Mike Cote, who lives in Treasure State Acres, will be plowing our streets again this winter. That should be a real plus as he will be able to see first-hand the snow conditions we have, and he can jump right in when snow plowing is needed. At the same time, we expect to be able to be in close contact with Mike to deal with any special conditions that arise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike has extensive experience. He has plowed roads for many years for the state and as a private contractor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re hoping \u2013 and expecting \u2013 that Mike will help us get past some of the plowing problems we\u2019ve had in the past. Most of you will remember, for example, a few years back when we had a series of bad storms that dumped a lot of snow on the valley, and the firm that was supposed to plow TSA didn\u2019t show up for days on end. It also wasn\u2019t answering our calls. Apparently it had signed up with too many customers and just couldn\u2019t meet the demand. We finally sought out other plowers \u2013 most everyone was completely booked \u2013 until we eventually found help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After that experience, we lined up a more reliable plowing outfit, but it then ran afoul of the county\u2019s accounting rules. So once again we were in the hunt for a new plower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just FYI, you should know that, as a subdivision, we can\u2019t hire just anyone who has a plow on their truck. Our plowers are paid through our county-administered RID fund, and so plowers must meet financial rules and other conditions set forth by the county. And in recent years the number of those qualified to be on the county\u2019s plowers\u2019 list has shrunk. An additional complication is that plowers usually contract with businesses, which have first dibs on any plowing that\u2019s done when snow hits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Calob Marquis of the county road department helped us get set up with Mike, who will be able to call on his brother for assistance with plowing if needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Calob also has helped us develop a new strategy for plowing that we\u2019ll try this winter. In the past, we\u2019ve generally given our plowers this guideline: Start plowing when we\u2019ve gotten 3 to 4 inches of snow. (obviously, that often didn\u2019t happen for a variety of reasons, one being that our plowers got tied up handling business customers first). Mike Cote doesn\u2019t have many business customers, so we don\u2019t think that will be a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our new strategy will be to try to start plowing what generally seem to be the most heavily used streets (Bobcat, Bighorn, Beaverhead, Pondera, Buffalo, Cougar) after we get 2 or so inches of snow. The attached map shows those routes. The other streets will remain will remain at 4 inches. The idea is to make more of an effort to keep streets from getting packed down with snow and ice \u2013 and inevitably rutty and then mushy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, these guidelines won\u2019t necessarily be hard and fast rules. Say, for example, that weather forecasters predict that the Helena Valley will get 8 inches of snow in 24 hours, but 4 inches will come early in the day and 4 inches will fall later in the day. Will we want to rush right out after 4 inches have fallen and plow the entire subdivision? Probably not. We might just plow our most heavily used roads early on, then come back and do everything after all the predicted snow has fallen. In other words, we\u2019d play things by ear in order to use our RID funds responsibly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike\u2019s fees, by the way, are $135 an hour \u2013 among the most economical rates on the county\u2019s list. (There\u2019s an additional charge for such things as sanding at corners.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the past, we\u2019ve gotten complaints from some TSA residents who don\u2019t like the fact that plowers have left a berm along the sides of the streets that blocked, to some degree, their driveways or sidewalks. Unfortunately, we don\u2019t see a way to get around this. To have our plowers stop and push the berms away from everyone\u2019s driveways would push our plowing costs through the roof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We do realize that, especially when we get heavy snows, shoveling these berms can be a hardship for folks who are elderly or disabled. If you have a neighbor who needs help, consider pitching in. It\u2019s good exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike Cote also says he could return — once he\u2019s done with regular plowing chores — and plow away berms from individual driveways for a fee. He can be reached at 406-431-6144.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the last storm, Mike A., who lives on Mustang, posted on Facebook that he can help people with shoveling. You can text him at 406-581-8664. Others, such as Little Lawn Guy (406-788-8032), also provide this service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you have questions or concerns, let me know. Or if you want to work out a special plowing plan with Mike in advance, you can reach him at the number above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
— Steve Shirley
HOA President<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mike Cote, who lives in Treasure State Acres, will be plowing our streets again this winter. That should be a real plus as he will be able to see first-hand the snow conditions we have, and he can jump right in when snow plowing is needed. At the same time, we expect to be able … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hoa","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sndbx-tsa.wotoni.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sndbx-tsa.wotoni.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sndbx-tsa.wotoni.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sndbx-tsa.wotoni.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sndbx-tsa.wotoni.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sndbx-tsa.wotoni.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93,"href":"https:\/\/sndbx-tsa.wotoni.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions\/93"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sndbx-tsa.wotoni.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sndbx-tsa.wotoni.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sndbx-tsa.wotoni.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}