When the going gets tough, the tough get going. When the going gets snowy, here’s how Columbia gets going.

Steven Sapp, public information specialist for Columbia Public Works, ensures the department works hard to prepare for any type of winter. He says they start planning in the summer, ordering 5,000 tons of salt to fill the salt dome by October.

In late October, the city hosts a snow preparation meeting with representatives from the City of Columbia, Boone County, Missouri Department of Transportation, Columbia Public Schools, emergency management and Weather or Not, the private forecaster contracted by Public Works.

The meeting starts with a long-term winter forecast given by Weather or Not, followed by all the organizations going over the winter weather plans for the city.

Shortly after, the fleet maintenance division goes over its 31 pieces of equipment, 28 of which are equipped with a plow and salt spreader. Sapp says the crew makes sure the plows and spreaders are “up to snuff,” and ready to tackle winter weather problems like snow and ice.

In November, there is a statewide winter weather preparedness day. On that day, the crews do practice runs, get to know their routes and identify potential issues, relaying any issues to the street division.

After all of that preparation, Sapp says the crews simply wait to see what the weather brings. This winter has been fairly mild, keeping consistent with the predictions by forecasters, so public works has only used 300 of the 5,000 tons of salt prepared for the winter.

The best advice Public Works can give Columbia residents is to monitor the forecast ahead of time when winter storms are approaching, especially since the weather can “change in a heartbeat,” Sapp says.

Columbia Fire Department also prepares carefully for winter weather. Jim Pasley, the assistant fire marshal, says the department has a pickup truck with an attachable plow that it uses to keep its driveway clear. This helps to speed up response times in the snow, as does the chain feature on the tires of every fire truck.

Pasley also says the fire department works closely with Public Works to keep everything running smoothly. The department still strives for a fast travel time in the winter, and Pasley says that even though it can be “difficult to quantify,” travel times stay at an average of just under four minutes, even in the winter.

Snow doesn’t just affect Columbia residents and college students; it affects the businesses in Columbia too.

Local theater Ragtag Cinema is the umbrella organization for the popular True/False Film Festival, and both the theater and festival need to consider problems with snow when winter comes along.

Lindsay Yungbluth, membership coordinator at Ragtag Cinema, says that despite snow and icy conditions, Ragtag operates as usual. For True/False, she says that in the past when there has been heavy snow, coordinators “were able to rally a large number of volunteers to come out and shovel all of the sidewalks.”

Yungbluth also says that she has noticed some improvement in the past few years concerning how Public Works handles clearing snow, and that businesses downtown are able to “operate as usual” even during heavy snowfall.

Whether your first instinct when it snows is to catch a movie or get somewhere despite weather conditions, Public Works strives to keep the roads safe. The community works hard to keep up business as usual, so if you’re a snow hater or a snow lover, fear not this winter –- Columbia should have you covered.