Local DPWs gearing up for winter

While residents are preparing for the holidays, across the Commonwealth municipalities have been hard at work preparing for the upcoming winter.
 
Communities typically began preparing for the next winter as soon as the snow melts. Workers repair winter equipment (plows, sanders and front-end loaders), confirm contractors for snow removal, and purchase and stockpile de-icing material.
 
“Each year, over the course of mid-to-late summer, we start running through all the snow equipment and make sure everything is operational,” Arlington Public Works Director Mike Rademacher told the Arlington Advocate.
 
“We always are preparing,” Canton Public Works Superintendent Michael Trotta told the Canton Journal. “In early October we will have what we call Snow Day, where we do a dry run. Everyone rides the plow routes and looks for potholes, tree limbs and anything else that might hurt the effort.”
 
“The preparation for winter goes far beyond the Highway Division,” said Chris Cronin, director of municipal services in Andover. “Everyone in municipal services is involved in one way or another, including the divisions of Parks, Cemetery, Forestry, Water and Sewer, and Building Maintenance.”
 
In Wellesley, the Department of Public Works is using Chapter 90 funds to construct a $900,000, 6,700-square-foot building for storing the town’s salt, de-icing and sand-salt mix materials. The new building will replace a recently demolished, 3,360-square-foot salt shed as well as the adjacent 900-square-foot sand/salt building. The DPW itself is doing on-site drainage, site work and landscaping for the project.
 
Bedford Public Works Director Roy Sorenson told the Bedford Minuteman that his department will be adding more heavy equipment that it will contract out. A 10-wheel “wing truck” that the town purchased right before the season last year helped his department make quick progress as each storm rolled in.
 
Snow removal is the one budget line item where cities and towns are allowed to run in the red and make it up in the ensuing year.
 
Arlington spent approximately $2.2 million on snow removal last winter, exceeding its snow budget by $750,000. This year, the town has budgeted $850,000.
 
In Malden, the city typically budgets $200,000 for snow removal every year.
 
“Last year we spent $2 million, the highest we’ve ever spent,” said Public Works Director Robert Knox. “I’ve been here for 23 years and seen a lot of winters come and go. You’re going to get snow in New England. It’s just a matter of how much.”
 
Richmond Public Works Superintendent Gerald Coppola said, “We begin our winter prep by getting in a good supply of our road materials in the storage building, which can hold around 500 tons of salt and 200 tons of road sand. … All our trucks are gone through, making any repairs to the plows, wings and sanders. We install about 3,000 feet of snow fence on various roads that are susceptible to drifting of snow. We also check all roads for any debris in the ditches that may interfere with snow removal.
 
“You hear all kinds of predictions, but after 29 years of working in this field, you learn expect anything.”