By Allison Perrine
MONMOUTH COUNTY – It’s been a cold white winter in the Two River area with more snowfall this year already than in the past few combined.
And while snowstorms can be fun excuses to curl up with a cup of hot chocolate or head outside to build a snowman, they come with a cost. For municipalities, snow removal is not free and it takes significant manpower to get the job done and to do
it well.
“For such a short month, it’s been a long one for us,” said Ted Maloney, superintendent of public works in Middletown, about February.
Like others, Maloney said when he and his team learn of storms in the forecast, they monitor it in the approaching days to see the real potential for a storm to hit the area. Crew members prepare their equipment and department heads throughout the township remain in contact to determine what to do next, whether or not to open up the emergency operations center – which is done for “fairly hefty storms” – and how to communicate with the public about what’s happening.
Public works members pre-treat and salt the roads before the snowstorm begins which can be done 24 to 36 hours before the first snowflake falls as long as it does not rain beforehand, according to Maloney. Once the snow accumulates, they salt, treat and plow the roads as needed before calling on contractors for support in plowing.
“We were never really overwhelmed but we were certainly busy every hour of the day. The recent storms in February have all been in kind of long duration so our guys have been really working hard and our contractors are working hard,” said Maloney.
The township has not yet passed a final approval of its 2021 municipal budget. A temporary budget has been in place to help manage the town in the meantime. But according to Middletown’s 2020 municipal budget, the township allocated $225,500 for storm response – a decrease of $149,000 from 2019 when the storm response allocation was $375,000. This decrease was “reduced due to healthy reserve balance,” it states. The balance going into 2021 was $345,347.55, a reduction of about $880,000 from 2021 storms and unreimbursed pandemic expenses, according to Colleen Lapp, chief financial officer.
According to Maloney, the temporary budget for this year’s storm response has been increased because of the recent snowstorms. However, in the past few years with less snowfall, the township was able to save money that was not spent on storm response and put it in a trust account. They have had access to that as well this year, he said. The trust is used not only for snowstorms but for tropical storms and other emergencies.
“Our CFO, she’s done this before as well. She knows that she wants to build up that trust account so that when we have a bad year like we’re having this year, we don’t have to dig into the current year’s budget so much,” said Maloney. “We do take steps to try and minimize” any effect large storms could have on the budget.
Smaller municipalities like Fair Haven have similar protocols when storms approach. The borough’s DPW management and crews all play a role when a storm is predicted and work together to plan and prepare for the arrival of snow and ice, said Theresa Casagrande, Fair Haven’s borough administrator.
“The workload and timing depends on the type of storm predicted, as well as the intensity of the storm. Generally, before a storm arrives, they pre-treat main roads with a brine solution, which prevents icing and makes plowing more effective. They make sure all of our snow removal equipment, trucks, plows, etc., is in good working order and ready to go before the storm arrives. They also set up a call-out schedule, which focuses on bringing in crews, as needed, to be sure they can cover throughout the storm and still get required breaks and rest time.”
And like Middletown, Fair Haven budgets for snowstorms annually but also annually funds a storm trust which carries over each year and “acts as a cushion” for years when there is more snow than usual, she added.
According to Fair Haven’s 2020 municipal budget, under general appropriations for the public works department, the borough appropriated $44,450 under streets and road maintenance, which does not include the costs of salaries and wages. In 2019, that appropriation was $67,950.
Tom Arnone, Monmouth County commissioner director, said that after a “thorough review of budget considerations of snow and ice control,” as well as information reviewed from years past, the county is still currently within its snow removal budget, even with the larger amount of snowfall so far this year.
Once meteorologists predict hazardous winter weather, Monmouth County’s Emergency Operations Center opens to monitor the storm’s progress, Arnone said.
“Our process helps us better manage the personnel at each of the County’s ten highway districts and dispatch crews needed for a particular snow event,” he wrote in an email to The Two River Times. “The highway districts begin by pretreating County roads and building complexes as well as assisting municipalities in Shared Service agreements. We have the capability to put 250 trucks and equipment in operation with spreading and plowing capabilities.”
Monmouth County has 30,00 tons of treated salt and 130,000 gallons of salt brine which, along with the pre-application of treated rock salt, helps prevent snow and ice from bonding to the roads, he said.
“The treated rock salt is more environmentally friendly. Even though there have been numerous snow events this season, Monmouth County handles each storm with ease thanks to our dedicated Public Works personnel.”
The article originally appeared in the February 25 – March 3, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
