BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — As we look ahead to warmer weather, one thing that stands out this winter is the City of Buffalo's implementation of a snow plow tracker system. The city uses GPS, allowing you to track plows in real-time, showing which streets have been treated and which need work.
But could the City of Buffalo have used this system before this winter?
In digging for information about the City of Buffalo response to the December blizzard, the 7 News I-Team has discovered a contract-- signed by AT&T and the City of Buffalo-- for GPS tracking of its snow plows. But when that contract was approved and signed is what's raising some questions.
The contract was signed by former Public Works Commissioner Mike Finn, in November 2020. But Councilman David Rivera moved to approve the contract four months earlier, in July 2020.
The contract started on July 1, 2020. It runs until June 30, 2023.
DRANTCH: Why are we just now implementing this program at the end of 2022 into 2023?
RIVERA: You would have to ask public works that. I mean, they could probably tell you why.
It was the same answer from Council President Darius Pridgen, who was part of the unanimous vote to approve this contract.
DRANTCH: Why the delay?
PRIDGEN: You know, I really don't know, you would have to again, ask the administration is not the council approves these things.
So we did. The I-Team spoke with DPW Commissioner Nate Marton, who was appointed to the job, after Finn resigned in 2022.
DRANTCH: So why the hold up between 2020 and turning it on to the public in 2022?
MARTON: Something, again, prior to my time. I can't speak to when or why we decided to turn on the equipment, but I think it was in response to some of the snow-clearing issues we had prior to winter.
Even during those crippling storms last year, it turns out — according to Marton-- this GPS system was actually being used internally. In fact, Marton says it had been for many years prior, under different contracts, tracking the snow-clearing fleet behind the scenes, before the public part of this system was coordinated and turned on, years later.
"It wasn't as easy as hit a button, turn on public module. That wasn't the case at all," Marton said. "There was a whole lot of programming that we needed to do, once that decision was made."
DRANTCH: Had that decision been made earlier though, that public-facing system [could have been] used -- theoretically -- between 2020 and 2022.
MARTON: Yeah. I would think so.
Marton said the program didn't work as well as he had hoped when it was initially opened to the public in November.
Documents obtained by the I-Team show the agreement between the city and AT&T can be renewed— at the same price — not to exceed $50,000 per fiscal year, for two additional one-year deals, if both parties agree.
When it comes to extending that deal, Marton says, "we're evaluating that. I won't speak to if we continue or we don't continue. It's something we're evaluating."
Pridgen cuts right to the chase when asked the same question.
DRANTCH: Would you want to see that contract extended or would you rather go with another provider?
PRIDGEN: No, I don't want to start from scratch. I would rather see what we need out of that contract, what we can improve on that contract and the technology. I think to just scrap it when we just got it...we just got it this year really running. So I do not want to see it scrapped and start from scratch.
Rivera, the councilman who moved to approve the deal, agrees with Marton and leaves the road clear for change.
"If they're not providing the service that they should be, then we should look for another vendor. Absolutely. It's like any other vendor, if you don't provide the services that that you're required to, then we should look at other vendors," Rivera said.
We've also been in touch with AT&T, looking for information about when the equipment was shipped and installed. A spokesperson told the I-Team, the first devices were delivered in December, 2020.
