Did you know that 116,800 people are injured in vehicle crashes on snowy, slushy or icy pavement annually?
When it comes to taking care of your community during the winter, snow can cause huge delays. There a several steps you should take when preparing for this weather, including resident communication, maintenance preparation, as well as snow removal. Being prepared for the winter season is an important step for any community association. Even though the winter season is coming to an end, there are things you can do to maintain and enhance your community’s preparedness and remember for next year!
1. Make Announcements and Warnings
It’s important to notify and continue to remind residents if there is snowfall approaching. You can make these types of important announcements and notifications within your portal.
“2-6 inches of snowfall expected tonight! Please remember to plan accordingly and take it slow when entering the community
These types of announcements can remind residents to plan. This also lets residents know that community management is preparing.
2. Know Your Responsibility
Every community association is different, some associations might not remove snow from public streets because the city or county might be responsible. Single family homes might be responsible for removing snow on their own driveways, and it’s important to outline this for your residents. Many associations will assign designated areas that they are responsible for, such as; sidewalks and parking lots. In this case, the management will hire a vendor. The vendor will be responsible for treating those specific areas, outlined in their contract.
3. Keep Your Snow Policy Easily Accessible
Since every association is different it’s essential for management to outline the expectation and keep it readily available for residents. By providing this type of information your association is being transparent with residents. You’ll want to keep these documents within our online portal, when you make announcements and bulletins you can also reference and link back to the documents. This can eliminate unneeded calls coming into your management office. All community members will be properly informed.
Tips:
– When hiring vendors talk with neighboring associations to see if they have recommendations. You want to make sure your vendor is insured properly, and that they are reliable!
– Make sure your maintenance staff is equipped with the proper tools! Shovels and salt will be important when it comes to clearing areas around your management offices and community spaces.
– You can make the snowy season fun! Inform residents if there is a specific location for children to play in the snow. You can also encourage members to head back to the management office for hot chocolate!