By Terry Karkos,Staff Writer

DIXFIELD – Public Works Director Tim Hanson is thankful that he reserved 1,000 cubic yards of sand earlier this year for winter roads maintenance.

He’ll likely need it before Tuesday, Feb. 1. That’s when the National Weather Service in Gray is predicting the next round of light snow in western Maine.

“My crews have used close to 3,500 cubic yards of sand and 40 tons of salt so far, so there’s not much left. I have some in reserve, but we have to go get it,” Hanson said Thursday morning.

Dixfield Public Works crews have 44 miles of road to keep plowed and sanded for drivers.

“We actually have 88 miles, because they have to go up one lane and come back the other. Our objective is to make our roads safe,” Hanson said.

And he’s proud to admit that the town crews have done just that.

“We have not lost one day of school this winter because of our roads. Route 142, Canton Point and Common roads are the main roads that we try to salt heavily in the morning for the school buses picking up kids,” Hanson said.

But this year’s multiple light snowstorms have wreaked havoc with stockpiled sand and salt volumes.

“When the police call and say, The roads are slippery,’ we go out and sand, because if you ignore it, you’re liable. That’s why we’re out there plowing when we only get 2 inches,” he said.

But all that work comes with a price, and, this year, Hanson says he will overspend his $35,000 winter roads maintenance budget.

“Winter isn’t even over yet, and I’m at 67 percent. We’ve spent $23,613.80 of that $35,000. All of these little storms we’ve had cause you to use more sand and salt. It’s been a very costly winter,” Hanson said.

One truckload of salt weighs 60 tons, he said.

“In the last four weeks, I’ve had to order four truck loads. That’s 240 tons of salt!”

Hanson doesn’t expect to overspend his overall Public Works budget of $406,170, which, according to Maine law, he can overspend by 15 percent, he said.

But that’s the least of his worries. He’s on the verge of overspending that $35,000 line item budget by 15 percent.

“If things continue the way they are going, I’m going to exceed my winter sand budget, too,” Hanson said.

When those two lines are overdrawn, money to cover those overdrafts would come from the town’s surplus.

Hanson said that it costs $250 a mile to make four trips out to lay down a mixture of sand and salt on four miles of a two-lane paved road.

That’s why he wants to begin using liquid calcium like the Maine Department of Transportation and Rumford Public Works crews are doing.

“If we use liquid calcium and salt, the estimated cost of salt per mile is only $40. If we use what we do now, it’s $250 a mile,” Hanson said.

It’s a point he hopes to make to selectmen at their Valentine’s Day meeting.