By Harlan Levy
Journal Inquirer
WINDSOR LOCKS — With Wednesday’s snowstorm, the Department of Public Works has set a record for overtime hours, and it has exceeded the winter’s $60,000 snow removal budget by $11,300.
“Typically we have about 42 inches of snowfall in an average year, and we are at 82 inches right now,” Public Works Director Scott Lappen said.
The record is 115 inches set in 1995.
The department has logged 1,600 overtime hours to date, a record for the last 10 years, Lappen said. Last year the total was 1,072 overtime hours, costing the town $48,000.
Lappen has asked the Finance Board for more money for snow removal. The board will have to decide whether to allocate a certain amount “or let the account continue to run in the red and reconcile it at the end of the season,” Lappen said.
“Unfortunately, we’re only halfway through the winter,” he said.
Public works crews have responded to 20 different snow incidents, including snow and freezing rain, this season, Lappen said. The Tuesday and Wednesday storm dumped 4 inches of snow, followed by sleet and freezing rain all day Wednesday.
After getting a new shipment of salt, the department has approximately 200 tons and 1,000 cubic yards of sand and salt at its disposal, which will be mixed in a 50-50 ratio. The public works shed is about half full of those materials.
“To date, we’ve used about 470 cubic yards of sand and 483 tons of salt,” Lappen said.
Usually, there are nine workers on the road. Four others are located in the municipal buildings, plowing the parking lots and keeping the sidewalks clear during the day and assisting on the road when they finish clearing the parking lots, Lappen said.
“Although they’re exhausted, the crews are continuing to make the roadways safe and passable,” he said, “and my administrative assistant, Amy Whalen, deserves credit for handling an extraordinary number of phone calls regarding sight line issues and damaged mail boxes.”
“Typically we have about 42 inches of snowfall in an average year, and we are at 82 inches right now,” Public Works Director Scott Lappen said.
The record is 115 inches set in 1995.
The department has logged 1,600 overtime hours to date, a record for the last 10 years, Lappen said. Last year the total was 1,072 overtime hours, costing the town $48,000.
Lappen has asked the Finance Board for more money for snow removal. The board will have to decide whether to allocate a certain amount “or let the account continue to run in the red and reconcile it at the end of the season,” Lappen said.
“Unfortunately, we’re only halfway through the winter,” he said.
Public works crews have responded to 20 different snow incidents, including snow and freezing rain, this season, Lappen said. The Tuesday and Wednesday storm dumped 4 inches of snow, followed by sleet and freezing rain all day Wednesday.
After getting a new shipment of salt, the department has approximately 200 tons and 1,000 cubic yards of sand and salt at its disposal, which will be mixed in a 50-50 ratio. The public works shed is about half full of those materials.
“To date, we’ve used about 470 cubic yards of sand and 483 tons of salt,” Lappen said.
Usually, there are nine workers on the road. Four others are located in the municipal buildings, plowing the parking lots and keeping the sidewalks clear during the day and assisting on the road when they finish clearing the parking lots, Lappen said.
“Although they’re exhausted, the crews are continuing to make the roadways safe and passable,” he said, “and my administrative assistant, Amy Whalen, deserves credit for handling an extraordinary number of phone calls regarding sight line issues and damaged mail boxes.”
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