It’s not the formidable blizzards, but the smaller storms that can add up and deplete municipal ice and snow budgets, according to the Greenfield, Montague and Athol Departments of Public Works.
The storm that lasted from Sunday night into Monday, for example, brought rain and some snow — 4 inches in Greenfield — and while some schools were closed for the day, it wasn’t a record-breaking storm.
Regardless, Greenfield DPW Director Marlo Warner said the storm’s timing couldn’t have been worse.
“Last night didn’t pan out like the forecast said it would,” Warner said on Monday. “We pre-treated the roads and monitored throughout the evening, but then we started to get 2 inches an hour in a two-hour period and there were about 5 inches on the road around the same time morning traffic started. … We fared well though, considering the surprise.”
Montague DPW Superintendent Thomas Bergeron said the department went out Sunday night to treat the roads and returned back to the department at around 6 a.m. to start plowing.
“It should be good for the rest of the day,” Bergeron said at around 11:30 a.m. Monday.
Considering the winter season is moving closer to the end, the departments reflected on their snow and ice budgets — which can go into deficit if need be, per Massachusetts General Law.
So far, Greenfield and Montague still have budgeted funds to use, with about $97,800 and $110,000, respectively. Meanwhile, Athol has overspent its budget, of $262,650, by $28,600.
The “pesky storms” are the ones that can cost the most, according to Athol Administrative Assistant for the DPW Diana Cooley.
“It’s the little events that we don’t see as ‘big storms.’ There are lots of events between the storms where we don’t see snow, but we still put salt out,” Cooley explained. “It’s not unusual for us to go over budget. I’ve been working here for 23 years and we had one year where we ended with a few dollars left. This is typical for us.”
Athol DPW uses treated salt on the road and purchases it in bulk from the Oxford treated salt cooperative, according to Cooley.
In Montague, Bergeron echoed a similar sentiment about ice events. For Montague, the town pays $63 per ton of rock salt and $84 per ton for treated salt.
“Unfortunately, sand and salt cost more than plowing — plowing is cheap,” he said. “We primarily use rock salt and once it gets really cold, we switch to treated salt. Given that it’s February, we probably won’t need it and we’ll stick with straight rock salt.”
He added that cold nights and warmer days, as has been the case recently, make it easier for the department to handle snow or ice events.
“We’ve got colder nights and warmer days, which is good for maple syrup and for us,” Bergeron said. “It means we can plow at night and be done with it.”
Reach Melina Bourdeau at mbourdeau@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 263.