An unusually early snowfall dusted the valley last week, and while it melted by noon, it sent the Westbrook public works crew out with the plows weeks ahead of a normal season. The brief storm was harmless. The timing was not.
The town’s winter maintenance budget is built around a calendar that assumes the first real snow arrives in November. An October call-out, even a short one, means overtime and salt drawn from a fund that has to last until spring.
A thin margin
Public works has spent the off-season patching a plow truck that was due for replacement two budgets ago. If the winter runs long or hard, officials acknowledge, the department will likely be back before the council asking for more.
- The oldest plow truck in the fleet has passed 150,000 miles
- Salt is bought in bulk before the season and cannot easily be topped up mid-winter
- Overtime is the first line to overrun in a heavy year
Residents can help, the department noted, by moving parked cars off designated snow routes when a storm is forecast. Clear streets are plowed faster, and faster plowing costs less.
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Further reading: how towns handle snow removal
