As winter weather approaches, Covington and Maple Valley Public Works departments are preparing to handle any potential flooding, snow or ice.

Much of the work — such as road patching — was completed during the summer, thanks to the interlocal agreement signed between Covington and Maple Valley in June.

“I think it’s been going really well,” said Steve Clark, Maple Valley Public Works Director. “We’ve got good prices for our contracts. We were able to do good work during the summer. Life has been extended really well given the level of cracks we’ve been dealing with. I think the conditions of the roads is set for the winter. We’re going to have damage…but we’re in pretty good shape.”

Covington Public Works Director Glenn Akramoff described the interlocal agreement as having been “fantastic” so far.

“The patching crew this summer did a great job,” he said. “We did a lot more work than we would have done separately. The communication between the two cities is really high. It’s daily communication. I count it as a big success. I’d say we’ve saved some money, but what we’ve gotten is more service for the same dollar.”

With the recent heavy rainfall, Akramoff said, crews have gone out and inspected areas where potential flooding might occur.

“When it starts raining at this level…we have a list we go out and check,” he said. “The crews have been doing that. Engineers do inspections and problem solving. They’ve been doing the last couple of days. When it gets like this we’re checking drains and the problems areas that we know about and problems in the past. We also check any new developments because that’s usually where the problems are.”

Akramoff stated they maintain a state of preparedness from mid-October to the end of April having learned from experience from years like 2008 when there was more snow and 2009 when there were more storms.

“We just know that it’s likely at some time to be a part of our program,” he said. “Some years nothing happened like last year. A little bit of snow and rain, but that was it.”

Clark stated a similar thing is being done in Maple Valley.

“We’re constantly monitoring the weather through the National Weather Service,” he said. “We look at the temperatures and we stay in contact with that so if the weather is icing up we’ve got deicer that we’ll apply to the roads. We did find a couple of minor problems which are things to go on our repair list.”

Clark added that they have stockpiled sandbags to help in the event of heavy snowfall and planned out snow routes.

Covington recently replaced its old four yard dump truck, according to Akramoff.

The new truck has been retrofitted with snow and ice equipment.

“We’re new cities,” he said. “We bought older equipment to get started and it was time upgrade. It’s good to go.”

Clark stated they are currently looking a new dump truck as well.

The City Council recently authorized Clark to use $75,000 to purchase the truck and any necessary equipment.

“It was my recommendation that we upgrade the one large truck and two one-ton trucks,” Clark said. “We’ve been maintaining the truck well. It’s had the engine worked, the hydraulics are okay, but it’s still old nevertheless. It’s just an old truck. Before it breaks down we want to get a newer one.”

The interlocal agreement will also aid either city if they encounter difficulty handling any problems.

“If we get behind the curve they (Covington) assist us,” Clark said. “We have agreements with King County as well.”

Whether or not this year will bring harsh weather, both Akramoff and Clark said they want to be ready.

“We always try to prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” Clark said. “So around here it’s difficult to say because snow comes in different sections and pockets. It really is kind of a hit and miss. We monitor what’s going on and we check our equipment and maintain it.”

“We plan for it, we’re ready for it, we’ll shift from the day to day activity to react,” Akramoff said. “But…they say this year is going to be like last year and some of us who’ve been around Washington a long time feel like December may be more hectic than last year. We’ll see.”