Buffalo Grove re-evaluating snow plan amid complaints

Buffalo Grove's top public works official told village leaders Monday his department is re-examining the new snow response plan it launched this winter after a flurry of complaints about its handling of Sunday's blizzard.

"This storm, obviously, has challenged that plan, and this plan will need to be re-evaluated and may require some changes, depending on what that evaluation reveals," Public Works Director Mike Reynolds said.

Residents took to social media during the storm to complain about the cycle of plowing and, in some instances, the apparent absence of snow plows from their streets.

Village President Jeffrey Braiman called the situation frustrating.

"I don't think anybody was really that thrilled with what happened the last day or so," he said.

"Make sure we learn from this," Braiman told Reynolds. "I ask that you deconstruct what happened. Figure it out. What went wrong, if anything went wrong, and how to make it better. And come back to the board as soon as you can."

Reynolds summed up some of the challenges his department faced during the storm that left more than 17 inches of snow on much of the region, including in some locations residents leaving their cars on the streets. There was at least one incident when the occupants of the home told police officers they would rather get a ticket than move their car, he said.

Trustee Jeffrey Berman said the village adopted the plan for the right reasons.

"But it is a new plan, and it means that not everything is going to be perfect, and we have to acknowledge that this weekend wasn't perfect," Berman said. "Far from it."

Berman suggested adjusting the plowing cycle. He said it seemed that hours went by without the plows reaching his neighborhood.

"I heard the truck go down the street at 5 in the morning, and then I didn't see it again until well after the Super Bowl ended," he said.

Despite the frustration, officials took pains to thank public works employees for their efforts.

"It's a thankless job," Braiman said. "They're out there for 12 hours at a time."

Even as Reynolds was delivering his report Monday night, plow drivers were still on the road.

"We've got nine trucks out," Reynolds said, adding that at the height of the storm, the village was using 18 trucks. "We think we have done a pretty good job of catching up with it and getting everything cleared off."