Dry weather over the past few weeks has given Public Works crews in Lewiston and Auburn a chance to save their budgets after a rough start to winter 2009-10.

“The pattern that kind of set itself earlier this winter was to have all the storms be multiple days, on holidays or weekends,” said Lewiston Public Works Director Paul Boudreau. “I was in a panic. I didn’t know what we were going to do.”

At the end of the most recent Jan. 18-19 storm, the city had spent almost $1 million of its $1.26 million storm budget, Boudreau said. Costs included vehicle maintenance and fuel, road sand and salt and employee wages.

The city has seen 51 inches of snow. It has budgeted to clear about 72 inches — roughly 12 storms over the course of the winter.

“But since the storms have come on weekends or holidays, that meant a lot of overtime,” Boudreau said. “We tend to go through our budgets more quickly.”

Auburn Public Works Director Bob Belz agreed. He has a favorite kind of snowstorm as far as his budget is concerned.

“No ice, just snow, and it falls in the middle of the week,” Belz said. “If there’s no ice, we just have to plow it. And if it falls on a weekday, we don’t have to pay overtime.” 

The last few weeks have been a nice respite.

“Every day that goes by and we don’t get a storm, that’s better for us,” Boudreau said. “The later we get in the winter, the milder the storms tend to be. We don’t have the really cold temperatures to contend with and it cleans up much easier. So, overall, it’s better for our budget.”

Belz agreed. “Every storm we dodge, that saves us thousands.” 

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