County urges residents to plow away from roads

NO ILL-INTENT

I think the main thing is educating people. If we’re out there and we see it, we’re going to stop and talk to people. But once that spreads, it will help the situation we’re in now. I don’t think people are doing it with ill-intent.”

Elliott Vandenberg, Lee County Sheriff

LEE COUNTY – The recent snow storm that hit the county has generated some issues for county road crews and county engineer Ben Hull pointed those out at Tuesday’s regular board meeting in Fort Madison.
Hull told the board that county residents were again pushing snow either into county roadways or onto county right of way, which is a violation of county code. He said his remarks were aimed at educating county residents and not at citing people for violations.
“We were making some efforts to educate people. You know the side-by-side army is growing by the day and I think people need to justify their expenditures and they all think they're out helping – and  I know they mean to - but it's illegal at all times to work on public roads.” Hull said.
“We’re seeing a lot of damage happening blading snow out from your driveways across the road. It’s not OK. It's prohibited by ordinance and it creates hazards in multiple ways.”
He said he saw one commercial property that cleaned their lot and pushed all the snow out on the edge of the county roadway. Those heavy snow piles can turn to ice when temperatures drop and collisions with big piles of ice can cause fatalities.
Hull said the recent storm was a heavy snow with warm ground temperatures and rain mixed in and that causes people to blade heavy which removes gravel from the county roadways.
Supervisor Garry Seyb, Jr., said he drove through rural parts of the county following the storm and noticed quite a bit of illegal plowing. He said down pressure during heavy snow can take the crest out of the roadways and certainly removes gravel which also costs the county.
“To be honest, I’ve now had to think about how I push with my side-by-side and you start at your garage and push out. So, now I go to the end of driveway and stop short, then drive through the snow around and push it back and off to the side,” he said.
Supervisor Chuck Holmes asked if the sheriff’s department was issuing warnings to people.
“They are violating the code and I wonder if it would be helpful if some of these folks were issued a warning, just to enlighten them to what they are doing.
Sheriff Elliott Vandenberg said when they see illegal pushing of snow, they stop and discuss it with property owners, but they aren’t issuing warning tickets because there is no ill-intent.
“I think the main thing is educating people. If we’re out there and we see it, we’re going to stop and talk to people. But once that spreads, it will help the situation we’re in now. I don’t think people are doing it with ill-intent,” Vandenberg said.
Seyb said there are people who do have a lot of money wrapped up in side-by-sides trying to recoup their expenses.
“A lot of people think ‘no-harm, no-foul’ and just shove it all across the street."
Hull said he felt fairly fortunate that southern Iowa didn’t get as much snow as was predicted. He said the warm ground and water in the snow caused the snowfall to actually reduce itself so the county got a little lucky. However, additional snowfall is expected Thursday and over the weekend, so the county won’t be out of the woods for awhile.
Hull also reminded motorists that inclement weather activates reduced speed restrictions on county roads and asked that drivers practice safe driving when and if they need to get out on snow-covered roads.