Lexington city leaders are taking the first steps to re-tool how they respond to winter weather after the response to January’s ice storm was heavily criticized by residents.
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton announced last month that the city would be rewriting its winter weather response plan after ice remained on Lexington roads for nearly two weeks.
The city released findings from a review of their response at a Monday press conference. Leaders say there were constraints on resources and staffing, gaps in training, inconsistencies in communication and no formal structure for how the city manages incidents.
Rob Larkin, Lexington Director of Emergency Management, said their original strategy wasn’t flexible enough. Leaders are hopeful a revised weather plan can also help better address other types of severe weather, like wind storms and thunderstorms.
“Essentially, what we're looking at here is the one-size-fits-all approach is not effective,” he said. “We must tailor operations to meet the forecasted and received weather in scale, flexibility and timing.”
Gorton is requesting eight new agreements with contractors as part of the budget for the city’s upcoming fiscal year.
An increase of around $4 million towards trucks, salt and deicing chemicals is also expected to be part of her budget proposal. Last year, the city spent $3.5 million to address winter weather as a response to 2024’s snowstorm, up from $2 million the year before.
She’s also appointing a workgroup that will discuss how the city can improve its weather plans.
Gorton will present her proposed city budget at Tuesday’s city council meeting.
