Warmer County winter friendly to city spending
CARIBOU, Maine — Despite this winter being remembered for its above-average temperatures and “significantly below-average” snowfall, public works directors and town managers throughout Aroostook County say they still used the same amount of sand and salt on their roads.
But they did see a decrease in overtime and diesel costs.
“No matter if it is a 6-inch storm or a larger storm, we still have to put the same amount of product on the roads,” David Ouellette, public works director for the city of Caribou, said on Monday.
Ouellette said the city, which orders 4,000 to 5,000 yards of winter sand and 1,800 to 2,000 tons of salt for its roads, used an equal amount compared to past years.
“The only thing down for us is overtime and diesel costs,” he said. “In the overtime area, it is because most of the storms happened during the day, and our employees were able to plow during an eight-hour day and not at night. We were also down in diesel fuel costs because the snow was easier to push around. But a 6-inch storm is just as slippery as a 12-inch storm and we still need to treat it the same.”
At Presque Isle, Public Services Director Dana Fowler said the city, which orders 2,000 tons of salt and 5,500 cubic yards of sand per year, also used just as much of both as a normal winter. But Presque Isle saved “$18,000 in overtimes costs” and diesel expenses also were down, he said. Fowler said his department also benefited from the storms coming mostly during the day.
“At the same time, the savings is good for us, because these past several winters have been very tough on us, as far as being cold, snowy, and with the expense of overtime,” he said. “This gives us a little break.”
In Fort Kent, Town Manager Donald Guimond said that the municipality only has “about 10 percent of its supply of winter salt and sand” left over in its supply this year. He said that the city orders approximately 2,000 tons of salt for its roads.
“We had a slew of ice, and ice is almost worse than snow,” he said. “We are not going to run out, but it is going to be tight.”
Madawaska Town Manager Town Manager Ryan Pelletier echoed the comments of others.
“We have enough sand for about two more storms,” he said, adding that the town used an about average amount of salt due to more ice build up on the roads in the St. John Valley. The town also saved on diesel oil this year.
Caribou had its warmest winter on record with an average temperature of 21.6 degrees, according to officials at the National Weather Service. That temperature was 7.6 degrees above the 30-year average and surpassed the previous record warm winter of 2009-2010 by six-tenths of a degree.
