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As storm cleanup lingers, City Council pushes for snow melters and dedicated ‘snow corps’
Officials say they've been receiving a surge of complaints from residents about the need for new snow removal strategies.
Inundated with complaints about massive snow banks and unshoveled sidewalks after the most significant winter storm in years, Boston City Council members are pushing for the Wu administration to explore new snow removal strategies. This could include the establishment of a volunteer “snow corps” group and the purchase of snow melting machines.
Three separate hearing orders regarding snow removal were introduced during the City Council meeting Wednesday, and all received widespread support from the body. The lead sponsor of one of these orders, Councilor Ed Flynn, also sent a letter to Mayor Michelle Wu and Interim Chief of Streets Nick Gove about storm cleanup complaints.
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“Our public works team did well, however I don’t think they were supported here at City Hall. I don’t think they had the resources and the support at City Hall to effectively manage this storm,” Flynn said during the meeting. “We’re not blaming anybody, but we know that there’s major improvement that has to take place.”
Nick Collins, a state senator who represents a large portion of the city, skipped appeals to the Wu administration and went straight to state officials with a letter of his own.
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Boston received almost two feet of snow in the late January storm, the eighth highest storm total on record, according to the National Weather Service. The storm had wide-ranging impacts on the city’s transportation infrastructure, severely delaying Commuter Rail and Red Line service and knocking out fare gates at South Station. Space savers returned to streets across the city, and a dispute over a shoveled-out parking space even led to violence in Dorchester.
Although snowfall totals have been above average so far this winter, frigid Arctic air is actually causing very dry conditions. Dangerously cold temperatures are predicted to return this weekend, and meteorologists are starting to take stabs at how the rest of the winter could play out.
Councilor Enrique Pepén filed a hearing order to broadly explore “snow removal relief and practices.” He heard from many constituents after the storm, specifically elderly residents and people with disabilities who cannot shovel their own properties and don’t have the means to hire others to do the work for them. Pepén organized a “snow angels” program in his district, which offered gift cards to people who volunteered to help their neighbors.
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A hearing order filed by Councilor Brian Worrell touched on similar concerns, offering the idea of a “snow corps” group of volunteers. Cities like Chicago and Baltimore have programs where volunteers are matched with seniors and disabled people who need help shoveling, Worrell said, and these could be used as an example in Boston. He also said that the city could benefit from the hiring of temporary seasonal workers that would shovel and sand key areas.
Flynn’s hearing order referenced New York City’s use of snow melters to clean up from the recent storm. City workers there deposit snow into containers of hot water, which are then dumped into the sewer system. The machines can melt up to 120 tons of snow per hour, according to Flynn’s hearing order. He requested that the city purchase snow melters in his letter to Wu and Gove.
Wu used social media to respond to a question about snow melters earlier this week. Boston rents one melter after large storms in order to empty “snow farms” and free up more space, she said.
“But industrial melters can cost $1M+ each, move slowly & are expensive to maintain, so not worth it without frequent need,” Wu wrote.
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Collins, meanwhile, wrote to Transportation Secretary Phil Eng and Massport CEO Richard Davey this week to emphasize the public safety and transportation issues that are lingering from the storm. He requested that Massport, the MBTA, and the Department of Transportation help the city clear snow from public streets.
Collins has a contentious relationship with Wu, as he has been a driving force in opposing her contentious tax shift proposals. His letter to state officials, therefore, could be seen as a dig at the mayor.
“By coming together to provide support and assistance, your state agencies would be delivering an enormous service to taxpayers,” Collins wrote. “They should be able to expect a baseline level of safety that they are not receiving right now.”
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