Picking an HOA snow contractor on the monthly push fee alone can cost your association in January and April. Here are the 4 questions Oakland and Livingston County boards should ask first.
Most HOA boards pick a winter snow contractor on one number: the monthly push fee.
Then January hits.
Cul-de-sacs get missed. Calls go unanswered at 7:00 AM. And come April, the reserve fund takes a hit repairing chewed-up curb lines.
The cheapest bid on paper isn't always the cheapest winter. If you're reviewing snow removal bids for your subdivision or condo association this week, these are the 4 questions that actually separate one contractor from another.
1. What is your cul-de-sac plan?
Tight courts take extra care. A plow truck can't just run a straight pass through a cul-de-sac — the driver has to work the circle, push snow to the right spots, and avoid stacking it across the ends of resident driveways.
When routes are rushed, courts are the first thing to suffer. They get skipped, or they get cleared fast and leave four-foot slush piles blocking the people who live there.
What to ask: How do you handle courts and cul-de-sacs? Where does the snow go? Are they on the same timeline as the main roads?
2. Where do you apply salt?
This one surprises a lot of new board members.
In Michigan subdivisions, salting every interior foot of road would exhaust a winter budget fast. It's simply not how experienced crews work.
Instead, they treat the places that matter most:
- Key intersections where residents enter and exit
- Stop approaches where cars need to brake
- Hills and grades where traction counts
From there, traffic naturally tracks the brine through the rest of the neighborhood. You get safe roads without paying to salt pavement that cars will treat for you.
What to ask: Walk us through your salting plan for our community. Which spots get treated, and why?
3. How close are your staging locations?
When a heavy storm hits the I-96 corridor, transit time matters.
A crew staged across metro Detroit simply can't reach Novi, Northville, or South Lyon as fast as one that's already here. Every mile between the trucks and your entrance is time your residents spend waiting.
Marcucci & Son is Locally Based on Pontiac Trail in Wixom, so our trucks start close to the communities we serve across western Oakland and Livingston County — Wixom, Commerce Township, Walled Lake, Novi, Northville, South Lyon, Lyon Township, New Hudson, Milford, Highland, White Lake, Brighton and Howell.
What to ask: Where do your trucks start on a storm morning, and how many other properties are on our route?
4. Who repairs damaged curbs?
Plow blades and concrete don't always get along. Curb lines, island radiuses, entrance medians and storm drain collars take a beating every winter — and the repair bill lands on the association in the spring.
We're a concrete company first. For 47 years, Marcucci & Son has built driveways, sidewalks and commercial flatwork across this area, so our drivers know what sits under the snow and how to protect it.
What to ask: How do you protect curbs and islands? If something gets damaged, what happens next?
Why this matters to your board
Board members are volunteers. Winter mornings shouldn't mean fielding calls from stranded neighbors or explaining why the court got missed again.
A good snow contract should mean fewer of those calls — and fewer surprises at the spring board meeting.
Frequently asked questions
Do you plow individual home driveways? No. Our snow work is for HOAs, subdivision associations, condo communities and commercial properties only. We don't take single residential driveways.
When should an HOA sign its snow contract? As early as possible. We're locking in association routes before Thanksgiving, and route space is limited once the season starts.
What areas do you cover? Western Oakland and Livingston County, from our base on Pontiac Trail in Wixom.
Start the conversation
If your board is comparing bids this month, we'd be glad to walk your community and put together an association proposal. Request a snow removal proposal or reach us through our contact page.
HOAs, condo communities and commercial sites only. No single residential driveways.