For Fayette Public Works director Jerry Hildebrand, snow removal starts well before the first snowflakes begin to fall, ordering sand and salt in the summer. Once the first flurries start to fly, Hildebrand puts the plow on the plow truck and leaves it on until the last snowflake has been cleared from the road this winter.
It takes countless hours for state, county and local municipal employees to keep our roads clear and safe during the winter.
A lot of preparation work is undertaken behind-the-scenes to get the snow-removal operations ready before the first snowflakes begin to fall. It isn’t as simple as attaching a plow to a truck, gathering up the sand and salt mix, and hitting the road.
While snow removal is the most visible aspect of the winter work done by the Fayette County Secondary Roads Department and Fayette Public Works Department, there are plenty of other tasks to complete when the snow isn’t flying.
The newspaper recently caught up with Fayette Public Works director Jerry Hildebrand, Fayette County Engineer Joel Fantz, and Fayette County Roads Superintendent Jeff Koehn to find out what it takes to get ready for winters in northeast Iowa.
Fayette
With plenty of roads to clear and just one plow to do it, the Fayette Public Works Department has its job cut out for it every time it snows.
“Snow removal is a team effort,” Hildebrand said.
That effort begins over the summer with estimating and ordering the necessary amount of sand and salt to get the department through the winter season. As the winter season closes in, Hildebrand is checking over his equipment and ordering any necessary repairs before the first snowflakes begin to fall.
Once the flurries start, the snow plow is attached and will remain so through the winter season. He estimates that it takes approximately eight hours to clear the city streets after it snows. Planning and consistent maintenance on the plow truck are a must so that it doesn’t break down during a snow event. The City does have a loader it can use in the event the snow plow truck isn’t available, but Hildebrand estimated that it can take upwards of 14 hours to clear the streets with it.
“With just one plow truck, it's just drive up and hook the plow up when it's time,” he noted. “We then leave it on for the remainder of winter, and we keep it parked in the shop if we aren’t using it; that way, it is out of the elements and less likely to break down.”
As in many other small towns, the City employees are at the office bright and early during a snow event. Hildebrand noted that he’ll get into work at 2 a.m. with the others arriving at 4 or 5 a.m. On Main Street, the crew pushes the snow into the center of the road and then uses a loader to dump snow into a dump truck to be taken away. On the other roads, the plow simply just pushes the snow off to the side.
When snow isn’t falling, the City crew is busy with other work. After the camping season comes to an end, the crew winterizes the bathroom and shower room, puts tables underneath the shelters, and picks up trash cans at Klock’s Island Park. If need be, those trash cans will be painted over the winter as time allows. Next, it's off to the ball diamonds to winterize those bathrooms. Once that’s complete, it keeping the streets clear of snow and other miscellaneous jobs needing to be done. Hildebrand will also work on his budget for the coming fiscal year when he has some time.
“We’ll grab the teeter-totters and repaint the ones that need it,” explained Hildebrand. “Those are the types of things we are out doing if it is too cold for cutting down trees and other outside work.”
Fayette County
With 16 plow trucks in its arsenal, the Fayette County Secondary Roads Department has a much bigger task at hand when it comes to preparing for the snow-removal season.
Just as in Fayette, Fayette County Engineer Joel Fantz orders the salt and sand over the summer. However, with limited storage at the Fayette County Secondary Roads Maintenance Facility in West Union, he’ll have to take his order in multiple shipments throughout the winter.
For Fantz, it's a guessing game when it comes to ordering salt and sand, but it's also a game of risk. If he has too many snow events close together, due to limited storage at the county shop, the County could run out of salt before the next shipment arrives.
