SOME THOUGHTS WHILE SURVIVING THE WINTER OF 2007–2008

Life is full of ironies. For example, in the year following the awarding of a Nobel Peace Prize to former Vice President Al Gore for his work on global warming awareness, we have seen the most snow in Ripon in nearly a decade, or, by the time you read this, in recorded history. Since the first icy blast of winter slapped us around in early December, we have been inundated with a regularly scheduled white invasion. With each storm, the salt available to the city has shrunk, while the amount of money being spent on snow removal has increased at an alarming rate. And with each passing week, this Mayor has become more and more nervous about what this means in the long term.

Residents can help. First, there is an ordinance regarding snow removal — “No person shall deposit snow from any driveway, sidewalk, or from areas situated inside the lot lines of a parcel on the roadway of any public street” — which is fairly clear. A second ordinance deals with sidewalk maintenance, and it states that the owner or occupant of any lot or parcel has to remove all snow and ice which may have fallen or accumulated upon the sidewalk in front of such lot or parcel each day. If the ice has become too thick to remove, the owner or the occupant shall keep their sidewalk sprinkled with material that will prevent the sidewalk from being dangerous to pedestrians. A financial penalty faces those who have not complied with this ordinance, and, in the interest of full disclosure, I have paid that fine. This is why I appreciate the wonderful generosity of my neighbors who have a snow plow. Their kindness will likely be rewarded with a delicious grilled token of appreciation this summer...after the snow melts.

Second, I am asking for your patience and understanding. As most of you know by now, the salt situation has become a bit dicey for many communities. Ripon is not alone in rationing its use of salt on the streets. We all need to slow down a bit more until spring arrives, and exercise considerably more defensive driving. Also, we have a limited amount of staff and equipment when it comes to plowing snow. Our Public Works employees have years of experience in snow removal, and, while it may seem to be a politically advantageous thing to do at times, I am not going to second-guess them. We just need to take a deep breath, and remember that prioritization built on years of experience will be undertaken in removing the snow from the streets.

One final observation I have for this long, cold winter: You knew, deep down, someone, somewhere would utilize the above normal snow for political purposes. In the past few weeks, a state lawmaker has introduced a bill to create a “Snowy Day” fund for Wisconsin communities to tap when their snow removal costs threaten to crimp their budgets. The bill, SB-478, would set aside $500,000 from the state’s Transportation Fund to pay for grants to local governments who need help. It would allow for grants of up to $50,000 for communities battling “severe weather,” which is defined as “weather conditions, for a winter maintenance season, in which the amount of snow and ice precipitation and the number of snow or ice events in a DOT (Department of Transportation) region are greater than the region’s average amount of snow and ice precipitation and average number of snow or ice events over the immediately preceding five-year period.” Can you see some mayor or city administrator praying for snow in those final days of March to surpass the average and tap that $50,000? The bill defines a winter season as December 1st to March 31st.

This is a case of a bad idea on top of a bad winter. The Transportation Fund? This is the same fund that has been tapped in previous state budgets to fund other initiatives, and has been a consistent borrower of money to meet its annual budget needs. I also cringe at the thought of a “Snowy Day” fund, when our own state budget has one of the smallest “Rainy Day” funds in the nation, and there has been almost no political will in Madison to set aside funds when an economic downturn reduces state revenue (which may have already begun). Ripon is blessed with a reserve fund of more than $1 million, upon which, if the worst-case budget scenarios come to pass, we can fall back.

With your help, patience, and understanding, we will make it through the winter. We have survived in the past, and we will do so again in 2007–2008. Thanks for your time, and I look forward to sweating with you at Riponfest. I really do.