LYNN — The season’s first snowflake has yet to fall, but the City of Lynn is already preparing for the winter weather.
In an effort to better clear the streets by employing more snow plow drivers, the city has announced new, competitive rates. Associate Commissioner of the Department of Public Works George Potter said he would like to see about 275 individual contractors.

“We’ve increased rates in every vehicle category we hire,” Potter said. “There will also be an attendance bonus for coming in every storm, which is increasing from 5 percent to 10 percent this year. It’s safe to say, we’re the highest paying city around for snow plow contractors.”

In the event of a declared snow emergency, everyone is required to remove their vehicles from city streets. The city will indicate a snow emergency by displaying flashing blue lights at major intersections, posting on electronic roadway message boards and on the city’s webpage, as well as social media accounts, and through the use of the Rave Alert system, The City has tripled the number of people it can contact through Rave. New this year, there will also be lime green signs, with information in both English and Spanish, to help draw attention to the flashing lights. Failure to remove vehicles will subject drivers to a tow and citation.

“Lynn is an older city, with a lot of narrow, dead-end streets, so anytime cars are parked on the streets, it’s a real problem for plows to get around,” Potter said. “It’s very important we clear them, and we really don’t want to have to tow.”

Drivers have the opportunity to park in school lots, as well as in two floors of the MBTA garage, North Shore Community College and the former Eastern Bank building on Market Street. Open lots will be posted by ward on the city’s webpage at www.lynnma.gov.

“Preparing for the winter is something that we do throughout the year,” Mayor Jared C. Nicholson said. “We want to make sure that we are ready for any scenario so that we can get the streets cleared as soon as possible.”

The city is also piloting snow permits this year, in which drivers can park in a public lot and register for updates, alerting them as to when they have to move their vehicles. Generally, if a parking ban is lifted before 9 p.m., residents have two hours to remove cars from lots. If the parking ban is lifted after 9 p.m., they have until 6 a.m. the next day to remove their cars.

“If we don’t get them out of the lots, schools can’t open the next day,” Parking Director Jessica Chiappini said. “The snow permit isn’t a requirement. It’s just something we’re testing so people have more information. We are all responsible in some way for staying informed. As much as we wish we could, we can’t individually call every individual, so this is a way to blast out updates to people we have contact information for. I hope it works, because I think it will be beneficial. Our population is only growing, which means there are more cars out there, so we want to be able to reach as many people as possible.”

Chiappini urges residents to start asking questions now, and to go on to the city’s website to make themselves aware of their notification options.

“If you were towed or got a ticket last year, be proactive, and give us a call or come down and talk to us,” she said. “Use us as a resource and find out where you can park. It comes down to residents being accountable for getting the information.”