Minneapolis Snow & Ice Management
Snow and ice management in Minneapolis is no easy task. Even in the mildest of winters, Minneapolis seems to get more than its fair share of that white stuff. It’s bad enough for homeowners to deal with, but if you have a commercial facility, a snow and ice management (snow/ice management) plan is critical.
As a homeowner, you can deal with the snow when it comes. You may choose to shovel it, or use your snow blower, or if you are smart you might have an arrangement for having your driveway plowed.
Why hire a professional for snow and ice removal?
With a commercial establishment, you must have a snow and ice management plan. This is necessary to protect your business from liability, as well as to ensure that your customers can find parking and gain access to your facility.
Liabilities associated with snow removal …
From a liability standpoint, you are responsible to clear snow and ice to minimize the chance of visitors being injured. This applies not only to persons on your property, but to anyone passing your facility on the public sidewalk. So you need to not only clear the snow on your property and the public right of way in front of your building, but you must take measures to prevent anyone from falling. This means scraping any ice, or spreading salt and sand.
As for your entrance and parking lot, you not only must clear it if you expect to have customers, but you have to have a plan for what to do with all that snow. If you have a small parking area, you will have to have the snow physically removed.
If you have room to pile the snow out of the way, you must be sure that melting snow will not run onto the sidewalk or street where it can re-freeze. You also have to ensure that all entryways are clear and not blocked by the piled snow.
When should you have a snow removal plan ready?
The time to establish your snow and ice management plan is not when the snow starts falling, but right now. Most snow removal service companies have a regular list of clients and a schedule to take care of each of them. If you wait until the snow begins to randomly call snow removal companies that might be available, you will probably have to wait quite a while before they get to you. By then your property may have so much snow that the snow plow operator will have difficulty in determining where the curbs and edges of your lot are located.
You can consult with a snow removal service company, and they can help you establish your snow and ice management plan, to include snow removal and spreading of salt and sand as appropriate. They will know at what trigger points (snow depths) the plan should be implemented, and the best way to address the points mentioned earlier.
If you already have a landscaping service, they may also provide snow removal service. Many landscaping professionals provide snow removal services, since there is little landscaping activity in the winter. If you are already established with them, it would be natural for them to work with you year-round. Just be sure that whichever service you use is an established company that is likely to be reliable when you need them.