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Monday, 07 December 2009 |
By WILLIAM LANEY
Managing Editor
With leaf pickup completed, Wapakoneta Public Works Department workers are gearing up for winter, a city administrator says.
Mayor Rodney Metz said city crews are “pretty far along” with preparations as the first snows of the season are expected this week starting with today. Weather forecasters have snow fall at less than an inch for today. A dusting this morning made roads slick and hazardous.
“We do not have any problems with salt and grit reserves at this point because we get all that through the county so we don’t have to worry about physically storing any salt and grit,” Metz said regarding city crews picking up their allotment from the
Auglaize County Engineer’s Office garage on South Blackhoof Street. “As far as putting the trucks together, I can say they have blades ready to be put on the trucks since they just finished up leaf collection and the trucks ready to spread salt. I am sure they have things ready if a snow hits.”
The mayor intends to update Wapakoneta City Council members on the issue at their meeting at 7:30 p.m. today.
The city contracts with Auglaize County to purchase grit, a salt and ground limestone mix.
Last December, Wapakoneta Public Works Superintendent Meril Simpson said he advised crews to reduce the amount of grit applied to roads because of a salt shortage experienced during the 2007-08 winter season.
Simpson also based his decision on the city being allocated 350 tons of the 2-to-1 limestone-salt mixture supplied by the Auglaize County Engineer’s Office. The city and county switched from a 1-to-1 mixture of limestone to salt to the 2-to-1 mixture. He also based his decision on the fact the city used 285 tons of grit between Nov. 23 and Dec. 21 in 2007.
In 2008, Simpson reported the city applied only 18 tons of grit between Nov. 23 and Dec. 17. Last winter season, the city spent approximately $500 each time a snow plow truck was loaded with grit.
No grit has been applied yet this season.
The city has some salt and grit in reserves.
In March, County Engineer Doug Reinhart inked a contract for 3,200 tons of salt at $68 per ton from North American Salt. Before a blizzard in late March 2008 caused a shortage, most municipalities sought bids for a road salt contract in August.
Reinhart said 2,000 tons are for county use, while 1,200 tons are to be used by the townships, villages and the city of Wapakoneta. Minster and New Bremen, which the county never previously supplied, are buying grit from the county.
The county contract for salt is an 80-110 agreement — which means the county must purchase at least 80 per cent of the requested bid amount and if the winter is bad North American Salt would be required to supply at least 10 percent more than the request in the bid.
The mayor said if a storm dumps a large amount of snow than the Public Works Department receives help from the Water and Electric departments.
“They all work together to plow snow,” Metz said. “Of course, it depends on how bad the storm is if we are going to pick up recyclables that day. If we don’t pick up recyclables, then the men on those crews are used as alternate snow plow drivers.”
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 08 December 2009 )
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