Mendota Heights Snow Removal Proceeds Smoothly

While St. Paul and Minneapolis residents continue to deal with their cities' struggle to fully clear roads after Dec. 10-11's double-digit snowfall, Mendota Heights is reporting a relatively smooth process.

Resident Sherri Vogel, who lives on the 1000 block of Marie Avenue, said she was pleased with the city's response. Vogel has lived in the city for 20 years. She said the plows have been past about three times now, and while her driveway was blocked by a foot of snow after the last passage, her kids will be able to shovel the remainder.

"Everybody thinks it went very well, just considering the volume of snow and when it happened—late on a Friday night," said City Engineer John Mazzitello.

Four sanding dump trucks equipped with plows and four one-ton pickup trucks with plows were deployed at 2 a.m. Saturday to clear the city's 70 miles of roadways. The pickups plow cul-de-sacs that cannot accommodate the larger equipment.

All roads were passable by 10 a.m. Sunday, according to information from the public works department.

There will be continued cleanup around intersections. Residents are responsible for digging out mailboxes and fire hydrants.

In fact, casualties of the massive snowfall are composed almost entirely of mailboxes. Sergeant Brian Convery of the Mendota Heights Police Department reported a relatively quiet weekend. Patrol officers skipped the low-clearance Crown Victoria squad cars in favor of the department's four-wheel drive vehicles.

No cars were towed in the city, and 17 snow emergency parking tickets were written, according to Police Chief Mike Aschenbrener.

In a report from the Dakota Communications Center, which handles 911-call dispatching for the county, the strangest call they received during the storm was from a person in Chicago who, while watching an online Minnesota State Patrol road camera, saw a vehicle skid off Interstate 494.