Ready?

Any snowfall of more than six inches this winter will flip the switch on the city’s proposed plan for improving how it handles storms. But department heads won’t be waiting for the next big snow to start telling you to hustle your car out of the way of snow plows, or suffer the consequences.

City officials disclosed those and other strategies for ratcheting up its response in the event of another year of record snowfall at a City Hall public hearing held Tuesday night in the wake of flubs during this past two winter storms, including in 2013 when Mother Nature dumped a record 34 inches of snow on New Haven.

Some of those strategies include announcing parking bans earlier, providing real time information about towed and ticketed vehicles and communicating the city’s expectations of residents during a major snow event.

Members of the Board of Alders City Services And Environmental Committee offered some suggestions of their own while hearing about the draft plan at Tuesday night’s hearing.

Chief Administrative Officer Mike Carter, who has been doubling as acting director of the Department of Public Works, said that department heads from key agencies across the city — including police, the fire department and the Board of Education — have been meeting every two weeks since May and more recently every week to draft a snow preparedness plan. The plan will be presented to Mayor Toni Harp at the end of October or early November for her input and suggestions. Carter said that the agencies have plans to conduct a dry run of the plan in November.

Tech Talk

Rick Fontana (pictured), deputy director of operations for the Office of Emergency Management, said people can expect a public information campaign that encourages them to sign up for the city’s emergency notification system, known as Everbridge, long before a snowflake ever hits the ground this year. Through that system the city can call, text or email you about parking bans for snow emergencies as well as about street sweeping, and send you notification about moving your car.

“If we can’t reach you, we can’t alert you,” he said.

Doug Hausladen, director of the Department of Transportation, Traffic and Parking, said that New Haveners will receive flyers with their January tax bills about signing up for Everbridge and downloading the New Haven Connect app. (Read about the app here.) Flyers also will be delivered to residents who live on one of the city’s 56 snow routes.

He also said the department is making sure that all routes are clearly marked. He said last year a lot of people who got ticketed were unaware that they live on a snow route. The plan is to start pushing out information as early as mid-November.

Hausladen said a big priority is the new software that will allow the city to track ticketing and towing of cars in real time so that they can provide people with faster information about where their cars are and what they need to do to retrieve them. Right now the city can provide information as quickly as every 30 minutes. During last year’s major snowstorms, there was confusion about parking and towing.

He said his department also is working with software designers to create tickets that are more detailed, and to allow people to create accounts where they can get text messages that tell them if their car has been ticketed or towed. The system is slated to launch Jan.1.

Alders Weigh In

Alders at the committee hearing said they were pleased with the efforts put forth by department heads to create a responsive plan. That didn’t mean they didn’t have suggestions.

Westville Alder Adam Marchand cautioned city officials against blanketing people with too much information. He encouraged them to develop a communications strategy that is nuanced, concise, consistent across agencies and focused on common goals. He encouraged city officials to attend community management meetings to share information and implored them to put their focus on more than roads by communicating about the importance of clearing sidewalks. He said he would like to see some attention paid to absentee landlords and vacant properties to nail down who is responsible for clearing sidewalks in those cases.

Committee Chair and Morris Cove Alder Sal DeCola said officials should consider including welfare checks in their strategy and also work with alders to develop lists of older residents who might not have the ability to clear their sidewalks.

East Rock Alder Anna Festa’s advice: In order to educate — - enforce.