Ice build-up causes concern for city crews & power companies

(ABC 6 News) – When temperatures drop and the snow turns to slush, it can create problems for city crews.

In Rochester, property owners are under a city ordinance to shovel snow from their driveways and sidewalks. But crews can only cover so much ground in a day. This is why some cities are asking the public to keep up with their snow removal.

Tanner Swenson has been living in Med City for years. Over the years he’s learned the importance of keeping up with snow removal.

“(Today) It took me about an hour and a half to do the sidewalk and all the way around the house and the driveway,” Swenson said. “I got 3 different shovels to help clear whatever it is.”

City crews and MNDOT are also reminding people to take care of storm drains to prevent flooding once the snow and ice melt.

“Use some caution,” Dougherty said, “but if you can clear around that gutter and in the curb, it can help if there is some drainage issue.”

Another concern is ice building up on trees and falling on powerlines.

RPU Communications Coordinator Tony Benson says in the event you lose power or come across a downed power line, call your power company because it could still be live.

“Sometimes it’ll go down it won’t trip the fuse,” Benson said. “There’s no real science that will make the fuse blow. So the best thing to do is to just call RPU (or your power company)”

Over an inch of snow is expected to fall overnight.