Storms provided a white Christmas, healthy water supply, and many hassles
Nothing is more welcome than a warm spring day after a long winter. The Winter of 2016-2017 produced storm after storm, with snow accumulations well above average. It was the wettest winter in recent years and helped relieve the ongoing drought. All that snow had to be cleared, which left wind-rows along the streets and mountains of snow in parking lots.
Price City crews used a fleet of trucks and equipment to remove snow from streets, sidewalks and parking lots. Streets Supervisor Scott Olsen reports ten city employees were busy operating snow plows and other related equipment, and one service technician kept the fleet operating. Street Department crews used 250 tons of salt to keep roads open and the total time worked on snow removal for the streets was approximately 4,300 hours.
The City has five snow plows, four of which have salt spreaders. In addition there is one truck with a salter only for alleys and problem areas, along with one motor grader, two front end loaders, two backhoe/loaders, and four ten wheel dump trucks to haul the snow away once roads are open. The City typically hauls snow off of Main Street, out of cul-de-sacs and out of parking lots after storms are over.
Many hours on plows
In addition, eight employees in the Price City Parks and Cemeteries Department used a pickup truck-mounted snowplow, along with ATV-mounted snowplows, and snow blowers to rack up approximately 1,500 hours removing snow from the roads and paths within the parks and cemeteries.
The frequent, heavy snowfall also posed many challenges in day-to-day living, beginning with shoveling sidewalks- again and again. By the first week in January, snow shovels, windshield scrapers, and ice melt were becoming hard to find.
Sutherlands Home Improvement General Manager Wayne Clausing said his store and other retailers in town sold completely out of snow shovels and ice melt. He said there was a shortage of ice melt throughout the state and, “We just couldn’t get it.” He said it was also a good year for sales of portable space heaters and wood pellets. “But it (the wet weather) couldn’t have come in a better year,” he affirmed. “We’ll see water over the spillway at Scofield Dam this year for the first time in many years.” Clausing also noted the Sutherlands parking lot will need extensive pothole repairs because of damage from the extreme weather.
And as anyone who has driven around town has observed, many city streets have also deteriorated because of the hard winter. Price City issued a statement in early February acknowledging the condition of the roadways and urging residents to be patient. It said it will take time and improved weather conditions to make repairs.
Public Works Director Miles Nelson said crews have already started working to fill potholes with “cold patch,” but that’s only a temporary fix until warmer weather arrives and a hot mix of asphalt can be used. The city also recently purchased a paving machine and will take delivery toward the end of May.
Officials are now keeping an eye on the weather out of another concern. If the abundant snow pack in the mountains melts too fast, it could result in flooding. Nelson says there are filled sandbags stacked on pallets and there for the taking at the Price City Public Works Complex, 432 West 600 South.