Unfortunately I won’t be able to get out of my house since the city refuses to remove the snow burms they have put in my driveway - they’re solid ice and what would take the city seconds to remove, i can’t physically remove. The city says they’re not responsible - how can that possibly be? In all the years i’ve lived here (28) they’ve always removed the burms - apparently they aren’t responsible for the burms in the alleys either - next door neighbor just got stuck going into the alley.
Our property taxes at work.

I know what you’re saying. What happens when my elderly parents are stuck in the house due to the City & the snow burms and they have an emergency? You bet I will sue the city. They are creating the problem and they should have to fix it.  They will be held legally responsible one way or another.  You can bet the council members get their driveways cleared with no problem.

Oh, and keep the firehydrants clear?  When the city comes by and plows and buries them.  Big chunks of ice on top of them.  I was watching my neighbor try to clear around their s today and it was a no go.  That was after the plow come by and buried their driveway (just after they had shoveled it to go to work).  She’s lucky she wasnt’ buried as she was standing there as the driver sped by at a high speed. She ran back so she wouldn’t be hit.

Montana is and always has been a snow state.  This is a problem every winter. Why does the city cry they can’t take care of these things.  It’s like they keep raising the taxes and keep taking away services.  I just don’t understand how they keep getting away with it.  I agree, that a good lawsuit from someone who is stuck is what is needed.

yeah i’m having a hard time with this - they can send out 7 people to fill one pothole in the summer but they can’t keep up with removing 3 feet of snow in the winter? - Like you said this is Kalispell, Montana - come on people. Let’s hope we don’t have the kind of snow we had in ‘97 or we’ll all be stuck in our houses. Apparently they can no longer keep up with Montana winters.

But as usual it’s all about money.  How do we pay for the extra man hours of work it will take to clear the snow to our satisfaction?
It’s just part of living in snow country. 
I wonder what our new county commissioner would recommend if we complain about the snow in the winter as much as the dust in the summer?

With the taxes we pay to live in Kalispell, they should be plowing our driveways for us. Look at the taxes in other cities in MT.

this morning I watched a snow plow pile up snow and then drive towards the corner I live on. He literally drove over the curb and deposited huge amounts of snow on the corner.  I had spent 2 days clearing my sidewalks all the way to the curb & beyond so pedestrians wouldn’t have to walk in the street.  He did this more than once.  I went out afterward & I hve a 4 ft pile of snow (actually sludge/ice) covering the entire corner. I cannot move it.  So…...the corner sidewalks are now blocked until spring thaw.

It might be just one step in a multi-step process.  Chances are a loader and dump truck will be stopping at your corner next.  Be patient, there’s a lot of snow out there and only so many pieces of equipment and personnel to handle it.  You did your best, I know it’s hard work.  What more can you do?

JD - you’re way more optimistic than i am - i would be shocked if they remove it.

I was out at the Road Dept. last week; all of their road personnel are working a lot of overtime to keep roads clear.  Just try to be understanding of them, they are doing their best to keep the roads clear of snow and all of us safe, in spite of the huge amount of snow we’ve been getting in the valley so far this winter.

Monday - 3:30 pm - they have not moved it.  The corner is now closed until they do or the spring thaw.  So all the high school students and other pedestrians are walking in the street.  Mine is not the only corner they did this to.  I have no complaint on the street plowing.  They did not bury my driveway (thankfully).  It’s interesting to see the tire tracks of the plows up over the curb and on the sidewalk area.  Unnecessary.  They could have pushed it a dozen different places right in that area and left the sidewalk open for the ped’s.

given the number of out of work people in the flathead why doesn’t the city issue a job opening for 12.00 an hour to shovel the snow out of the driveways and sidewalks…max it out at 25-30 hours per week and hire 500 people…..when a storm hits the people could be shoveling by the next morning

i bet a thousand would show up to take that job

I’ve been reading the comments about plows not keeping up, etc., and I’m wondering how much of this has to do with the amount of new housing units and subdivisions the county has allowed to sprawl all over the valley? Think about it. No doubt there has been a lot of growth, but has the county kept up with the capacity to serve that growth? Seems like we have more areas to maintain, but not the capacity to maintain those areas. That is short sightedness and poor planning, or however you want to phrase it.

i think that because we haven’t had a lot of snow in the valley for several years - they forgot how to do snow removal. It used to be very orderly and it got done quickly - including keeping the driveways clear of burms - If the city were a business - they’d go bankrupt (unless they were an automaker!) - it certainly hasn’t been managed well in the past few years.

if you dont like the snow move some of us are happy to see the snow. it is needed for are forests and crops and sking snowcating and might help with the out of control growth thats making are taxes so high. think snow . all so some more below zero weather is needed for us ice fisherman.

I’ve heard speculation about the city employee’s intentionally not dong a good job to show they are “needed” and to avoid layoffs.  I would hope they are professional enough to not pull this kind of stuff but after seeing their work this year, I am wondering.  If the employee’s don’t want layoffs, why don’t they (& their union) approach the city about freezing salaries to save jobs?  I am waiting for this summer when they are due raises.

I suggest you purchase a shovel, Karen, and get to work on that burm. Clearly the city has higher priorities than clearing 5 feet of snow/ice from your driveway. They “forgot how to do snow removal”???? I would love to hear a city/county employee’s response to that accusation.

“....intentionally not doing a good job to show they are needed”????

Seems like a classic case of the ole blame game. Your minor amount of discomfort equates to someone else’s colossal negligence.

I agree with Pete…consider where you live, or drive something a bit more robust than your Camero…beyond that, cut these guys some slack.

I think the accusation about intentionally not doing a good job is outrageous.  I’d like to hear a plow operator’s rebuttal to that. 
The problem is simply the amount of snowfall we had. 
I did an awful lot of snow shoveling, too.  Just wasn’t enjoying it real well.  Then my landlord, bless you Doug Miller, parked a sweet little Cat 938 in the yard, said “have fun’.  How do you all like the awesome snow mountains I built?

JD, there might some truth to what was indicated in the earlier posting of intentionally not doing a good job, just like a lot of fires being started by Fire Fighters to have jobs and Construction people doing the same to have steady work. Drastic measures for drastic times, just like the petty thefts going on the rise in the Valley here.  Hopefully it’s not true, I will take the high road and just hope that they are just very busy and doing the best they can.