Snow jobs plow through budget

Dry conditions this weekend should give city and county road maintenance crews a break from long days, but it will be short lived.

A fast-moving storm is expected to bring a couple of inches of snow early Monday.

The city of Yakima has already exceeded its snow-fighting budget for the winter.

City Street Maintenance Supervisor Wayne Deason calculates his costs so far this winter at about $215,000, including $55,000 in overtime costs.

The remainder of the snow removal costs, including operating costs and purchase of de-icing materials, are slightly higher than in previous years and should be handled with transfers from within the street department budget, Deason said.

The city has a staff of 25 people available for response to snow.

Deason said he gets an average of three to four calls a day from residents inquiring about plowing residential areas. The city will contract outside services if the snow reaches six inches in depth.

"Everyone would like their streets bare. It is a matter of necessity and budget," Deason said. "The necessity hasn't been there. We are like everything else. If we don't have to hire contractors to go in there, we don't like to do that."

Snow removal costs for Yakima County have been about the same as in past years, said Jason Alvord, road maintenance supervisor.

The county had 17 employees out plowing and sanding on New Year's Day beginning at 6 a.m. The work, which cost about $15,000, made Friday's workload a little easier, Alvord said.

County crews focused some of their efforts Friday to remove trees downed by heavy snow and high winds on Tieton Reservoir Road, near Rimrock Lake, and Bumping River Road, near Bumping Lake.

A majority of the city's effort has been focused on arterials and some on steep residential streets that require attention. Other residential areas receive sand but not the grading that some residents have requested.

"The arterials really keep us hopping when we have a snowfall like today," Deason said Friday as the work day that started at 3 a.m. began to wind down.

To provide additional service to residential areas for plowing and snow removal would require contracting with private heavy-equipment firms where costs would spiral. A grader supplied under contract by a private firm would run about $100 per hour.

City policy calls for arterials to be plowed when snow depths reach three inches.

The city hasn't had to rely on private contractors since the winter of 2003-04.

Deason said he expects crews will have more time to focus on residential areas next week.

"People would like us to be out there, but our number one goal is to keep the arterials clear for emergency vehicles," he said.

Response for snow removal should taper off during the weekend and next week, according to the National Weather Service.

A fast-moving storm should bring about a foot of new snow to the Cascade Mountains beginning Sunday afternoon, and drop about two inches of new snow on the Yakima Valley, said weather service forecaster Jon Mittelstadt.

"It looks like a quicker shot of precipitation. It does look good for everywhere to get some rain or snow Sunday night," he said. "By Monday morning, the Cascade rain shadow will take over and we expect things to dry out by mid-morning."

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