HANCOCK COUNTY — Whether your local government or a private contractor plowed your street after last week’s deluge of snow all depends on where you live.
Social media lit up with complaints last week from people living on residential streets wondering why they were being bypassed, but different jurisdictions have different plans for clearing streets and roads that factor in where the snow falls and how deep it gets.
Hancock County is responsible for plowing about 600 miles of roads, and its snow and ice control policy calls for clearing to begin when accumulation reaches about 2 inches. The highway department also applies salt and sand to roads.
There are 92 neighborhoods throughout the unincorporated areas of the county. Hancock County code states snow removal on their streets is the responsibility of developers or homeowner associations.
Gary Pool, Hancock County engineer, said that several years ago it was noted that many neighborhoods didn’t have homeowner associations or didn’t want to fund plowing services, however. So the county commissioners authorized the highway department to retain a contractor to mobilize for one pass of plowing when accumulation exceeds 6 inches, although Pool tends to call out at 4 inches.
“If there is a lot of snow, it takes a long time to do 92 neighborhoods,” Pool told the Daily Reporter in an email.
When finished with main roads, he sends highway department plows into neighborhoods to offset what contractors would be needed for.
“If the HOA or neighborhood is relying on the county for their snow removal, the streets will be snow-covered and the clearing may come late and only in big storms,” he added.
The county doesn’t have contractors apply salt to subdivision streets, as it would be prohibitively expensive, Pool also said.
The Greenfield Street Department plows all public streets in the city, which amount to 120 to 125 miles.
“If we get tax money for a street, we maintain it, including snow removal,” said Tyler Rankins, city street commissioner.
There are some private streets in the city that the department does not maintain, like Kirkpatrick Place, which serves Autumn Place Senior Condominiums east of Hancock Regional Hospital.
The town of Fortville also plows all public streets, which add up to about 30 miles, town manager Joe Renner said. The town plows all alleys and town-owned parking lots too, as well as on-street parking and sidewalks along Main Street.
Crew members have their own areas they’re responsible for, Renner continued, adding they start with main corridors before moving on to secondary streets.
“When we plow, we try to go curb to curb as much as we can,” he said.
Jim Robinson, New Palestine town manager, said the town plows almost all streets, which totals about 18 miles. Exceptions include streets that are private and in planned unit developments, like those near Greenfield Banking Co. and the Sugar Creek Branch of the Hancock County Public Library. Another exception is if a neighborhood’s homeowners association has committed to plowing, he added.
“It’s always kind of a funny gray area,” he said. “Some of those started prior to my arrival. And even people who live in those neighborhoods wonder why we don’t do it. We do the majority of subdivisions. We got a lot of new growth out here. Once a neighborhood hits about 75% (build-out), we’ll commit to plowing the snow.”
In McCordsville, the town plows and salts all of the main roads within its jurisdiction, including Mt. Comfort Road and county roads. Ron Crider, public works commissioner, said there are about 48 miles of road in the town.
However, the only subdivisions the town plows are the older ones that the county approved before the town got its own planning jurisdiction, and only when snow accumulates to more than 3 inches. When the more recent neighborhoods were approved, part of the commitments between builders and the town was that homeowner associations would be responsible for plowing.
Community Management Services, Inc. serves as the management firm for the McCordsville subdivisions of Emerald Springs and Sagebrook, both of which are responsible for their own plowing.
Lesley Stoeffler, president of Community Management Services, told the Daily Reporter in an email that the arrangement in McCordsville is similar to those in other nearby communities like Carmel, Zionsville, Fishers and Westfield.
“Policies evolve over time, including those involving what services will be provided by the city or town,” Stoeffler said.
