Association snow is a space problem and a governance problem.
A townhome community has dozens of driveways, hundreds of feet of common walk, guest stalls everyone depends on, and almost nowhere to put the snow. It also has a volunteer board that answers to every resident who looks out the window during a storm.
Most association snow contracts are written like a parking-lot contract: a trigger depth and a promise to show up. They say nothing about which building gets plowed first, whether stoops are included, where the piles go, or what happens when a resident calls the contractor directly. Those are the gaps that turn into annual-meeting arguments.
We write association scopes so a new board member can read them, run every storm in the same documented order, add skid steers to association routes so snow is stacked where the board agreed, and give the whole board portal access so the record does not live in one inbox.
Townhome and homeowner associations are already a large part of our book, across Eagan, Apple Valley, Burnsville, Lakeville, Mendota Heights, and Eden Prairie.
Request a Winter Site Walk
Walked by the account manager who would run your community. We map the priority order and the stacking plan with you before we price it.
The order we clear an association, every storm.
Agreed with the board on the site walk and written into the contract, with a per-building priority map so the same buildings are not last every time.
Private streets and fire lanes
The association's own streets, loops, and fire lanes first, so emergency access and the route for our own equipment are open before anything else.
Driveway aprons and guest parking
The windrow our street pass leaves across each driveway is cleaned out, and guest stalls are cleared so residents are not parking on the street the city will ticket them on.
Walks, stoops, and mailbox clusters
Common walks, front stoops and steps where they are in scope, and the mailbox cluster the carrier will skip if it is buried. Walk crews run while the plows are still working.
Stacking, by the plan
Snow goes where the board agreed before the season, not where the plow happened to end its pass: away from turf, hydrants, drains, sight lines, and the end-unit garage that always gets buried.
Refreeze check
A daytime pass on shaded north-side walks and sloped driveways after the melt, because that is where residents actually fall.
Four problems a parking-lot contract does not solve.
Nowhere to put the snow
Townhome sites were platted for cars, not snowbanks. By mid-January the piles creep onto turf, guest stalls, and the ends of driveways. We add skid steers to association routes so snow is stacked tight and neat instead of pushed wide, and we set a hauling trigger in the contract for heavy winters.
Forty owners, one contract
Every resident sees their own driveway and walk, and every one of them has an opinion. A written per-building priority sequence means the same buildings are not last every storm, and the board can show the sequence instead of defending it.
A board that turns over
The treasurer who signed the contract may not be on the board by March. Scope in plain language, photos per visit, and portal access for the whole board keep the record out of one person's inbox.
Slip-and-fall exposure on common walks
Association walks are the association's liability. Timestamps and photos for every pass, salt logged by weight, and deicing protocols for shaded walks are what your carrier asks for after a claim.
Skid steers on every association route.
Plow trucks clear streets fast and leave windrows across every driveway. Skid steers are what clean those up, stack snow tight in the agreed spots, and work the corners between garages without tearing turf.
- Plow trucks for private streets, loops, and fire lanes
- Skid steers for driveway aprons, guest stalls, tight corners, and neat stacking
- Walk crews with blowers and shovels for common walks, stoops, steps, and mailbox clusters
- Calibrated spreaders for streets; hand-applied deicer on walks, logged by weight
- Loaders and trucks for relocation and hauling when the stacking plan runs out of room
A record instead of three people’s memories.
Event report inside 24 hours with timestamps per area, photos of cleared walks and streets, and product applied by weight. Portal access for every board member and your manager, so the record survives turnover.
What happens at each trigger depth.
Our standard commercial matrix. For associations, walks and stoops are usually inspected at any measurable snow, and streets and driveways plowed from 1 inch.
| Trigger | What we do | Target window | Documentation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trace – 0.9" | Walk and entry inspection; deice as conditions require | Before tenant arrival | Inspection note + photos |
| 1.0" – 2.9" | Full lot plow, walks cleared, entries and ADA routes deiced | Complete before opening hour | Event report + photos + salt weight |
| 3.0" – 5.9" | Continuous service during event; walks cleared on cycle; open-lot passes | Cycle service, final pass before opening | Event report + per-pass timestamps |
| 6.0"+ | Dedicated crew assigned for duration; staged equipment; stacking plan executed | Continuous until event ends | Full event narrative + photo set |
| Freezing rain / ice | Pre-treat where forecast supports it; repeat deicing passes on cycle | Pre-treat before onset, then by cycle | Application log with product + weight |
| Refreeze / melt-cycle | Daytime inspection pass; spot deice at drains, downspouts, and shaded walks | Same-day inspection | Inspection note + photos |
Representative matrix. Trigger depths and windows are set per property during the site walk — a hospital entrance and a warehouse back lot do not get the same numbers.
Association snow across the south and east metro.
Each city page explains that city’s sidewalk deadline, parking rules, and where plowed snow is allowed to go, which matter to an association with private streets and public frontage.
What boards and managers ask.
How do you plow a townhome community with cars in every driveway?
Where does the snow go? We have almost no open space.
Are driveways and front stoops included?
What is your trigger depth for an association?
How do you handle a resident who calls you directly?
Can you price multiple seasons so we can set the budget?
Will you come to a board meeting?
Walk the community with us before the next board meeting.
Bring the complaint you hear most. You will leave with a per-building priority map, a stacking plan, and a price, in writing.