drift or discharge of snow and/or shoulder materials from the snowplow into roadside ditches and lawns. The county will not be responsible for the removal/repair of any shrubs, yard ornamentation, turf or landscaping, should materials inadvertently cast into adjacent lawn areas by the plow.

Driveways - During snow removal operations the accumulated windrow of snow being pushed and carried by the plow inevitable gets deposited to the trucks’ right side shoulder and/or ditch along its route. Driveways along the route also get filled in. The Public works Department assumes no responsibility for the removal of snow deposited in driveways as a result of normal snow removal operations, if this occurs the county WILL NOT clear the driveway. The Public Works Department cannot provided exact times that a certain road will be plowed and it is not practical to change the angel of the blade to avoid driveways.

Training - All snowplow operators will posses a CDL license. Operators who are not experienced snowplow operators will ride with experienced operators. After a period of time they will operate with an experienced operator with them.

Routes are pre-set and drivers are assigned to them at the beginning of the season. Operators are to check in on a regular basis. Call-out will be based on volunteer basis when there is a 50% chance for snow.

Montgomery County has covered storage buildings for both raw salt and mixed salt at two locations, Independence and Dearing.

Inventory is kept as an estimate weight per loaded truck that is taken out, checked back against the weight tickets that are hauled in.

Employees will try to assist the occupants of stalled vehicles by contacting Sheriff offices or other sources by phone or radio.

County equipment should not be used to pull/push a privately owned vehicle that has runoff the roadway.

           5 Tandem Axle trucks with snowplow and spreader boxes
        2 Single Axle trucks with snow plow and spreader boxes
        9 Motor graders
        3 Rubber Tired Backhoes
        1 Rubber Tired Wheel Loader

Hooking up plows and spreader boxes and lights to ensure proper working condition, and making repairs as necessary.

Inspecting and storing away plows and spreaders boxes, and making repairs as necessary. Washing equipment and attachments to remove all salt. Oil and grease all attachments prior to storage.

           1.)         Elk City Area (Northwestern portion of county)  Approx. 55 miles
        2.)          Cherryvale Area (Northeastern portion of county) Approx. 52 miles
        3.)          Independence Area (Benefit districts around town) Approx. 28 miles
        4.)          10^th Street Road (CR 3900 from Hwy 166 – Indy) Approx. 27 miles
        5.)          Caney Area (Southwestern portion of county) Approx. 58 miles
        6.)          Dearing/Indian Village Area Approx. 25 miles
        7.)          Coffeyville Area (Southeastern portion of county) Approx. 55 miles

        1.)          Steve Birdsong
        2.)          Stan Gartner
        3.)          Steve Kimzey
        4.)          James Roberds
        5.)          Bill Crouch
        6.)          Danny Lynn
        7.)          Ken Gartrell
        8.)          Tom Munday