A fond white memory for some, the snows of December 2008 cost the City of Kirkland approximately $50,000 as residents tried to navigate often impassable city streets.

City Public Works Director Daryl Grigsby presented the estimate at a City Council meeting Jan. 20 in reviewing his department’s performance in the snow removal and cleanup effort. A few days after the winter’s first snow, a series of snow storms inundated Kirkland’s roads and highways, beginning Dec. 18.

Public Works crews began emergency 24-hour operations soon after the snow began to stick on the road surface. The operations ran until Dec. 20 and again Dec. 22-24 (1,068 hours overtime), trying to clear the city’s 34.1 miles of primary routes, according to the city’s snow response map. There are a total of 160 lane-miles within the city.

“I don’t think there was a case where we could have cleared all of the streets,” Grigsby said. “I’ve lived here 30 years and I’ve never seen this before.”

Overall, 40 personnel aided the snow-removal operations and worked every day between Dec. 14 to Jan. 5 (including Christmas Day), charging $26,000 in overtime.

After seven days of measurable snowfall, the Kirkland area accumulated roughly 15.7 inches of snow.

To clear the roads, the city ran three trucks outfitted with plows and sanding equipment and a large grater equipped with hard rubber blades. The city does not currently own any dedicated snow-removal equipment. Three additional sanding trucks to put down a surface for traction were sent out once the snow had begun to pack down and became icy. They spread a total of 632 tons of sand along city roads, including some sand mixed with a small amount of salt.

According to Grigsby, the city does not use salt or de-icer fluid because of concerns the substances would damage local water quality and harm wildlife and fish habitat.

“We’d consider using a de-icer fluid if it’s environmental impacts are low,” he said, noting he favored King County’s preferred melt substance, Geomelt, which is made from sugar beet juice.

At one point, the city exhausted its supply of sand and bought more from a Redmond gravel company, costing $10,000. Adding that in with labor costs, damage and wear-and-tear to the city’s equipment and costs to clean up and dispose of the sand reached an estimated $50,000. The total number far exceeds the amount budgeted by the city, forcing the city to find the money from other sources.

While some uphill roads in Kirkland proved too much for the city’s three plows, prioritizing roads around critical services, such as Evergreen Medical Center, fire department and transit routes proved a success. Evergreen spokesperson Sherry Grindeland said all major routes to the medical center remained open throughout the storm.

“I’d give the city an ‘A’,” she said.

The largest number of requests for residential service came from the Highlands and Rose Hill neighborhoods where few plows were seen on their priority routes, if any. In the run-up to the holiday season, a number of merchants showed their frustration as slow sales and few customers were blamed on the snowy roads.

“I felt they should have taken better care of 60th Street better than they did,” said Sasi’s Cafe owner Roland Oberholzer. After moving from one of the lowest points in town near Lake Washington to one of the highest (Bridle Trails along 60th St.), the heavy snow forced him to shut down his business for nearly two weeks because no one could reach him. He said he noticed more snow at his higher elevation (500 feet) compared to downtown Kirkland.

“I couldn’t swear to it, but I don’t think I ever saw a truck,” he said.

Sixtieth Street is a listed as a priority route on the city’s snow map.

Find out what other residents have to say about the city’s efforts on page 4.