Snowplow drivers were still working hard on Monday morning, clearing out the remains of Sunday’s nor’easter. (Photo by Sue Fitterman)
Department of Public Works Director Richard Nota credits the dedication of the DPW staff for helping Harvard schools open on time Friday, Dec. 14, and Monday, Dec. 17, despite two winter storms that delivered an early one-two punch to the area on the 13th and 16th.
“It’s a real tribute to our guys to have Friday and Monday sessions [of school] open on time,” he said.
Nota said the department’s dozen staff members worked around the clock during both storms. During the first storm, he said, crews were out plowing from noon Thursday to noon Friday, and worked both Friday and Saturday nights sanding the roads. For Sunday’s storm, plows were out from 7 a.m. until midnight, and trucks were out early Monday morning sanding the roads.
Nota said that throughout both storms the DPW crew “put out a lot of product” on the roads to help prevent icing.
Nota said that when his staff wasn’t out plowing or sanding they were shoveling walkways for the town’s public buildings.
Some of the work during Thursday’s storm and all of Sunday’s fell into the overtime-pay category, he said.
“Weekend storms are always more costly,” he added.
Nota hasn’t tallied up all the expenses from the storms yet but he noted that if the two storms are a sign of things to come, that “doesn’t bode well” for the department’s snow-removal budget. Last year, he said, the department returned a third of the budget to the general fund. But if winter keeps up at its current pace, that won’t happen this year.
