Snow removal operations

The 13 inches of snow we received over the past week and the extreme cold that followed has been a trying experience for everyone.

Even though it may not always have been apparent, the snow removal contractors operating here in the Manors and elsewhere in Central Park have been doing their best to keep the access drives, roads and entrances as clear as possible as we recover from this "snow emergency". 

Snow Removal

UPDATE: Trash pick-up will be delayed this week by one day due to the storm.  Set your trash and recyclables out on Tues night or very early on early Wed morning. 

Our snow removal contract specifies that snow removal from our streets, driveways, parking areas, porches, sidewalks, etc, shall commence within two hours of the time when the snowfall reaches a depth of 1.5 inches at our location.  The contract also states that for public safety reasons, priority must be given to opening and maintaining access to our site.   

The contract leaves the choice of de-icing and/or plowing our streets (which includes the access drives) to the discretion of the contractor. However it does state that when de-icing, the entrances and exits shall be double treated (salt is the specified de-icing material for our streets and either calcium chloride or potassium chloride must be used everywhere else).

Therefore, when we have a significant snowfall such as we are experiencing today, it follows that keeping the streets open is our contractor's top priority and may require repeated plowing, in which case the clearing of driveways and sidewalks have to be given secondary priority.

Depending on the severity of the storm, work on the driveways and sidewalks might not begin until the storm subsides. In the event the contractor is unable to to completely clean all of the specified areas in one day, the contract stipulates that follow-up service shall be performed the following morning no later than 12:00 Noon.

As an alternative to using snowblowers and/or snowshovels, our contract states that driveways shall be back-plowed so as to push snow out towards the street and that the snow closest to the garage doors shall be cleared manually so as to avoid plow damage to the doors.

Residents are expected to do their part to help the snow removal process by following the Association's  bylaws, rules and regulations.

Article VII, Section 1, paragraph (j) of our condominium bylaws addresses the parking and storage of vehicles and it states that residents shall park their vehicles in the garages that have been provided for that purpose.

Our parking rules and regulations state that  

Overnight parking is prohibited on all streets from November 1st through March 30th inclusive, unless a co-owner has received written approval from the Board of Directors.  The purpose of this regulation is to facilitate snow removal operations.  “Overnight” shall mean the period from Midnight until 6:00 AM. 

No written approvals have been requested or granted for overnight, on-street parking during the winter of 2013-2014. 

If a resident has more than two vehicles, they should be parked overnight in their driveway so that the street may be eventually cleared across its full width.  It's recommended that a third vehicle should be parked all the way to one side of the driveway to allow the contractor the option of back-plowing the other half of the driveway.  Otherwise, the contractor will manually clear the driveway areas surrounding the parked vehicle(s).  As soon as the street has been plowed across its full width, the vehicles may be moved from the driveway and parked on the street.

Your Board of Directors suggests that whenever you see or hear that local communities have issued a snow emergency, the neighborly thing to do is to park all of your vehicles in your garage and driveway until our streets have been cleared, regardless of the time of day.