Snow plowing in Boro

[ess0350]

I always applaud the efforts of Freehold Road Department snow removal and plowing and they do a great job with the resources they have. It is a tough job for a small town given that we have some county and state roads running thru town.

However, this past storm, which was a monster and dumped a lot of snow making it very hard to keep up with removing the "white stuff". As most of us can attest to in clearing our own driveways, sidewalks, cars, etc. I did hear a piece of news that explains why so many residents are still not able to get down their streets or only with great difficulty.

I do not know how reliable this information is and I do not wish to propagate any rumors or blame. I am only asking if there is any validity to this "news". Is there any truth to the news circulating that the Boro Road Department only has 1 snow plow that is working and the other 2 are broken? Can anyone confirm this? I want to reiterate it is only a question.

[BrianSullivan]

I have no idea if some of our plows were broken. It would be interesting to hear if that were true. If it is the case, then the plows that were going really did a great job in light of the severity of the storm. I did speak to fellow residents late yesterday morning who were still snowed in.

I too applaud the borough services. I have written it many times and will continue to do so. The town services we have in Freehold Borough are far superior to many, many towns.

This past storm was a miserable one. What a lousy way to end a great Christmas week end! ( though it was nice being snowed in with lots of good left overs)

I went into work on Monday and Tuesday and can say that I have heard of few towns that really were able to clear everything appropriately. This storm was all about the snow drifts which caused a lot of havoc. In my travels, and from what I have heard elsewhere, the roads that were opened, and kept opened were the county ones. The county really did an outstanding job! They were even called in to help the state.

I certainly did see many abandoned vehicles, flipped vehicles and even plow trucks stuck. You know it is bad when the big toys get stuck.

[BrianSullivan]

This thread is good to revive with the following NT article. The mayor has some good and correct words for our public employees. It is also confirmed that some equipment went down which really shows what a great job the workers did considering the severity of the storm. I also notice mention of the town helping out others on rt 9. This is a theme that occurred everywhere- people and towns helping each other out.

newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2011-01-05/Front_Page/Mayor_praises_effort_of_public_works_crews.html

FREEHOLD — Mayor Michael Wilson expressed his admiration for the Department of Public Works employees who cleared Freehold Borough’s streets during and after the blizzard of Dec. 26.

The storm dumped more than 2 feet of snow on western Monmouth County.

“I really admire our guys. This was really a tough storm to work in,” he said, noting the windy conditions that blew snow back on streets that had already been plowed. “They all worked so hard.”

[richardkelsey]

Jan 5, 2011 5:50:09 GMT -5 BrianSullivan said:

This thread is good to revive with the following NT article. The mayor has some good and correct words for our public employees. It is also confirmed that some equipment went down which really shows what a great job the workers did considering the severity of the storm. I also notice mention of the town helping out others on rt 9. This is a theme that occurred everywhere- people and towns helping each other out.

newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2011-01-05/Front_Page/Mayor_praises_effort_of_public_works_crews.html

FREEHOLD — Mayor Michael Wilson expressed his admiration for the Department of Public Works employees who cleared Freehold Borough’s streets during and after the blizzard of Dec. 26.

The storm dumped more than 2 feet of snow on western Monmouth County.

“I really admire our guys. This was really a tough storm to work in,” he said, noting the windy conditions that blew snow back on streets that had already been plowed. “They all worked so hard.”

I don't know the answer to the question -- but I posit to issues for consideration.

1. It is possible that in this type of snow with the drifting that one or more plow or piece of equipment broke.

2. We had this issue in Northern VA in February, when we got more than 30 inches of snow, followed a week later by 18 more. (About 5 years worth of snow in 10 days) The issue was this, 85% of the equipment used and contracted for by communities for snow removal were not sufficient or rated for the type of snow fall we had -- this severely hampered snow plowing and removal.

[johnfnewman]

Jan 5, 2011 11:09:25 GMT -5 richardkelsey said:

Jan 5, 2011 5:50:09 GMT -5 BrianSullivan said:

This thread is good to revive with the following NT article. The mayor has some good and correct words for our public employees. It is also confirmed that some equipment went down which really shows what a great job the workers did considering the severity of the storm. I also notice mention of the town helping out others on rt 9. This is a theme that occurred everywhere- people and towns helping each other out.

newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2011-01-05/Front_Page/Mayor_praises_effort_of_public_works_crews.html

FREEHOLD — Mayor Michael Wilson expressed his admiration for the Department of Public Works employees who cleared Freehold Borough’s streets during and after the blizzard of Dec. 26.

The storm dumped more than 2 feet of snow on western Monmouth County.

“I really admire our guys. This was really a tough storm to work in,” he said, noting the windy conditions that blew snow back on streets that had already been plowed. “They all worked so hard.”

I don't know the answer to the question -- but I posit to issues for consideration.

1. It is possible that in this type of snow with the drifting that one or more plow or piece of equipment broke.

Earlier this year, the council approved (upon recommendations by the Finance Committee) that one of our trucks have its rear body (the "dump" portion) replaced. This option was pursued as a cost savings instead of replacing the entire vehicle. These vehicles perform double multiple duties throughout the year: snow plowing; salt spreading, leaf removal, etc. The salt has a corosive effect on the bodies of the trucks.

Unfortunately, that repair was still in the works when this snow storm hit. It was a case of bad timing for the boro.

All in all, I know people have their complaints, but I personally thought that our streets were in good condition, even before hearing the horror stories of other towns and major roadways.

[johnfnewman]

A few other items of note. First, the borough also approved the purchase of another, larger new dump truck this year. It has not been purchased yet.

There were some other mechanical problems in other vehicles, but I have heard from Borough Hall that we did not have any instances where a borough employee was without a vehicle to operate.

The borough employees worked crazy, unconventional and extended hours in an attempt to keep up with mother nature. And again, they did an excellent job.