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Post by jlou04 on Jan 25, 2015 10:43:11 GMT -5
I'm very concerned about the storm expected for Monday and Tuesday, with some predictions calling for a possible foot and a half to two feet...if our past experience with snow removal is any indication, we could be stuck here in BTM for a while. Of course, there are many residents who are considered "essential personnel" at their jobs, who have spent many hours over the years digging ourselves out (despite our association fees).
I'm wondering what my fellow community members would suggest as far as a strategy to stress to Metro just how important it will be to make our roads and parking lots as passable as possible as quickly as possible.
The National Weather Service has already cancelled the Winter Storm Watch and issued a Blizzard Watch. This storm is not going to be one to take lightly, and not one where we can wait a day and a half to be able to get out of our neighborhood.
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Post by sbrett on Jan 25, 2015 12:51:03 GMT -5
Not to be Debbie Downer but I don't anticipate Metro being any more proactive this year than any other year despite what we may come up with as a group.
Aside from that, I can't plow the road for you but if you need any help with shoveling out just let me know!
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Post by mstofpup88 on Jan 25, 2015 14:45:47 GMT -5
I'm sure it'll be the same as every other storm- we'll all be busting our back shoveling out and they will come days later when all the side walks are already clear.
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karen
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Post by karen on Jan 25, 2015 21:18:45 GMT -5
I am also concerned about the snow removal. I am considered "essential personnel" where I work and have had to have people pick me up at the front of the development because we could not get out and they could not get in. Metro definitely does not have the personnel and equipment to get us out quickly. I am 61 and not risking having a heart attack trying to plow myself out. I took pictures this morning of the cul de sac I live in that was an ice skating rink to try and get to my car and the dumpsters. They also never plow the areas in front of our cars so we can get to them. Not sure if anyone living in a cul de sac has the same issue. I fear this is what will be for the snow as well. I think I am going to call the office and ask what the plan is. Maybe we should all bombard them with calls. I will post the pictures as soon as I get them on my computer.
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Post by Admin on Jan 26, 2015 0:52:12 GMT -5
I agree with Karen. Calling the office may at least nudge them to jump on this sooner than later, as it will let them know everyone is watching to see their performance on getting the job done quickly and efficiently.
I'm normally out shoveling out mine and some neighbors walks and cars. Let me know if anyone needs help with shoveling and I'll do what I can.
Dennis 732-966-0196
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Post by jlou04 on Jan 26, 2015 10:32:55 GMT -5
Spoke to the office a little while ago, here's what I was told:
- The main roads will be cleared "as needed"
- "Some" of the parking lots will be cleared "when there is some accumulation"
- The walkways "won't be cleared until the snow is over"
So, here's what I get from that....
Good luck, if you need to go anywhere before tomorrow night, you're on your own.
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Post by Admin on Jan 28, 2015 21:17:14 GMT -5
I have to say "for a refreshing change" - Kudoos to the snow removal contractor. 9:00am on Tuesday morning and the back parking lot around the playground was mostly finished and the 3 workers shoveling the sidewalks were done and moving on towards the end of Northrup. They were all working and clearing "wide" paths on the sidewalks, and not just a minimal shovel-wide path. Granted, the snow was a great deal less than expected, and much easier to move since it was a light powder snow as oppose to the heavy wet snow of 2010. So again, well done to the snow removal contractor. "Who ever you are".
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Post by jlou04 on Jan 29, 2015 10:24:42 GMT -5
I have to respectfully disagree a bit.
My parking lot is a skating rink at night now, and roughly half of the parking spots are still snow forts. It's nice that they got a good deal of the snow out of the way in the first 24 hours, but since then, they haven't done a thing, not even salt the road. One of my neighbors already slipped and fell going to get their mail, and people are having to park in other lots because now-empty parking spots are inaccessible.
My biggest gripe is with the lack of treatment of the ice in the lot. If someone slips, falls, breaks an arm and decides to sue the association, who's going to end up paying for it...?
(I'm guessing that the Christmas decorations on Van Zile won't be impacted, by the way)
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Post by Admin on Jan 29, 2015 15:49:40 GMT -5
jlou04 - no disagreement as I see it. I was commenting on the first good quick response to snow removal I've seen in 11 years. I do admit, that after the initial cleanup, I haven't seen any remaining cleanups. Even I was wondering the lack of sand and salt, as I had seen in some previous snows, but assumed it was a lack of funds made available. As to insurance claims, there shouldn't be a reason to sue the association, as the board is responsible to assure sufficient insurance coverage for the property. |
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karen
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Post by karen on Feb 2, 2015 14:01:30 GMT -5
My experience hasn't been 100% positive either. I think we are the only cul de sac that our cars do not face the front of our house. They face a wall from the side of the last house. So they plow the walkway from our house to the parking lot however, they never plow the path in front of our cars so the only way we can get to our cars is from a small patch from the walkway in between 2 cars (hopefully it's not too snowy otherwise we are walking on mounds of snow and ice) around the back of the car to get to the drivers side. The day of the storm I called the office to complain they did not shovel that walkway and they told me they would have someone do it. It just so happened that the guys shoveling were right near my house so I tracked them down and asked them to plow the area. We had to shovel a small path from the walkway to the drivers side of the car to get in.
I do agree that overall they did a much better job then they have ever done in the past with the snow removal but the ice in our cul de sac is always a huge concern especially by the dumpsters and getting to our cars. |
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Post by jlou04 on Feb 16, 2015 14:15:48 GMT -5
Yet again, another epic fail on snow removal. I mean, heaven forbid it snows on a weekend, right? It's not like anyone who lives in BTM may have to work on a weekend, so why bother with snow removal? Once again, my neighbors and I were all out shoveling while others spun their wheels and slipped & slid trying to get out of the neighborhood.
I attempted to call Metro but of course, being a weekend, I only got a recorded message which says "...this machine does not accept messages. Please call back during business hours".
Can I just push that point home a little - we can't even leave a message for our own management company after hours or on a weekend!
And we've got another storm on the way...can't wait...
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Post by sbrett on Mar 6, 2015 9:22:13 GMT -5
Its 9AM, the day after a storm, whose sidewalks are shoveled? NOT ME!
Oh wait, they are because we the people did it last night.
When I left for work this morning around 9 there was no sign of any one sent by the Association shoveling.
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Post by Admin on Mar 6, 2015 22:25:59 GMT -5
sbrett - 8:30am and the no workers either. With shovel in hand, neighbors and I were out last night and this morning to clear the sidewalks. I did see the plow clearing brandywine 10pm last night.
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Post by jlou04 on Mar 7, 2015 11:08:58 GMT -5
As "essential personnel", I had to work all day on Thursday. After an hour and a half white knuckle drive home (that usually takes me 20 minutes), I was pleased to come home to passable roads and an accessible parking spot, however, I had to trudge through the untouched snow to make it to my front door at 9pm. Needless to say, I was livid.
The last time I spoke to Metro about shoveling, the party line was that "we shovel when the snow has stopped". I'm sorry, but that is just unacceptable. There are plenty of us who live here - nurses, emergency workers, etc, who HAVE TO GET IN AND OUT.
I'm not saying that they need to have people out here the whole time constantly shoveling, but by the time I got home, the snow had been done for at least an hour, and the only sidewalk clearing that had been done was done by residents.
I'm sorry, I know that this has been a topic of consternation by me, but I just think that it's absolutely, positively unacceptable. We are quite literally paying for a service that we are not receiving. If I owned a house as opposed to a condo, and had hired a landscape company and received the level of service that we get here, I would have fired them a long time ago.
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