County agrees to revisit plowing of private driveways
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
After deciding three years ago to no longer use equipment and manpower to clear snow from private residences in the county, the McKenzie County Commissioners on Tuesday, Jan. 8, agreed that it was time to revisit that decision.
That change of heart came after Ryan Madison, who lives in the Squaw Gap area in the southwestern part of the county, made an impassioned plea to the commissioners to reconsider their current policy of not clearing snow from private entrance roads.
“We in Squaw Gap are being kicked to the curb,” stated Madison. “The county used to plow our driveways, but that stopped three years ago. Times have changed. We need the rules to change.”
Madison claims that many rural residents don’t own equipment needed to move snow from their driveways after major snows and that they had relied on the county to keep their roads open for school busses and in the event of emergencies.
“I have kids that go to school,” stated Madison. “And if I had an emergency it would take three hours for me to blow the road clear. The county could do that in 15 minutes.”
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