WILTON — Dale Roberts, public works foreman told the Board of Selectpersons Tuesday, March 5 the department had dealt with 25 snow storms and eight ice storms so far this winter.
“Snow, snow, snow,” he said. “It’s been a long winter. Winter started in October and we’ve had 116.5 inches of snow.”
The public works department, he said, was now able to remove a lot of the ice build up on the roads. The department has also been able to push back snow along the edges of the roads with a tractor and grader.
“We are pushing them back and then going back with the loader to get the roads opened up,” he added. “On a lot of these small streets, we are going through and pushing them back and trying to keep everything clean.”
The department went through 4,252 gallons of diesel fuel in January and 3,769 gallons in February. “Every piece of equipment was out and in operation,” he said.
He reported two of the department’s oldest trucks have mechanical issues which are being looked at. The issue in one truck could be either a bad bearing in the transmission or a spring in the shifting lever. The other truck was popping out of third and seventh gear, he said.
“Could be just the forks in there,” he added. “These trucks have been on the road constant all winter long and if it is just these issues right here, we did pretty well. We’ve been living in those trucks. My guys can’t wait until spring comes. I have a really good crew.”
“Apparently, some people are pushing snow out of their driveway and you guys end up cleaning it up,” stated Selectperson Thomas Saviello. “If so, we need to put something out there or we need to knock on their door and tell them they can’t do that.”
Roberts said if he sees someone pushing snow across the road, he addresses it. It is illegal to move snow into the roadway because it becomes a fixed object which could be a safety issue if someone drove over it, he added.
“Our sand pile is getting down but not as bad as some of these other towns around that are running out,” he said. “Overall, our budget looks pretty good if we don’t get any major snowstorms.”
dmenear@thefranklinjournal.com
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