Director commends Public Works action during heavy snow

By Chris Sykes, Staff Writer
Last week, the city was hit by the third big snowstorm of the 2010 winter season, and once again the Department of Public Works was called on to clear the streets.
According to Arlene Kemp, the department’s director, her employees did their best to keep up with the Feb. 25-26 storm. Luckily, she said, they were up to the task considering the limited equipment at their disposal.
“The Public Works Department has performed wonderfully, especially given our manpower and equipment constraints,” said Kemp in a statement Tuesday. The staff is “consistently challenged with aging equipment, snowplows and salt trucks.”
Kemp said her department had 15 vehicles available when the snowfall began. By the time most of the work was finished, only six vehicles were functioning.
Kemp said department employees recorded approximately 650 man-hours during a five-day period which included salting, removal and cleanup. During that period, said Kemp, the city used approximately 110 tons of road salt.
Mayor Eldridge Hawkins Jr. praised the “strong snow removal effort” during the storm.
“I want to commend all of the dedicated city employees who worked so hard over the weekend to remove snow from our streets. The resources of our city were pushed to the limit by the record storm, but our workers came through.

Read more in this week's Orange Transcript, Click Here to SUBSCRIBE TODAY