2008 Year in Review

To Plow and/or Salt is a Judgment Call

Gary Tresenriter, Steve Osborn, Brad Blean, Mike Gerlach, Pete Swearingen, Randy Gerlach, Dan Milnes, Kendra Kophamer, Brad Weets, Shane Osborn.

Morrison has approximately 35 (centerline) miles of streets to plow. Multiply that by at least four passes on each street, and it gives you 140 miles. Some of the wider streets, for example, High, South, Park, Jackson, Morris, Academic Drive, North Cherry, and Genesee Avenue, require five to six passes to clear.

I was given the opportunity to sit down with Gary Tresenriter and the city workers to learn what steps they go through when it comes to snow removal for the city.

“Our priorities are the hills, snow routes, schools (on school days), and nursing homes,” stated Tresenriter, Superintendent of Public Services for the City of Morrison.

“For years we have been plowing with 2 two-ton dump trucks and 2 one-ton dump trucks, one of each on the north and two on the south side of town. This past year we purchased three new ¾-ton pickup trucks; all are four-wheel drive with plows. We also purchased a one-ton with a plow,” added Tresenriter. “When we need to replace pickup trucks, it only makes sense to replace them with trucks we can use during the winter to remove snow. Three of the four trucks are replacing older two-wheel drive ½-ton trucks that never had plows. The new pickup trucks will be used year round. The two-ton dump trucks are used occasionally during the summer hauling mud from water main breaks, sand to backfill, rock, etc. It would be nice to have more two-ton trucks, because they can remove a lot more snow faster. It’s hard to justify the expense when they sit unused most of the spring, summer, and fall.”

The first thing city workers do is estimate how much snow will accumulate in our area, then decide the most cost-effective way to fight the snow. Overtime, fuel (almost $200.00 per tank), and wear and tear on trucks and plows are all expensive and have to be considered. Safety is priority, but financial responsibility is close behind. “There is no doubt that if we had an unlimited supply of salt, equipment, and employees we could improve snow removal,” said Tresenriter.

When to plow and/or salt is a judgment call based on experience. Seven out of ten public works employees have a total of 120+ years of experience plowing and salting Morrison’s streets. “We try to plow so that we are not plowing the same roads three and four times. Once a plow starts on a street, it doesn’t move from that street until it is done curb to curb,” he explained.

“If we are expecting only an inch or less or if we are getting a light rain, and the temperature is expected to drop, we might get out right away and salt,” added Gary. “Unless we are confident the snow storm is over, we usually don’t put a plow down until there are about two inches of snow on the road. If we are expected to get four or more inches, to try and stay ahead of accumulation, we will probably start plowing when there are two inches on the road and plow everything at least twice, so emergency vehicles can get around.”

They monitor the weather to be able to make good decisions. But, Mother Nature doesn’t always hold true to the predictions. “Many times it has been reported we will receive six to eight inches and only get two to four, or less, or vice versa, one to two inches are predicted, and we are blanketed with six to eight,” he commented.

“I will say for the most part, most of the residents in town are pretty good about not parking in the street even if we don’t declare a snow emergency. We don’t have to deal with that many cars,” stated Tresenriter. “We have an excellent system, and these guys do a great job.”

Factors that affect salt and how well it works are the amount of traffic, temperature, and amount of sunlight. Once the temperature gets much below 20 degrees the salt does not work well. “If we can’t put salt down and come back later to plow off the snow or ice, it’s a waste of salt and time to apply the salt in the first place. Our salt supply is very low right now,” he stated.

“In March of each year we receive a joint purchase requisition form from Illinois Department of Transportation Central Services in Springfield. For over seven years we have ordered 275 tons of salt and usually have 50 – 75 tons left over. This year we increased the order to 325 tons. According to the joint purchasing contract we are obligated to purchase 70% (total of 227.5 tons) of what we order each year. On the other hand, for the same price we can receive up to 130% (total of 422.5 tons) of what we ordered. Once you have ordered 130% they will not sell you any more; we have,” Gary said.

“Due to ice storms and over 20” of snow, we used 225 tons of salt in December. Since then we have had 14” of snow in January and 21.5” as of February, 27 2008. Currently we only have a few loads left. Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Missouri are all out of salt,” he informed.

He also added, “I found a long-distance supplier of salt through Doug House, General Manager of Public Services with the City of Moline. He put me in touch with Randy Candelora, Manager, Marketing & Business Development of NSC Minerals, Saskatoon, SK, 20 minutes north of Edmonton, Alberta, near the community of Fort Saskatchewan.”

“We placed an order for 200 tons. Confirmation was received on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 that 100 tons were shipped February 15 and the other 100 tons were to ship the 19th,” he stated. The salt is being shipped by rail to a grain elevator in Buffalo, IA (approximately 64 miles from Morrison.) There it can be off-loaded, then loaded on semis, and transported to Morrison. We should receive 100 tons Friday February, 29th or early the following week. Therefore, city crews must be very conservative.

Next year we are planning to use a deicer in-addition to the salt. The deicer is all natural, (much better for the environment) 70% less corrosive then the rock salt currently used, is good to 20 below zero, and it should reduce our salt usage by 30%.

It was easy to perceive from these workers, that their jobs can become quite adrenalin-pumping experiences sometimes. They may not get much sleep some nights. To me it was very evident, these city employees take pride in their jobs. Kudos, to the Morrison City Crew for the work you do.

by Dawn Zuidema, theCity1.com
March 12, 2008