COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah -- Keeping the roads safe and clear has been tricky with the continuous snowfall this month, but one city is having a little more trouble than others.
This is the first year the city of Cottonwood Heights has gone with a private contractor rather than pay Salt Lake County for its snowplow services, and many, including the mayor, said it hasn’t been a smooth transition.
“The main roads seem to be OK, but into the neighborhood it just looks like Montana or Canada or something,” Resident Preston Christensen said.
Earlier this year, Cottonwood Heights parted ways with Salt Lake County for plow services. They chose a private contractor instead.
“It seems like it’s just on the books, in reality they aren’t getting the job done,” Resident Mark McGill said of Terracare, the Colorado based company hired by the city.
Many residents voiced concerns earlier this month following a storm, and they had similar sentiments this week. They said conditions on residential roads became dangerous.
Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore admits there’s a problem, but he said Terracare is working on improving services.
“The issue is how quickly and how we orchestrate our logistics, and right now the contractor is constantly adjusting those logistics based on their experience, and it’s just a steep learning curve,” he said.
In the next few weeks, city officials say they'll decide if they need to add a contract through Salt Lake County for future storms. Cullimore said the goal is for all roads to be plowed within eight hours of the end of each storm.
