Page 2C
East Oregonian/Hermiston Herald
Fall Home Improvement & Car Care
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Smitty’s Ace Hardware could not hold on to items
like ice melt and snow shovels last winter. At one
point, small shakers jugs were all the ice melt left on
the shelves after putting a large shipment out due
to the persistent winter conditions.
Concrete care
takes shovel,
no rock salt
Clearing sidewalk
during winter is
SNOW
By PHIL WRIGHT
EO Media Group
LAUGHING
MATTER
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
A group of Stanfi eld Secondary School basketball players shovel snow at a home on West Coe Avenue in Stanfi eld. The students
decided to do a public service for residents during the heavy, repeated snowfalls of the 2016-17 winter.
EO Media Group
et It Snow” was not written for the benefi t of the
property owner who has to scoop snow from the
sidewalk the next day.
But shoveling the freshly driven snow from the walkway
isn’t just a winter rite-of-passage, it’s the law in two Eastern
Oregon cities.
Hermiston and Pendleton both require home and business
owners to remove snow from their sidewalks, or face potential
consequences.
Hermiston Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan said the
city’s code requires Hermistonians to remove snow or ice
within two hours of the end of snowfall during the day or by 9
a.m. if the snowfall occurred overnight.
Failure to clear the sidewalk could result in a Class A
violation, which carries a fi ne as a high as $2,000 with a
presumptive fi ne of $435.
Unlike Hermiston, Pendleton doesn’t have any hard
requirements about when snow is removed.
Pendleton City Attorney Nancy Kerns said a previous
ordinance had similar time requirements to Hermiston, but
an updated version just generally requires property owners to
keep the right-of-way clear of snow and ice.
That doesn’t mean an uncleared sidewalk carries no penal-
ties. If damages or injuries occur because of an icy walkway,
city law states that the property owner will be held liable.
Pendleton Public Works Director Bob Patterson said a
good rule of thumb for Pendleton residents is to clear their
sidewalk as soon as possible.
“L
Water and oil don’t mix, and neither does salt
and concrete.
Rock salt, or sodium chloride, is a popular deicer
for patios, walkways and driveways. Contractor
John Fenton of Pendleton warned against its use on
concrete.
“No salt,” he said, “salt ruins it.”
The chemical is corrosive to concrete, he
explained, and can even damage concrete that was
mixed, poured, fi nished and cured properly.
“Concrete undergoes a chemical reaction,” he
said, “and it cures at 37 days under optimal condi-
tions.”
Concrete can be about as impervious a surface
as you can have, he said, but not every application
is optimal. Concrete absorbs water, so applying
concrete to surfaces that are too wet or too dry
affects the outcome.
Concrete’s ability to soak up water also makes it
vulnerable to wet, freezing weather. Freezing water
expands, and those ice crystals can break apart
concrete. Salt exacerbates chipping and fl aking
because it can pull in even more water.
And Pendleton Public Works Director Bob
Patterson advised fresh concrete is more susceptible
to damage.
Several do-it-yourself websites for concrete care
suggest the fi rst line of defense is a snow blower
or plastic snow shovel. Metal shovels can damage
some types of concrete.
Fenton said aside from salt, other deicers should
not react with concrete.
Various internet sources also warn salt can
damage asphalt, so milder deicers are better. Avoid
snow shovels and snow plows because they can
damage the top layer of asphalt. And any cracks in
asphalt need repairing with water resistant sealants.
For folks looking to stay away from chemical
deicers of all sorts, sand, fi ne gravel and even cat
litter over ice can provide some traction.
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
A group of Stanfi eld Second-
ary School basketball players
shovel snow last winter at a
home on West Coe Avenue in
Stanfi eld. The students decid-
ed to do a public service for
residents during the heavy,
repeated snowfalls of the
2016-17 winter.
Your Local Fire & Water Damage
Restoration Professionals
Serving all of Um atilla
and M orrow Counties
541-567-2603
24 Hour Emergency Service
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Fermin Castellon, a cook at Joe’s Fiesta, uses a snow shovel to
scrape black ice off the sidewalk in front of the restaurant on
Main Street in Pendleton.
THE ZIMMER AGENCY
911 N. 1st St., Hermiston
541-567-5745
RECYCLE L
OCATIONS :
We encourage all area
residents to take their glass,
bottles, jars, tin, aluminum,
newspapers, magazines and
cardboard to these depots
for recycling.
SANITARY DISPOSAL
1. Hermiston:
220 W. Harper Rd.
2. Stanfi eld:
W. Wood (by Grange Hall)
3.Echo:
Across from park (at City
Hall)
4.Umatilla:
Hwy. 730 (next to Columbia
Harvest Foods)
5.Umatilla County
• N. Hwy 395 (next to Trans-
fer Station)
• 81144 N. Hwy. 395
6.Irrigon:
198 W. Columbia Lane
7.Boardman:
S.E. Front Street
Hermiston/McNary
Highway, Hermiston
541-567-8842
R&K Garage Doors, LLC
“Prompt, Courteous and Reliable”
Darren Richman
Owner / Operator
1005 SW Frazer Ave.
Suite 100 Pendleton, OR 97801
PHONE: 541-276-6410 • CELL: 541-377-1581
RKGARAGEDOORS.COM CCB # 204924
RECOMMENDED
SERVING ALL OF
EASTERN OREGON