Snow Removal

I am very curious as to what other HOA's pay for snow removal. I know that cost will vary significantly but I'm just not convinced that our landscaping company doesn't just make stuff up. Our HOA is in Maryland, 70 townhomes

Thanks for feedback

Donna,

Are you on your HOA Board? How familiar are you with the contract and with what services are being performed? Your perspective and knowledge of things will help us better understand where you are coming from.

What exactly are you seeing and experiencing that is leading you to think that your landscaping company is making things up?

Any feedback you get on pricing and services won't be directly comparable to your situation as there are many factors that influence cost. There are many different services provided by snow removal contractors and may different ways to contract for services.

I'd also caution you to tread lightly. Winter has only begun. You don't want to find yourself in the position of ticking off your existing contracted company (due to potential nit picking) and then being without service during a major winter event.

0. Don't ask us. Some of us live where it doesn't snow enough to matter. Some live in Montana.

1. Ask neighboring associations.

2. Put it out for bid. Expect that your landscaper will want to renegotiate if you want (if you can?) change the contract.

Our snow contract breaks out the charges by man hours, the amount of road salt/sand used, and the size of any vehicles used to push snow. As others noted, this could vary widely by the region of the country, the structure of the community, the types of precipitation, and the cost of any materials (we currently have a road salt shortage hereabouts). Obviously there is room for padding the charges, so board members need to keep an eye on the actual performance of the contractor and compare it with the invoices we receive afterwards to see if anything looks questionable.

If you work with a community management company, then they will probably have a roster of contractors who have done good work at other communities, so the manager should be able to provide you with a list (our manager actually solicits bids during the budget prep season). If you don't have a manager, you can check out what's happening in other communities around your area and see who is doing the work. As with any other contract, the board should do their jobs by vetting the companies that give them proposals and calling their references, then reviewing actual performance to see if there is need for improvement. I've even checked out online reviews, although I take these with a grain of salt since they tend to skew negative.

Once we'd hired our current provider and he'd proven to do an excellent job, we gave him latitude to call the shots once a storm is in progress. Typically he'll coordinate with the community manager and board to come up with a plan based on forecasts, but storms can be unpredictable and require adjustments as things play out. Many managers don't live in the community or even close to it, so you don't want the manager deciding things long distance. Snow removal crews can work through the night, and the board members probably don't want to stay awake to give their OK if something changes. So it makes sense to allow the professionals decide how things should be handled, and this works well for us. (Homeowners actually email our manager with compliments after a storm, which is pretty much unheard of.)

ditto

Snow?