County Council members met with DPWT Director Michael Johnson to discuss the agency’s plan for future snow removal and the impact the lack of snow and ice removal had on South County residents. Screenshot by Delonte Harrod

On Tuesday, January 21, The County Council members met with Michael Johnson, director of the Prince George’s County Department of Public Works & Transportation, to discuss the department’s failure to remove snow and ice from county neighborhoods, which left some communities trapped for hours and days.

Though there were snow removal problems throughout the county, South County council members wanted the director to know that the department’s failure had an enormous impact on its stakeholders.

“South County was definitely forgotten about,” said Sydney Harrison, district 9 councilman and council vice-chair of the county council. “ Madam Chair, (Jolene Ivey) you said you rode around in a snow plow. I know South County has more miles of county roads than any other area.”

Before council members were allowed to question and direct comments at the director about the agency’s failures, Johnson gave a presentation explaining the agency's approach to this storm and its challenges. Johnson admitted that the department fell short of its standard. “Residents deserve timely plowing,…salting, and response to snow events,” Johnson said.

He said the department’s initial priority was “to treat” the primary and secondary roads with salt and then remove snow and ice. Primary and secondary roads were prioritized because, Johnson said, they are the roads most used for traveling throughout the county.

Residential roads are the last priority. (Note: Harris’s comments made a distinction between neighborhood streets, which are not considered county roads). According to Johnson, the snowfall lasted long, which resulted in snow plow drivers taking longer to remove snow and ice from primary and secondary roads. Due to this, residential areas had to wait longer for the roads to be salted and plowed. Additionally, the agency did not use the correct salt to melt snow and ice from roads, though local meteorologists warned residents and government agencies about the freezing temperatures. They used rock salt instead of chemical salt to target the conditions. “Rock salt is not very [effective] for temperatures below 20 degrees,” said Johnson during his presentation. Johnson said rock salt is more effective in temperatures above freezing. He admitted that the agency should have used a different salt.

Johnson said there was a language barrier between the agency and its non-English-speaking contractors. He didn’t provide details about how this impacted the agency’s work; he just said it was a barrier with the contractors who plowed the roads. He also didn’t mention the ethnicity of the group he identified as non-English speakers.

There were other challenges as well. For example, the plow tracking system didn’t accurately record which streets were being plowed. He added that the agency didn’t have enough contractors to plow primary and secondary roads concurrently.

Screenshot of DPW&T’s snow removal plan. Photo by Delonte Harrod

Harrison’s comments came after Jolene Ivey, chair of the Prince George’s County County council. The DPW&T is under the council members’ authority. However, the council isn’t responsible for implementing a snow removal plan. Harrison said that they all had failed the community. He also thanked the members of the agency for their hard work.

However, Harrison felt like South County residents weren’t served well because of the agency’s lack of clarity and miscommunication with residents.

“There were a lot of inadequacies, a lot of confusion, and a [lack] of communication,” Harrison said to Johnson. I would like to see…better communication with the public before the snowstorm happens. We should provide this service on time to the public.”

Harrison said the agency needs to provide residents with more education about the process, and the department needs to implement strategies to help it accomplish its mission.

He also said that 311 played a vital role in miscommunicating to residents. “The constipation in communication came from 311,” said Harrison. “Many residents had called 311 needing answers as to why snow and ice weren’t removed from their streets and neighborhoods.”

Harrison said 311 was “closing out tickets” without the completion of snow and ice removal requests. According to Harrison, some residents couldn’t reach 311 customer service techs.

“People were getting highly frustrated, as I was too, to get someone to talk to,” Harrison explained. “ So what did [community members do]? They called all of our offices. We all felt helpless at that moment.”

“You all said that some streets were plowed in 48 hours, but they weren’t,” he said.

Harrison continued: “If you know a storm is coming 72 hours before — you should be on the camera talking, giving a message to the residents about expectations and [informing them about] who to call.”

Wala Blegay, district 6 council member, agreed with Harrison that the agency’s communication strategy needs an upgrade. Blegay asked Johnson if the agency had consulted with other county agencies on how they approached previous winter storms, such as the 1996 blizzard. That year, the state received an average of 22 inches of snow. Johnson essentially said that his staff has some experience working with significant snowfall. He added that there was a difference between the snowstorm then and now. That blizzard had a high accumulation of snow, but not a lot of ice, according to Johnson.

However, this current snowstorm had less accumulation of snow but more ice. Removing ice, he said, is really difficult.

Johnson also blamed residents for icy conditions in the communities. He said when residents started to drive in the snow, because they had to run errands, it packed the snow down. Because the temperatures were below freezing, Johnson said this caused the compounded snow to turn to ice, which made it thicker, and harder to remove.

Blegay countered this by saying this wasn’t true in every residential area. According to Blegay, she received numerous calls informing her they were unable to leave their homes due to the icy conditions. In other words, it wasn’t the compounded snow that transformed into ice. Rather, ice had accumulated on the streets, sidewalks, and doorsteps due to the below freezing temperatures.

“I reported to you that people needed to get their medicine, but couldn’t leave their homes [due to those conditions].” Blegay explained. “A lot of people couldn’t leave their homes due to [cars] sliding on the roads.”

Council member Krystal Oriahda, district 7 council member, started by dispelling misinformation about the council’s role in snow removal. She said community members informed her that DPWT and representatives at 311 had told them to call council members because they are responsible for when snow and ice are removed from neighborhood roads.

“I just want to state, while on the record, we…don’t have control over that process,” Oriadha emphatically said. “We are not accountable to that process. If the county executive and administration wants to [delegate] that to the council — I would love to make that decision, but it’s just now the case.”

Oriadha went on to say that she, like many residents, doesn’t know DPWT’s process for snow removal. She also encouraged Johnson to communicate the agency’s timeframe for snow removal. With this information, Oriadha said, residents would know when to expect snow and ice removal.

“ The clearer we can be with expectations, the better. It may not be perfect, but at least it is clear,” she said to Johnson as he sat listening.

Oriadha also advocated for better communication between the county council, DPWT, and other government agencies.

Edward Burroughs, district 8 council member, opened by reiterating Harrison’s point in the beginning. South County residents were underserved during this storm.

“ The southern part of the county was left in abysmal conditions. That is unacceptable,” he explained. “The residents in this part of the county pay exorbitant property taxes just like everyone else, and we deserve high-quality services as well. Time and time again, from this government, we often receive the short end of the stick.”

Burroughs — who went into a South County neighborhood to shovel out a senior citizen’s driveway — reminded Johnson that he sent the agency a letter, on Jan. 10, but had not heard anything back. Burroughs said he had sent all the complaints - from social media, phone calls, and emails — to the agency, but they also hadn’t responded to those either.

“I wonder if we have the correct expertise regarding these matters,” he asked Johnson. “As a council member, I don’t know what salt should be on the roads, but I hope that DPW&T would know and be proactive in that matter. In this case, that did not take place.”

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