Redfield like a ‘skateboard’

Published 12:23 pm Monday, December 1, 2008

By By NORMA LERNER / Niles Daily Star
CASSOPOLIS – A special meeting of the Cass County Road Commission was called on Thursday last week to discuss budget constraints. Chairman Cliff Poehlman called the meeting after he received phone calls about where the road commission is going and what it will be doing. "It was a clearing of the air was what I was told."
A discussion was held on the Nov. 21 snowstorm and the condition of the roads. Poehlman said he heard trucks and graders were shut down. He talked to Superintendent Rick Janssen and got a different story. He said nine employees had previously scheduled a vacation day. He put every man out he had. There was a misunderstanding how things all came about plus a few other things, Poehlman said.
Vice Chairman Leroy Krempec said roads such as Redfield Street, Calvin Center and other roads in the Edwardsburg area were "like a skateboard." He said he received calls from constituents about the roads and told people about the snow and ice policy without knowing nine workers were out.
Poehlman said snow plows were out Friday. Poehlman said Janssen called every employee he had available, as weather reports said there was to be ice on the roads.
Commissioner Louis Csokasy said the only change in the snow policy this year was the part about they don't plow local roads, subdivisions and lake plats on overtime unless there are more than four inches of snow. "We had a freak snowstorm. We didn't expect we will not have problems. Of course, we will have problems. All roads were bad. The guys did as good a job as they could do."
Joseph Bellina III, engineer manager, said he called surrounding communities and learned that Van Buren County was not out nor was St. Joseph County, Mich. But St. Joseph County, Ind., was out because of the home football game on Saturday.
Janssen said the road commission is trying to save money. In a lot of cases, people want to drive 55 miles an hour to work on snow-covered roads. They don't leave to go to work any earlier to give themselves more time to get there.
Commissioner Roger Bowser agreed, saying people should drive for the conditions of the roads and plan ahead.
Janssen said he was sure there were places where there could have been more sand. We will look into it and adjust it accordingly, he said. "A lot of other counties are dealing with the same issues. I talked to other counties. Everyone is doing the best they can."
Csokasy said, "We can learn from it."
Krempec read from the policy about not plowing local roads including subdivisions and lake plats or gravel roads on overtime unless there are more than four inches of accumulation or the duty foreman determines after consultation with the superintendent or manager that specific conditions warrant snow and ice removal. "I think it is confusing," he said.
Bellina said the roads were not in such a condition that an ambulance or fire truck could not get down every road. "Rick (Janssen) got the job done. I think we did okay with people on vacation."