With Carthage located on the shore of Lake Michigan, snow and snowstorms are a fact of life. The following is the College’s plan for the removal of snow and maintaining a safe environment.
The Office of Public Safety personnel will monitor the condition of the Campus Drive, all other campus roadways, and campus parking lots. Upon a sufficient accumulation of snow, the Office of Public Safety will contact the Director of Buildings and Grounds. This will result in Carthage personnel reporting to work as soon as possible and our snow removal contractors alerted to begin snow plowing procedures. Any accumulation that does not block roads or lots will result in crews reporting to work at an early start to begin snow plowing procedures so that the campus primary roads, employee parking lots, and sidewalks are cleared for the start of classes.
During a snowstorm, crews will attempt to maintain the campus drives only. Parking lots will be plowed only after the storm has ended.
Plowing areas, in order of priority and scheduling:
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Campus main drives, campus main sidewalk.
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Sidewalks from residence halls and commuter lots to the academic buildings.
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Commuting student and employee parking lots.
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Residential and unrestricted parking lots.
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Secondary walks and service drives.
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Clean up, additional hand salting.
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Campus houses and auxiliary residences.
During plowing activities, any vehicle parked or abandoned on a campus drive, in a fire lane, or otherwise illegally parked and interfering with plowing activities, is subject to immediate tow, without warning and at the owners’ expense.
Snow Removal Emergencies:
Should the accumulation of snow become large enough that normal plowing will not adequately clear areas, Carthage may declare a snow removal emergency.
During a snow removal emergency, and upon notification via posters and announcements placed in the Todd Wehr Center and residence halls, resident students will be asked to move their vehicles in a specified order from assigned lots to allow for the removal of all snow. The notifications will identify the alternative parking location for that day and the sequence of lots to be cleared. During a snow emergency, any vehicles remaining in lots designated to be cleared may be towed at the owners’ expense. At the very least, these vehicles risk being stranded in snowdrifts due to plowing activities.
Carthage personnel and our snow removal contractors will make all attempts to maintain a drivable path for vehicles through our lots and campus drives. For safety considerations, they must stay a safe distance from parked vehicles while plowing. Carthage personnel are not responsible for removing snow from a parked vehicle.
Carthage maintenance and safety personnel are not allowed to jump-start non-College vehicles.
