I am a newer employee of Highland Outdoor, so this was the first year that I got to see all that goes into preparing and getting through a snow storm.  I have to say that it has been very nice to see how all of the Highland employees work together to make everything during each storm, go as smoothly as possible.  Our field workers, who have the responsibility of pre-treating and plowing the snow, put in very long hours and work very hard to make it all possible.  Without them, properties such as Oak Park Mall, as well as our residential properties probably wouldn’t be as travel friendly as they are during the snow storms.

Make sure that when you are traveling during winter weather that you watch for black ice.  Set out for you destination earlier than you would normally.  There is bound to be traffic and slippery roads regardless of if roads have been treated or not.  Leaving earlier will probably cause you less of a headache instead of being in a hurry when the roads are slippery.  Keep in mind those who treat our roads, they don’t get as much credit as they deserve, and they do a wonderful job!

All of our snow billing for this weeks storm was mailed today. As always, a snow report and billing letter was included. To read the letter, click for the .pdf file below. If you have any billing questions, please contact Abby at the office.

snow-removal-letter-021407.pdf

All of our snow billing the last few days was mailed today. As always, a snow report and billing letter was included. To read the letter, click for the .pdf file below. If you have any billing questions, please contact Abby at the office.

snow-removal-letter-020107.pdf

All of our snow billing for the events last week was mailed today. As always, a snow report and billing letter was included. To read the letter, click for the .pdf file below. If you have any billing questions, please contact Abby at the office.
snow-removal-letter-012207.pdf

All of our snow billing for the events last week was mailed today. As always, a snow report and billing letter was included. To read the letter, click for the .pdf file below. If you have any billing questions, please contact Abby at the office.

snow-removal-letter-120606.pdf

It’s early Saturday morning, and we are almost completed with all of the snow and ice removal.
Needless to say, it’s been an incredibly busy last three days. Our crews have logged in excess of 700 -800 man hours, gotten very little sleep, broken and fixed countless pieces of equipment, thrown down thousands of pounds of ice melt, dropped hundreds of tons of salt, and navigated through one of the worst snow and ice storms our city has seen in a long time. Final accumulations: 5-10″ of snow throughout our client base.

Although we are our own worse critic, it was nice to get a phone call yesterday morning from one of our premier clients telling us that they went to bed on Thursday night with 8 inches of snow on their property, and woke up the next morning, and it was gone - from the driveway, front and back walks, and even around the pool, since this client liked to take a “winter swim” sometimes.

We tend to be hard on ourselves, even when we know we are putting our best foot forward. Of course, we made a lot of mistakes in the last three days. But, in the end, our staff, employees and subcontractors did an incredible job of working hard, despite worsening conditions, and lack of sleep.

The weekend awaits - a few of our staff will go to the Big 12 Championship game at Arrowhead Stadium tonight. They deserve the day off. It’s been a long week, but we know it is all worth it - not only by delivering service to our clients, but continuing to grow a business. For those that are reading this that are clients, thanks again for your constant commitment and loyalty to us - we would be nothing without you.

Stay safe, warm, and enjoy all the white before it melts off next week. It’s hard to think we will return to design/build and maintenance next week…

(Photo above of Armando and Brent as they try to “unfreeze” a spreader truck in the middle of the storm)

It’s been an incredible few days here… It seems like just a few days ago it was 70 degrees outside - it was!

It’s been snowing for a little over two hours, and we already have four inches on the ground. Area weather forecasters say everything from a few inches more all the way to a foot or more. Wow!

Of course, yesterday we were hit with an ice/sleet storm that started mid-afternoon. Our crews (and our management team) worked throughout the night, into the next morning. I think we logged somewhere between 300-400 hours of work yesterday through this morning!
To be honest, yesterday’s storm was one of the toughest we’ve treated in a long time. And, a near-blizzard on the back side doesn’t help either.

We’re in it for the long haul. This snow falling now is light, fluffy, and incredible. We won’t be able to enjoy it until Saturday!

Stay safe, warm and off the roads.

(Photo above is of a parking lot that has not been plowed that has about 4″ of snow on it when it was taken)