JIM MULVENNA
WESTFIELD – The Thursday storm is barely over and plow crews are now getting ready for yet another winter event on Saturday, then another early next week which may come in the form of rain instead of snow as warmer air moves into the region.
Public Works Superintendent Jim Mulvenna said that city plow crews work nearly around the clock Thursday to deal with the snowstorm and that plowing contractors worked for more than 12 hours to clear neighborhood roads.
“It was an all-day storm,” Mulvenna said. “It was a tough storm because it came down heavily, then around 7 p.m. stopped. It was really beautiful for a while, but started again at 2:30-3:00 a.m., so we got a couple of more inches of snow.”
“I have my guys and the contractors out this morning cleaning up. I depend on the contractors to open the streets. My guys will go back to push the snow banks back so we have room for the next storm Saturday, just like we did last week,” Mulvenna said. “It’s supposed to be a substantial storm in the 2-4 inch range. The event expected Tuesday will hopefully be rain.”
Mulvenna said the concern is that the rain Tuesday will saturate the snow banks, then colder air return and freeze the banks, making it more difficult to plow.
Mulvenna said his other concern is the safety of the city and private plowing crews who have been working long hours.
“They’re dragging, but they’re tough guys so they’ll do what has to be done to get ready for Saturday,” Mulvenna said. “I want to get them out of here as soon as we can today so they can get some rest for tomorrow.”
Mulvenna said that he estimates the cost of dealing with the snow Thursday is between $80,000 and $90,000. Mulvenna reported earlier this week at the Board of Public Works meeting that the snow and ice removal budget was between $700,000 and $800,000 in the red and that deficit will only get deeper as winter events continue.
State law does prohibit deficit spending with the exception of snow and ice removal because of the unpredictable character of New England winters and the need to make travel as safe for residents as possible. The city typically appropriates funds to cover the snow and ice deficit in June after the snow season has ended.
In Southwick, crews were still clearing snow Friday, making roads passable throughout town.
Emergency Management Director Charles Dunlap said the town fared well through the storm.
“I am happy to report we had no significant accidents or power outages,” said Dunlap.
The town Emergency Operations Center was open for about 12 hours during Thursday’s storm. Dunlap said the most major incident involved a tractor trailer that got stuck on ice and needed some extra sand.
“There were a couple of minor incidents and stuck cars, and we did provide some backup communications for DPW and town government dispatch,” Dunlap said. “But for a storm of this magnitude, we did very well.”
