Snow problem: Plan flops for Munhall to plow some Pittsburgh streets

Pittsburgh City Council members on Wednesday opposed a plan to provide street cleaning services to neighboring Munhall in exchange for snowplowing.

Councilwoman Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield, had pitched the idea of the swap.

Her proposal called for Munhall to plow roads in Pittsburgh’s adjacent Lincoln Place neighborhood.

That solution, she said, would have helped address longstanding concerns that the city’s aging vehicle fleet is ill-equipped to handle snowstorms.

Most of Warwick’s fellow council members, however, balked at the notion of asking outside workers to plow streets maintained by the city’s unionized workforce.

They also asked how to explain to their residents that city street sweepers would serve Munhall when many city neighborhoods see only sporadic street-sweeping.

“How is it we can offer that to a suburb when we can’t, I feel, fulfill our own obligation?” Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, said.

Councilman Khari Mosley, D-Point Breeze, said he “philosophically” supports the concept.

But he didn’t want to tell residents of Regent Square and Point Breeze who hadn’t had their streets cleaned in “a couple months” because of street-sweeper shortages that those vehicles were servicing Munhall instead.

Mosley said he also wanted to have further conversations with union leaders and the law department about whether such a deal would violate the city’s union agreements.

Councilman Bob Charland, D-South Side, said he would rather beef up the vehicle fleet so the city’s workers can do their jobs.

“I appreciate the creativity of the solution, but this is not the solution I can support here,” Charland said.

Council President R. Daniel Lavelle, D-Hill District, was the only other council member to back Warwick’s pitch.

Warwick defended the measure, arguing it makes sense for the city to partner with neighboring communities to share resources, particularly when finances are tight.

She pointed out the city also has cooperation agreements that allow for mutual help in public safety.

“This is not out of the ordinary,” Warwick said.

Pittsburgh Public Works Director Chris Hornstein said the city has similar deals in place with Allegheny County and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation that allows them to help service one another’s roads.

Warwick also pitched a bill to take a “baby step” in the right direction on the fleet.

She proposed spending $750,000 from the city’s liquid fuels trust fund to buy four new plows, which she hopes could arrive in time for winter.

Council in a preliminary vote Wednesday supported buying plows, with only Charland and Councilwoman Deb Gross, D-Highland Park, opposing the measure.

City officials have long raised concerns about the city’s aging vehicle fleet, acknowledging that broken-down plows can make snow removal challenging.

Hornstein on Wednesday told council members the city had 104 snowplows last winter but will have about four fewer this year because some were deemed unsafe and removed from service.

Council members largely agree the city needs to boost spending on the fleet, though the city’s tight finances have limited the amount being spent on new plows, fire trucks and ambulances as many would like.

Still, Councilman Bobby Wilson, D-North Side, said, the city needs to prioritize getting its own fleet in order and giving its workers the equipment they need rather than asking others to provide core services.

“Are we just going to give Lincoln Place to Munhall?” Wilson said. “The concept of continuing to give up on Pittsburgh is unacceptable to me.”