As he made the rounds of his Northwest Baltimore district in the early hours of the snowstorm, Councilman Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer said he kept seeing an unsettling sight: plow trucks idling and their drivers watching videos on their phones.

The trucks belonged to Lorenz Inc., one of the city’s main snow removal contractors.

The snow hardened into ice throughout Sunday, and many roads remained impassable and unsafe. Schleifer said he called Lorenz’s offices over and over again, with no response.

So that night he did what so many frustrated people do: He posted to Facebook.

“I have never seen such poor service delivery or such a complete lack of preparedness for a storm that was forecast well in advance,” Schleifer wrote, calling for the city to end its contract with Lorenz.

The post drew hundreds of comments, with many defending Lorenz given the frigid temperatures that followed the heavy snowfall.

“Lorenz, Inc. is still actively working the storm around the clock through the challenging temperatures and icy conditions,” David Aro of Lorenz said. He declined to comment further.

The Halethorpe-based landscaping company’s website says it dates to 2001 and that its portfolio includes landscaping at the State House in Annapolis and working on greenery in Baltimore medians.

Schleifer said that successful snowplowing depends on the person driving the snowplow, and it’s possible that Lorenz did a better job in other areas of the city.

But in Northwest Baltimore, Schleifer said he personally saw and spoke with multiple drivers for Lorenz who were “clueless” about which streets they were supposed to be clearing. At one point, Schleifer said he drove behind one of the trucks for 10 to 15 minutes.

“The plow was up ... They weren’t even sprinkling salt,” he said. “It just was mind-boggling to me the level of incompetence that was on display.”

While some Facebook commenters said Schleifer should take action and terminate the contract, Schleifer said the City Council is powerless when it comes to such decisions. He said contracts are decided by the city administration and the Board of Estimates, which is controlled by the mayor.

“The City Council has zero say and zero part of the process in city contracts,” said Schleifer.

A spokesperson for the city Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Thursday, Schleifer said he saw another Lorenz truck with its plow up and not salting the street, so he again decided to follow it.

For half an hour, the truck circled blocks and zigzagged around his district, Schleifer said, avoiding snow piles.

When the driver pulled over, Schleifer said he approached and asked why he wasn’t plowing, but the driver indicated he didn’t speak English. Schleifer said he got the driver to call his supervisor on speaker phone, but when Schleifer started asking questions, the supervisor hung up.

“They are stealing from the city,” Schleifer said. “I think the inspector general needs to get involved.”

City records show that Lorenz and two other companies won a $10 million, three-year snow removal contract from the city that began July 2023.

Since then, Baltimore has paid Lorenz about $2 million for snow removal services, according to city records, though it doesn’t appear that any invoices have been paid for this latest snowstorm.

Lorenz, like other snow removal companies, subcontracts some of its work to other companies.

After Schleifer posted his frustrations to Facebook on Sunday, he said the mayor’s office and the city administrator sent a different company, Maryland Pools & Plows, to help out his district.

Schleifer said the new company did a “phenomenal job.”

Greg Green, who owns and operates Maryland Pools & Plows with his wife, said he ran into the councilman while plowing his district, calling him “super friendly.”

During the summer, Green said he repairs pools, specializing in vinyl liner replacement. In the winter, he’s a subcontractor for one of Baltimore’s snow removal companies, though not Lorenz.

“Whenever they call, we have to be there,” Green said.

Green said he and his wife have working almost nonstop since Saturday at 11 a.m.

As of midday Thursday, Green said they each had notched about 120 hours of work on storm cleanup, taking two-hour breaks to sleep before heading back out on the road.

But Green said he felt especially well-rested on Thursday — after he got three hours of sleep.