Winter Brings A Blizzard Of Overtime

To Town Snow Plow Drivers

By Steve Bigham

Since the first snow of the season back on December 8, the area has been hit with nearly five feet of snow, which, to date, has cost the town of Newtown $301,000 in total cleanup costs.

Four different snow storms this winter have each cost the town more than $20,000, including this week’s 18-inch mess which cost taxpayers just over $30,000 for overtime, sand, and salt.

The winter of 2000-2001 has been one of the snowiest and iciest in recent memory. However, just as significant as the amount of snow has been the timing of the snow. And this season’s snowfalls have been occurring at night, on holidays, and at just about any other time the plow crews has been eligible for overtime pay.

“Overtime for this week’s storm was $16,000, which wasn’t as much as some of the weekend storms that we’ve had where there was actually less snow,” noted Public Works Director Fred Hurley. “A lot of this storm we did on regular time.”

As of Wednesday morning, the town had spent $116,000 in overtime costs this winter, $35,000 over what had been budgeted for. In response, the Legislative Council was scheduled to take up a proposed transfer of $96,000 from contingency into the town’s winter maintenance account Wednesday. Of that amount, $50,000 was earmarked for overtime, $28,000 for sand, and $18,000 for salt.

“We’re still not running a lot above what we would consider average. We’re 10-15 percent above average in terms of the weather,” Mr Hurley said. “Materials and overtime are over, but that’s a function of when the storm occurs more than anything else.”

To put things into perspective, the highway department thus far has used 11,000 tons of sand ($100,000) and 2,310 tons of salt ($82,000), while logging 3,833 overtime hours ($116,000). Driving a town snow plow pays time and a half on weekends and double-time on holidays. That probably has something to do with the fact that the town spent $39,000 to clear roadways on New Year’s Eve, including more than $22,000 in overtime.

In an effort to help the Legislative Council gain perspective on what is still to come, Mr Hurley is using past winters to average snow cleanup costs between February 1 and the end of winter.

“It’s usually about $35,000 in overtime, $20,000 in sand, $16,000 for salt. That’s on average about what we spend. We had one year where we spent nothing after February 1. In 95-96, we spent over $220,000 for OT after February 1,” Mr Hurley explained.

This winter has seen the most snow and ice since that memorable winter five years ago when the town shoveled out nearly $500,000 in cleanup costs. The town was forced to make several hundred thousand dollars in contingency transfers that year. It also received money from the state through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Last winter, the town spent a total of $221,434 in winter maintenance costs.

As of this week, the highway department has not overspent any of the winter maintenance line items, according to Mr Hurley. Instead it is relying on reserves and some state aid to back it up.

Between January 21 and 22 the town spent $34,000 in snow removal costs. It spent another $51,000 between January 6 and 10, $27,000 between December 20 and 21, and another $37,000 between January 15 and 20.