March 18, 2026

Items Recommended for Full Council

Snow Removal Items (6 items) – Recommended to be marked work completed

The committee took up six snow-related orders together (items 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 9) covering dead ends/private ways, the sidewalk clearing pilot, lessons learned from major storms, alternating-side parking during snow emergencies, handicapped parking space clearing, and ADA ramp accessibility. After a detailed presentation from DPW Commissioner Eric Weissman and extensive discussion, all six were recommended to be marked work completed.

Items Kept in Committee

Christopher Beland Comments re: Eversource Grants of Location – Kept in committee

Chair Clingan noted he still needs to follow up with Jackie Duffy at Eversource regarding a streetlight out of service since January 14 near 35 Holland Street. Councilor Hardt confirmed the resident lives in Ward 7 and she has not received confirmation the issue was resolved. Clingan committed to following up the next morning.

Street Sweeping Frequency (April–November) – Kept in committee

Chair Clingan said this item was placed on the agenda accidentally; the administration is not yet ready to provide a response. Councilor Hardt agreed to defer.

Committee Discussion

DPW Snow Operations Presentation

Commissioner Weissman delivered a comprehensive postmortem of the 2025–26 winter season. Somerville received 68 inches of snow — the most since 2015 — including a 23.5-inch January storm and a 16.7-inch February storm.

What went well: Staff kept roads and the community path open through near-record snowfall. The community path was treated essentially as a city street and maintained by a single truck running back and forth, closing only briefly during the heavier February storm.

What went wrong: Dead ends and private ways were severely underserved during the January storm. The initial plan of three contractor plow trucks proved completely inadequate. Service requests for dead ends dropped from 266 in January to 56 in February after DPW switched to smaller equipment rotating through dedicated dead-end routes.

Bike infrastructure strategy shift: Running small equipment on separated bike facilities during major storms was counterproductive — plows would push snow right back into cleared lanes. For storms over 8 inches, DPW now treats separated bike facilities as a post-storm removal operation, freeing that equipment for dead ends and school clearance.

Sidewalk clearing pilot: Broadway and School Street enforcement produced 9 tickets in the first storm and 14 in the second. ISD inspects after the clearing deadline, sends violation lists to DPW, and DPW clears the properties. Potential expansions discussed include lowering the snow threshold from 4 inches to 1 inch, increasing maximum fines to $300, expanding to additional streets, and broadening proactive enforcement capacity.

Snow Emergency Parking Policy

Councilor Hardt asked about the value of alternating-side parking restrictions. Weissman explained the alternation (odd/even) was adopted for fairness reasons — residents on the even side were frustrated their driveways were always plowed in — not for operational efficiency. He noted staff strongly support snow emergencies for operational safety and suggested potentially keeping restrictions in place longer after storms.

ADA Accessibility and Handicapped Parking

Weissman announced DPW will proactively contract a vendor to clear all ADA parking spaces covered in snow after emergencies, rather than relying solely on 311 requests. Chair Clingan pressed on ADA curb ramps, noting property owners are technically responsible for abutting ramps but enforcement is weak. Yasmine Raddassi (Mayor's Office) acknowledged this is primarily an enforcement and communication issue and committed to follow up with ISD.

Private Contractor Snow Dumping

Councilor Scott raised an incident on Houghton/Oak/Bolton streets where a private construction contractor was videotaped using a bobcat to dump snow onto ADA ramps and paths residents had cleared. Weissman committed to coordinating with ISD on a clear enforcement playbook. Clingan emphasized that private plowing companies cannot discharge snow onto public ways.

Staffing and Contracting

Weissman discussed the balance between in-house staff and contractors. DPW has approximately 27 snow routes and always exhausts internal staffing lists (including volunteers from other city departments) before calling contractors. Both Weissman and Councilor Scott agreed that expanding in-house capacity would improve service quality, institutional knowledge, and cost control.

Snow Storage and Melting

Weissman flagged snow melting operations as a long-term need given Somerville's density and diminishing available land. Councilor Scott expressed concern about cost, noting Boston's snow melters are budget-busters. Weissman clarified this is a forward-looking consideration — as long as storage space exists, they'll use it, but he anticipates future land constraints.

Concrete Bike Lane Barriers

Councilor Scott reported significant damage to concrete separators on the Washington Street bike lane from plowing operations and asked about replacement plans. Weissman said flex post replacements have been ordered and committed to following up on the concrete curbs with the mobility director.

What's Next

• Six snow items head to full council as work completed

• Chair Clingan plans to file a council order exploring the cost of city-wide sidewalk snow clearing

• Mayor's Office (Raddassi) to follow up with ISD on ADA ramp enforcement and repeated sidewalk violators

• DPW to follow up on Teal Square snow clearance and Washington Street bike infrastructure repairs

• Eversource streetlight issue to return at next committee meeting after Clingan's follow-up

• Street sweeping frequency discussion deferred to next meeting