NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
19 February 2003

HARRISBURG SNOW OPERATIONS CONTINUE—BIGGEST PROBLEM REMAINS ILLEGAL SNOW DUMPING ON ALREADY PLOWED STREETS

Harrisburg, PA—Mayor Stephen R. Reed today reported on snow storm-related activities of the City of Harrisburg.

• 90 city and contractor vehicles are now in continuous operation, involving 198 personnel*, on streets throughout the city; personnel are working 12 hour shifts, 24 hours per day; the hourly cost of the operation has risen to $8,300, making the storm-related response far more expensive than what the city’s 2003 budget allows; the result will be project, activity and personnel vacancy cutbacks throughout the year.
• The single greatest problem continues to be persons illegally dumping large piles of snow into the streets after they have been plowed; the piles are frequently larger than what smaller plow trucks can move, which necessitates waiting until a front end loader or bobcat can be brought to the street; the costs of rented bobcats and operators is as much as $150 per hour; city crews reported numerous instances today newly deposited snow in the streets;

Citizens are calling police to report the abuse and the Mayor urged they continue to do so at 255.3131. In one instance in the 1800 block of Park Street, a resident began piling large amounts of snow into the street literally one minute after the plow went through, then called the city to insist the street had not been plowed; police had to standby and watch the block as the newly deposited snow was plowed away, to prevent immediate recurrence of the problem.

Reed said the frequency of illegal dumping in so many places “is disappointing to the extreme. It seems to be a game to undermine the snow operations and run-up costs. When these piles block the street, they prevent emergency apparatus from getting through and they prevent other neighbors from being able to travel. It is criminal behavior that has now cost city taxpayers literally tens of thousands of additional dollars and it has substantially slowed the snow-related operations.”

• Residential trash and recycling collection has been cancelled for the entire week but will resume its normal schedule on Monday;
• The Farm Show parking lots remain open free to city residents to leave their vehicles until Noon on Friday; A CAT shuttle service continues to operate from 6:00 a.m. to Midnight to transport persons to and from the lots to regular bus stops along Market, Derry, Berryhill, State, Herr, 17th, Paxton, 3rd and 6th Streets; the city arranged for the lots and the CAT service;
• The focus of the present operations is to remove snow from the major city highways and to reach any remaining unplowed streets; over 90% of city streets have been plowed; the remaining ones are small streets and alleys; snow removal will not be conducted on side streets as the cost would be prohibitive at an estimated additional $1 million; however, snow in parking areas of streets will be cleared and pushed back on the posted street-sweeping schedule, so vehicles should be removed during the posted street- sweeping period; the Mayor reminded that there are hundreds of streets in the city with still more hundreds of miles of travel lanes;
• All garages and parking lots of the Harrisburg Parking Authority are fully Open; Reed reported his earlier recommendation that property owners buy flood insurance and that flat roofs be cleared of snow to prevent damage or collapse from heavy snow.

* not counting city police and fire vehicles and personnel

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