By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
How do you sum up this winter?
Simply put, Director of Public Works Craig Workman has said there’s been more than one snow event – or weather event – every week this winter.
“It’s been a long one, that’s for sure,” said Workman. “I don’t remember a winter like this.
“I can recall winters, 2008 of for example, where we’ve had enormous snowfalls,” he added. “But not the sheer number of events. It’s taxing.
“Where do you find time for family and for sleep and everything in between?”
That time certainly wasn’t going to get found this week. In addition to the storm Monday that dropped between 4 and 7 inches, today the forecast called for a mix of everything from freezing rain to sleet to snow and back to rain.
With so much snow already on the ground, Workman said the city was concerned on a number of levels.
As of Tuesday, the plan was to be as proactive as possible. Crews were scheduled to be ready to go, and the Department of Public Works was actively clearing sewer grates throughout the city Tuesday and Wednesday in an attempt prevent flooding on local streets.
“We’ve gone through and targeted the area of biggest concern,” Workman said.
With all the storm preparation – both this week and previously during in this long winter – the city is going to blow its budget for winter work.
Workman said there has been “a lot” of overtime, estimating that he was looking at hundreds of hours worth.
“When the weather comes, you’re forced to deal with it,” he said. “We’re going to be over budget on our estimated winter street maintenance budget.”
Mayor Bob Miller said Tuesday the city would go back and move money around within the budget to cover the extra costs, which also include purchasing more salt as the city – and then the state – ran out.
“This has probably been the most expensive (winter) we’ve seen in the last 10 years,” Miller said.
It hasn’t been all bad news, though. Workman called the public works crews and training “pretty dynamic,” with enough cross -raining going on that personnel can be pulled from water or wastewater to plow streets.
And while streets are full of potholes and frost heaves, they are fixable.
“The best thing about a pothole is that you can fill it,” Workman said. “Sure, it only stays filled for a day or a week, but you can go back and fill it.”
Workman said the bigger problems are the numerous frost heaves – some of which have turned city roads into washboards.
“We do estimate we’ll have quite a bit of road repair to do once the frost is out,” he said.
Leave water running
Workman clarified that city water users should leave water running at the prescribed pencil-width 24 hours a day until further notice.
“Our intention is for people to run water until the frost levels are subsiding,” Workman said.
The problem with the frost, Workman said, is it comes from top down, not bottom up. It’s going to be several weeks before the thaw reaches deeper into the ground.
“Soil is a great insulator,” Workman said.
Workman said customers will receive a credit for both water and sewer and charges. That credit will be an average based on the recommended amount of water that runs – a pencil-sized stream 24 hours a day.
“We’ll assume the water goes down the drain, into the sewers,” Workman said.
Workman said that, as of Tuesday, 26 different frozen-pipe events have been reported, a combination of homes and businesses.
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