Multi-storms push snow budgets closer to red inkDate: 1/24/2011 Jan. 24, 2011
By Chris Maza and Debbie Gardner
Reminder Publications
According to the records maintained at Westover Air Reserve Base, over the past five years, Western Massachusetts has averaged about 50 inches of snow each winter.
The blizzard of Jan. 12-13, followed by the storm of Jan. 18, has already dropped more than half that amount on local cities and towns.
With more snow predicted for Jan. 21, and at least two more months of winter weather ahead of us, Reminder Publications decided to take a look at the status of the snow removal budgets in the towns we serve.
Here's what we learned.
Town of East Longmeadow
Sean Kelley of the East Longmeadow DPW told Reminder Publications that, as of Jan. 20, the town had expended approximately "99.5 percent" of it's snow removal budget.
"We have about $1,000 and change left in the budget and, obviously, that goes very quickly," Kelley said. "The [total of] monies spent was close to $112,000, which is strictly the cost of the the overtime and the cost of salt. It doesn't count the hourly rate we pay the DPW employees during normal operating hours and it doesn't include any incidental repairs needed on the trucks.
The DPW has dropped nearly 1,200 tons of salt on the roads as the department has responded to "10 events that required either plowing on overtime or salt," according to Kelley.
Kelley reported that the East Longmeadow has experienced 36.5 inches of snow and ice, including 21 inches during the Nor'easter that lasted from Jan. 12 to 13. However, the town may be able to recuperate some of the $25,000 that was spent cleaning up from that storm because a state of emergency was declared by the governor.
"My understanding is that there are different levels of states of emergency and, ultimately, it depends on whether the federal government got involved," Kelley explained. "Usually when there's a large snow that is characterized as a blizzard, FEMA gets involved and you can recoup some of the money. Naturally, if that's the case, we're going to apply for it. We're keeping our eyes open for that."
Kelley said the DPW is still working on clearing high snowbanks, especially ones at the corners of intersections, as well as pushing snow back to widen roads.
Town of Longmeadow
Longmeadow DPW director Michael Wrabel told Reminder Publications that after a new shipment of rock salt comes in, the town will have used 90 percent of its $100,000 budget for snow removal.
"We're going to go into the red," Wrabel said.
Man hours are the primary reason rapid spending of budgeted funds, according to Wrabel.
"Anytime the guys go out on an overtime basis, it costs a lot of money. During the last storm, the crew was out almost around the clock." Wrabel said, adding that a number of weekends with inclement weather also didn't help.
As a whole, Wrabel felt his department was doing a solid job in managing the road conditions in town, especially given the amount of snow and ice the DPW has had to deal with this winter.
"We're doing a pretty good job. This is a lot more snow than we've had in quite a while," Wrabel said. "We have veteran employees who have been doing this for many years."
Town of Wilbraham
According to Ronald Lavoie, assistant director of the Department of Public Works, Wilbraham has already used about half of this year's snow budget, primarily to clear three storms Nov. 8, Jan. 12-13 and Jan. 18.
"I would say somewhere around $70,000 is a rough guess, I haven't gotten a new report on the budget right now," Lavoie told Reminder Publications on Jan. 19, the day after the recent snow and ice storm. "We're definitely going to be over our budget if things keep up the way they are."
He confirmed that the town's total budget for snow removal for Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11) is $175,000.
Town Administrator Bob Weitz said this year's budget represents the second increase in funding for snow removal in as many years.
"We raised the budget in the past two years . from $125,00 in 2009 to $150,000 in 2011 and $175,000 this fiscal year," Weitz said.
Lavoie said the two biggest expenses in the budget are the cost of salt and overtime from plow drivers. This season, he's buying salt at a cost of $52 per ton.
"We order every couple of weeks . around 34 tons per one truckload. We order four to five trucks depending upon the forecast," he said.
Lavoie said the town's primary use for the salt is to create a liquid mix used as a pre-treatment to keep roads from freezing over during a storm.
He did say that Wilbraham salted and sanded nearly every road in town following the Jan. 18 storm, which dropped 4 inches of snow, then topped it with ice.
"This was the only time [this year]," Lavoie said. "Usually we focus on the main streets, hills and intersections. If it's flat streets we don't treat unless it's like Wednesday's storm."
Lavoie said regardless of the cost of any upcoming storms, the DPW will continue to keep the streets clear.
Weitz said snow and ice removal is the one place in the town's finances where "you can't overspend your budget."
Should snow removal costs exceed the $175,000 set aside this year, Weitz said there are several ways the town can handle the expense.
One way is to raise the tax levy for the next fiscal year to cover this year's plowing deficit. Another is to approve a transfer of free cash or monies from another area of the town's budget through a Special Town Meeting, which would take place during the spring annual Town Meeting. A third method is to transfer money from the town's reserve fund to cover the expense. A transfer from the reserve fund, Weitz noted, requires the approval of the Finance Committee.
He added that the town is currently drawing up figures for next year's winter budget. Current weather, he added, does not really affect spending projections.
"You try to budget for the average winter. You don't budget for the worst winter," Weitz said. "We look at the average costs. A couple of years ago we ran over budget because of a number of factors. The storms were on weekends and nights that meant overtime and there was the rise in the cost of salt."
Town of Hampden
In Hampden, Highway Superintendent Dana Pixley said he has already submitted a letter to the Board of Selectmen requesting that he be allowed to go over budget for snow removal.
"The budget is overdrawn. It's in the red," he said.
"Realistically, I've spent about half of what I would spend in a normal season," Pixley continued. "The Selectmen asked about any enormous expense in relation to the 24-inch storm (on Jan. 12-13), but I explained we managed it all in house. We didn't have to hire any outside equipment."
Because of the timing a daytime storm and the rate of snowfall which required salting only at the beginning and end of the storm Pixley said cleanup for Jan 12-13 was less costly than storms that occur overnight.
"We ducked the bullet on the amount of material we used," he added.
Despite this fact, Pixley said Hampden's show removal budget is "historically under funded each year for what a realistic budget would be" because the Selectmen have the ability to approve deficit spending.
All cities and towns in the Commonwealth, Pixley explained, have state approval to use this type of deficit spending for public safety during snowstorms.
"We spend whatever we need to spend," Pixley said. When [the Selectmen] do their audit, the money comes right off the top. It may be funded by unexpended monies at the end of the year. You are spending money that you can directly reflect onto the tax rate the next year."
"It's a common occurrence for the snow and ice budget to exhaust itself," Selectman Richard Green said. "The Selectmen have typically waited for the budget to exhaust itself and then vote to let it run a deficit."
He expected the Board of Selectmen would address the request for snow and ice removal deficit spending at their meeting on Jan. 24.
City of Springfield
In the city of Springfield, Department of Public works Deputy Director John Rooney said he was still running the numbers on the Jan. 18 storm when Reminder Publications contacted him last Thursday.
He did confirm that the city has a snow budget of $1.5 million for FY11 and that it expended $385,000 on cleanup following the storm of Jan. 12-13.
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