A Southwick Department of Public Works employee mixes a salt/sand mixture at the former DPW yard. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – The cost of dealing with the frequent snow events this winter is quickly adding up, with little relief in sight as one storm after another plows through the region.
Public Works Superintendent Jim Mulvenna reported to the Board of Public Works that the snow and ice removal account is deeply in the red already with another six weeks to the snow season expected.
“The snow and ice account is between $700,000 and $800,000 in the red,” Mulvenna said. “These little dustings are killers.
Mulvenna said this morning that his department has responded to three major storms where accumulation ranged from six to nine inches and six small storms of a couple of inches of snow.
“Those little storms are expensive because of the salting and sanding we do,” Mulvenna said. “You can’t plow a couple of inches so we have to treat the roads and go through a lot of material (salt and sand). That’s where the cost is.”
“We don’t use a lot of material on the bigger storms, just at the beginning, and then it’s mostly plowing,” Mulvenna said. “When we have a good deep snow you have to get on top if it early. The problem is that the last couple of storms the snow came down fast.”
Mulvenna has 45 private contractors that are called to assist city crews during major snow events and are compensated based on the size of their equipment.
“The pick-up truck plows are paid $65 an hour and the contractors with five-ton trucks are paid $75 to $85 an hour,” Mulvenna said. “The idea is that they keep the roads in their sector open and then we go through with our equipment later to clean up.
“All of my truck are equipped with sanders so they can plow, then treat the hills and intersections with sand,” he said. “The sand also provides ballast for the plows.
“This storm that is support to come in Thursday is looking like a day-long event with heavy snow because it’s suppose to warm up a little, then they’re throwing in freezing rain toward the end of it, so it will be a challenge,” Mulvenna said.
Southwick plow contractors are paid $75 to $85 per hour depending on the size of the truck.
