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Communities staying ahead of winter storms so far

Communities staying ahead of winter storms so far

The latest snowstorms have been costly in terms of road salt and overtime, but officials in at least three northern suburbs say it isn't time to panic yet.

"I'd say we're in the swim right now, but I'm not ready to take a bridge," Marshall Manager Neil McFadden said.

Throughout the day Tuesday, the Pittsburgh area received 1 to 4 inches of snow, with much of it falling in the northern suburbs.

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Road crews in salt trucks tooled the area almost constantly, laying down salt and racking up overtime. By the end of the day, most heavily traveled byways had been treated.

Still, McFadden, along with Cranberry Assistant Manager Dan Santoro and Butler city clerk Bob Brehm, said they were ready for the storm.

But this month had better be less snowy, they said.

"If we stay at this pace through the month of February, we'll be in trouble," McFadden said.

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By 3 p.m. Tuesday, the township's 2,500-ton stock pile of salt had dwindled to 500 tons, he said. Six more loads, about 150 tons, were on the way, though. The public works department already had spent $49,000 of the $68,000 budgeted for road salt.

As for road crew overtime, the township had planned for 100 hours per person.

"That's roughly $22,000 in overtime," McFadden said. "So far we've spent only $7,000. [But] they're out there now and the clock is ticking."

Santoro is unconcerned. He said that's because Cranberry always prepares for "the worst case scenario." "As we diminish, we replace," he said of the township salt supply.

The supervisors set aside about $160,000 to cover salt costs. At the beginning of the winter season, the road department salt bins held about 7,000 tons, he said.

Between the storm's onslaught and Tuesday afternoon, Cranberry had placed two orders to replenish 3,000 tons that had been sprinkled on icy roads.

Santoro said he did not have figures on overtime expenses. The department has 15 full-time employees.

Butler has five full-time road workers, Brehm said. He didn't know how much overtime the workers had put in over the last few days. If salt usage is a good measure, they were quite busy.

"We can only store 800 tons at a time [in two salt bins]," Brehm said. "The last time I went out to check, we had one full salt bin. One was all the way down. I'm sure the road crew foreman has had to order more."

First Published: February 1, 2004, 5:00 a.m.

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