City crews respond to snowy Saturday in Long Beach

The City of Long Beach deployed its full fleet of snow removal vehicles on Saturday beginning at 6 a.m., sanding and salting streets throughout the city. Most roads were cleared by the afternoon, though with temperatures expected to remain in the 20s throughout the night, city officials advised residents to be cautious and watch for black ice as temperatures began to drop.

A winter weather advisory remained in effect until 4 p.m. on Saturday, and the first snowfall of the year blanketed the city with roughly 3 inches. City Manager Jack Schnirman, along with Councilmen Scott Mandel, Len Torres and Mike Fagen met with Street Maintenance Superintendent Vincent Deale and other city workers in the Snow Operations Center early Saturday morning.

According to the city’s Facebook page, its fleet of plows and payloaders were “dispatched to every single part of the community,” and Schnirman was on hand driving throughout the community beginning in the early morning hours to ensure that the snow removal effort was proceeding as planned.

"The snow plows did a great job of clearing Harding Ave., I heard them come by twice," resident Lillian Baum said on the city's Facebook page.

"It was only 3 inches c'mon," said Armando Lios on the Herald's Facebook page.

"Yes, we are aware it is 3 inches but can we appreciate the fact that we are being kept up to date, the streets are being cleared and we are not clueless as to what the city is doing?" responded Stacey Gross.

Last week, Schnirman met with department heads to discuss snow emergency planning as the winter months move forward and in the years ahead, part of an attempt to avoid a repeat of the city's handling of last year's blizzard.

The 90-minute meeting, which included the heads of the Public Works, Beach Maintenance and Sanitation departments, focused on how the city would better prepare for a major snowstorm. Topics discussed ranged from available equipment and manpower to how residents would be notified and updated.

The latter includes making better use of social media websites, with Schnirman saying that residents could visit the city’s website or its Facebook and Twitter pages for up-to-the-minute information. Indeed, residents were regularly updated throughout the day.