City council approves purchase of new snow removal equipment for South Lake Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Snow removal has been a challenge this winter with much more than just snow to deal with. One of those challenges has been equipment, and the need for four new graders and two blowers.

During its Tuesday meeting, the South Lake Tahoe City Council approved the purchase of those items along with a smaller blower for trails and bike paths. The price tag is a big one, over $3,500,000.

Anush Nejad, the City's director of public works, made a presentation on how the staff has been evaluating all options to improve and enhance the snow operations to provide better service to the public.

The four new graders will bring the inventory to 16 for the city, allowing two operators per each of the eight zones in South Lake Tahoe. The two new blowers leaves one per zone, and having one small blower will help them keep the paths and trails clear.

Negad also said they will increase staff with additional seasonal workers and assign two operators per zone during the evening shift and one operator during the day shift. To increase the number of seasonable applicants, staff recommends hiring at a higher hourly rate. This cost will be addressed in the next budget.

The city crew will continue snow removal with two 12-hour shifts until all roads are substantially plowed. Their goal is to have all paved walkways, city-maintained sidewalks, and bicycle trails cleared within 12 hours post-storm. In addition, when necessary due to snow storage, snow will be hauled away and dumped at appropriate locations, something not done at this time.

Negad said they will utilize more brine treatment to pre-treat local streets or post-treat after ice build-up to allow faster ice-clearing operations. This would require a dump truck (already in inventory) with a horizontal spray bar and brine tank to treat roadways at an accelerated rate. Staff had already purchased the spray bar and brine tank with the current equipment budget.

Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) units will be installed on all snow operations equipment to collect management data to optimize plowing patterns and aid with training and response needs. This was approved with last year's budget and installation is underway.

If the City is successful in hiring the needed seasonal worker, a rover operator will be used to address issues as they arise during the storm or post-storm events.

The City Council approved Negad's plan and allocated the purchase of the needed equipment. The four John Deer graders at $542,090 each and two Zaugg snow blowers at $600,106 each are going to be ordered now and financed, while the rackless snow blower will be purchased now for $167,680.54.

Fifty percent of the cost of equipment and snow operations staffing for streets snow operations will be reimbursed by the State.