MEDINA —
The mild, warm, snowless streak of weather that snapped this past weekend allowed highway departments to tackle unseasonable projects early and avoid the high costs of snow plowing.
Shelby Highway Superintendent Mike Fuller was cautious to call this snow season a dud, but projected his department has spent less than a quarter of the $100,000 allocated for snow removal by town this year.
“Winter is not over,” said Fuller, a 37-year veteran of the department who cut his teeth during the Blizzard of ’77 and recalled late winter nor’easters hitting in March twice in the past 20 years. “But this has been the warmest winter I can remember.”
The town has four plow trucks to cover town, state and county roads, but they’ve been called into service fewer than two dozen times this winter.
Fuller said the region’s reprieve from its annual wintery punishment has allowed Shelby to spend more time on projects.
The town is now about halfway through implementing a switch from touch pad water meters to a radio reader system, and work to clear tree branches and other roadside improvement has gotten an early start.
“We’ll always have water maintenance and ditches that need to be cleared,” Fuller said. “We’re always busy.”
Medina Central School District Buildings and Grounds Supervisor Tim Ames said his employees have been able to focus on building repairs and organization.
“We’ve been able to work on setting up the school’s new technology equipment and have central receiving 10 percent organized,” said Ames, who has only had to plow the district’s parking lots and roadways a handful of times this winter. “We’ve used salt more than our plows.”
Medina is one a small percentage of schools to do plowing in-house, which Ames said will lead to more savings if the snow stays away. The warm weather has also let the school use less natural gas for heat, which Ames said will save the district between $10,000 and $20,000.
One area the mild weather hasn’t helped is in the preparations to move classrooms from Towne School and the three buildings on the west end of the village. Ames said the big tasks from that project won’t start until after the school year ends.
“The teachers will have to pack up first, there’s not a lot we can do now,” Ames said.
Ames said the school’s blacktop hasn’t been worn as heavily this year. Fuller predicted a similar result on the town’s roads.
“A light winter saves the roads,” Fuller said. “The real damage comes from having deep-freezes and thaws.”
Fuller also said the plow trucks, three of which are less than a decade old, are wearing out slower. If the weather trends continue, the savings should keep pilling up like the road salt still towering over the trucks at highway departments across the region.
Joplin Remembers Deadly Tornado, 1 Year Later
Serial Stabbings Suspect Guilty of Murder
Facebook Shares Continue Negative Slide
8 Hurt in Oklahoma Shooting After NBA Playoff
US Airways: Diverted Flight Has 'Landed Safely'
A Few Odd Business Sparks but Europe Gloomy
Revived Focus on Regulation After JPMorgan Loss
Gerard Butler: the Good, the Bad and the Cannes
At Least 25 Dead in India Train Collision
Raw Video: Private Rocket Blasts Off
Boy to Rescuers: 'Do You Have a Plan?'
Doctors and Devotees Debate Barefoot Running
Blacks Seek to Find Their Own Missing
Houston Museum Unveils $85 Million Dinosaur Hall
Chicago Police: 90 Arrested in NATO Protests
Ex-Rutgers Student Gets 30 Days in Webcam Case
Obama Sees Inspiration in Joplin Graduates
Raw Video: Man Saved After Niagara Falls Plunge
NATO: Afghan Exit 'Irreversible'
Catholic Groups Sue Over Contraception Mandate
