County testing hired snow plows in Cimarron Hills

El Paso County is plowing new ground.

The county is about to embark upon an experiment to see if private contractors can do a better job of removing snow from the streets than its own aging fleet.

The ‘guinea pig’ will be Cimarron Hills, an unincorporated community east of Powers Boulevard and north of Highway 24 that consists of about 5,000 households and 70 miles of roads. 

“We’ll test it out and see if it works,” said Commissioner Sallie Clark.

The idea of privatizing snow plow operations originated last spring with a group of businessmen called Taxpayers for Budget Reform who urged county officials to explore the idea of using private contractors for routine road maintenance and snow plowing. The group hailed the county as a “leader in its use of private contractors” and argued more taxpayer dollars could be saved by out-sourcing. 

Members of that group were among the 14 companies that attended a pre-bid meeting at the end of October to discuss the project. Only two companies have actually submitted  bids: Rocky Mountain Materials and Asphalt and ASAP Companies. County staffers are evaluating the two bids and the El Paso County Board of Commissioners will be voting on the matter in the next couple of weeks.

El Paso County has 43 snow plows. Ten snow plows were out of commission during last weekend’s storm, said Monnie L. Gore, deputy county administrator. 

“Some of our snow blowers date back to the 1960s,” said Commissioner Wayne Williams. “If we could use private contractors for some of these services, then our pressing needs for infrastructure, in terms of fleet replacement, could be deferred or not done.”

Snowy streets can be slippery slopes for politicians. In 1982, longtime Denver Mayor Bill McNichols was ousted for failing to clear the streets after a Christmas snowstorm.

During the winter of 2006-2007, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper found his popularity sliding when he failed to plow the side streets in a timely manner following two snowstorms that occurred around Christmas. Motorists spent months navigating icy, rutted thoroughfares. 

Colorado Springs comes in for its share of criticism after snowstorms because of athe city's policy of plowing main thoroughfares and leaving residential side streets to the sun to clear.