Acting Commissioner of Environmental Quality and Public Works Charlie Martin began by putting the scale of the new plan in context.
"I've been here 27 years. This is the most extensive evaluation of our snow plan that we've done since I've worked here, he said. "So I feel like it was probably long overdue and hopefully it will be productive."
Responding to the frustration many residents felt seeing plows bypass their roads during a prolonged snow and ice event last winter, Martin said the city is streamlining its system for ranking streets, combining rank 3 and 4, in a bid to clear up confusion.
Councilmember Emma Curtis asked what people should expect during the next storm.
"My expectation is that people who are on ranked roads will see a truck faster than they would have when they were a 4. They're, I guess, the winners in this," Martin responded. "But I think that overall, not getting wrapped around the axle about 1, 2, 3, 4 and following things chronologically (and) instead, treating what is a ranked road and treating it as quickly as you can in the early phases of that storm, will help us in the end result."
Council members were told a lack of data made the writing of the new plan difficult and new communication systems and the routing of all calls through LexCall should give officials a better idea of how to respond going forward.
Other questions revolved around the process for determining how aggressive the city wants to be when treating ahead of storms, a still evolving snow plan B for schools and how residents should alert the city of problems in their area.