Well, here we go again. I can’t recall a winter season quite as difficult as this one. It’s not just the volume of snowfall, but also the frequency. One storm after another, with little time to catch our breath in between — and little opportunity to clear away accumulated snow before more is laid down. Road conditions today are as bad as I have seen — ice sheets, slicked with rain.
As the season drags on, the challenges for the City multiply. Our equipment experiences more wear and tear and breaks down more frequently. Salt supplies in the entire region are running low, and salt shipments ordered weeks ago have yet to be delivered. Roads are becoming progressively narrower. Sanitation schedules have to be adjusted on the fly. And we haven’t even tabulated the overtime costs yet, but they will be high. The frustrating reality is that New Rochelle’s operations — and those of just about every other city — are stretched to the limit. And we often have to ask for patience on the part of residents whose patience is, quite understandably, near an end.
Still, we continue to pursue opportunities for improvement. For example, to help supplement our in-house resources, the City is retaining private contractors, who will be especially helpful on smaller roads and cul de sacs, which are generally the last to be addressed by City crews. We are also attempting to coordinate more closely with the School District to clear areas around school buildings, still a work in progress.
Not much information in this post that you couldn’t glean from looking out your window. But I would feel strange commenting on anything else at the moment, given the degree to which the weather is consuming our attention.
Forty-six days until spring … but who’s counting?