The Ewing Township municipal building thaws out after a recent snowstorm. The town has spend almost $150,000 this year in road clearing costs.
When it comes to the weather, 2014 has been a tough winter. And that’s an understatement.
During the winter of 2013-14, Ewing Township has seen 10 ice or snow storms with accumulations of an inch or more, and the toll it’s taken on the township — in terms of money, supplies, equipment and manpower — has been significant.
The township is responsible for maintaining 350 total miles of road, not counting state and county roads, and the cost so far was upward $140,000 and counting to pay for salt, overtime, fuel and equipment repairs as of Feb. 12, when Ewing Business Administrator James McManimon sat down with the Ewing Observer to talk about the ongoing battle with Mother Nature to keep the roads clear of snow and ice.
That total is more than three times the total spent on road clearing in 2011 and 2012.
“We didn’t get a lot of snow the last two years,” McManimon said. “It was pretty much one snow event each year and a couple of icing events. We budget money every year for road clearing, but in our case, if we don’t use it we keep it in a trust and carry it forward to the next year. This year we burned through what we had left in the trust from last year and then have to budget more for 2014.
McManimon said that this is the most spent to clean up after storms since 2000, his first year as administrator and when Bert Steinmann became mayor.
“That first year we had snow and ice and a lot of storms. Then, the last two years we didn’t have that many. The balance of nature is catching up to Ewing Township this year. And it’s not just Ewing, but the whole region. If you look to the towns around Ewing, whether its Lawrence or Hopewell, or the Windsors, it’s just affecting all of their budgets.”
As the township spends more and more money on road clearing, it will likely impact other projects planned for this year.
“If we spend more money in the winter spreading salt and plowing snow and fixing equipment it will impact services in terms of other things we need to do in the township,” McManimon said. “You can’t just raise taxes, because theirs a cap in place. We have to be wise in how we allocate our resources — doing things like bringing the guys in a little later so there’s not as much spent.”
It hasn’t only been snow and ice that’s taken its toll, but several visits from the polar vortex created arctic conditions that made the job of keeping roads safe and clear even more difficult. Not only have the storms been frequent — sometimes several times in one week — but the colder than usual temperatures played havoc with road crews trying to keep the streets free of ice.
“The temperatures have been below zero in some cases,” McManimon said. “In those instances things like salt don’t work.”
He explained that the ice doesn’t melt or turn into slush, making it impossible for the plows to clear it from the roads.
While many towns were facing a shortage of salt, Ewing was in pretty good shape as of Feb. 12. Fortunately, the town had just received a fresh shipment of salt — enough, McManimon said, to last for two or three more storms.
In total, the township had racked up a bill of almost $42,197 to pay for three major deliveries totaling 700 tons of salt. The town started the season with 300 tons and had two subsequent deliveries of 150 tons each to replenish stores depleted by the numerous storms.
“We got lucky with our last shipment,” McManimon said. “We ordered salt anticipating more storms, and the timing was just right for us when it came in. Luckily, we have not run out of salt this year, but we’ve gotten very very low.”
It’s possible that by the end of the year the township will spend more than $50,000 on salt alone. That’s the amount the township spent annually in recent years for its entire road clearing budget.
The town is responsible for clearing all roads not maintained by the county or state. County roads include Bear Tavern Road, Olden Avenue, Ewingville Road, Upper Ferry Road, West Upper Ferry and Spruce Street. State roads are Rt. 31, Rt. 95, and Rt. 29.
The process of getting ready to clear those roads starts even before the snow starts.
“We have to have out trucks ready, so we get our mechanics working on the trucks — both putting the plows on them and servicing them,” McManimon said.
Ewing has a total of 24 vehicles available to use in its road maintenance arsenal. They include five-ton dump trucks that are fitted with salters and plows, 3.5-ton trucks fitted with salters and plows, pickup trucks fitted with plows and front end loaders.
“Before the storm you have to get salt in the trucks ready to go and attach the salt spreaders on the trucks,” McManimon said. “And then in between storms you take the plows and salt spreaders off so you don’t burn through fuel due to the extra weight on the trucks.”
Also in advance of storms, the township spreads salt on some hilly roads. “We know what roads have problems, and we try to pre-treat them, McManimon said.
The storms are especially difficult for the public works employees, who spend hours on end clearing the road. Measures have to be taken so they don’t burn out.
“If the guys are out plowing and it’s snowing hard, after so many hours they’re required by state law to take a break,” said McManimon. “They have to shut down and replenish their bodies with food and liquids. Plus they can get snowblind and you don’t want them falling asleep. What we do is try to split the crews up. Put some on rest while the others are out there.”
Some people may wonder why roads are not plowed down to the blacktop. It’s actually a matter of safety, said McManimon.
“Most plows can’t plow until there’s about two inches of snow on the ground,” he said. “The township has manhole covers along the roads and if you’re scraping along the bottom then you can pop manhole covers.
“In one case we had a manhole cover pop up and take out the windows of a front end loader. They could really hurt somebody. If you’re ever in a plow and it pops up a manhole cover, it sounds like an explosion.”
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A major hidden cost of this winter is the beating that all the plowing and salting is inflicting on the roads. Potholes and rough patches abound, and they may stay that way for awhile.
“There’s potholes on state roads, county roads and township roads and no agency has really had time to do anything,” said McManimon, adding that plants that manufacture the blacktop used to repair the potholes don’t open until the spring. That only leaves two options now — repair the roads with hot patch or use fill to close up the holes.
“The hot patch is the stuff you buy at the Home Depots of the world, and that stuff is double the price than if you wait until Spring comes for the blacktop. In that case, you’re budget winds up taking a double hit.” McManimon said. “Otherwise, you can just fill a pothole with fill, but the next time you get a storm and the plows come out, or a car rolls over it after its been frozen, the fill just comes back out.”
Until the town can perform permanent fixes, McManimon wants people to know that officials are fully cognizant of the road situation.
“We get calls about potholes. We’ll track them and fill them,” he said. “I deal with the county and let them know as well, and then the county lets the state know. We’re all aware of the potholes and doing the best we can to fill them. We have money in the budget to pay for blacktop to fill the potholes. Plus, I have nine roads being paved in Ewing in 2014, and a lot of them needed it even before this winter hit.”
As for the strategy employed to determine the order roads are plowed, McManimon said that major arteries are cleared first and then the town works its way to the smaller roads in the developments.
“The heavily travelled roads are done first,” he said. “Everyone’s road in the town is important, especially if they’re living on that road, but you have to clear the main thoroughfares so that emergency vehicles of all nature an get to people. We work in concert with the state and county to get people moving, but its not a perfect science. If you can pick a road that’s a long road and goes through the township, you want to do that first so people can at least come into the middle and go.”
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There are ways that residents can help the township when it snows — some of them required by township ordinance.
One regulation, for example, requires that residents shovel their sidewalks by 12 hours after the last snowfall. Any later than and a homeowner can be issued a ticket by a code enforcement officer or the police department.
There’s also a regulation governing certain streets where parking is prohibited when the road is snow covered. These streets are identified by road signs, and violators also face ticketing if they don’t comply.
“In some areas of Ewing they don’t have driveways, so people park in the street or they choose not to use their driveways,” said McManimon. “In some cases there are properties that have a lot of people living in them and they have four or five cars. When there are cars parked along these roads, we can’t get the big trucks down them, so they end up getting plowed by a pickup truck, which creates a lane, but until they move their cars we can’t do anything else.”
The township also asks residents to try to stay up to date with changes in the garbage pickup schedule and not put out their trash too far in advance. Otherwise, McManimon warns, the garbage receptacles or bags can get covered by snow or iced in. It then becomes difficult for the trash haulers to find or remove the garbage.
Probably the best way to help is to stay off the roads whenever possible during a storm. “If you can stay home, then stay home,” said McManimon. “Some people, as soon as it starts snowing, they want to go out there and start driving like crazy in their four wheel drives or front wheel drives. That’s dangerous because they can lose control or cause other people to do that.”
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One factor that has made this year especially difficult is the frequency of the storms. According to McManimon, having one major snowstorm is preferable to the multiple storms that the region has suffered thus far in 2014.
“If it’s a one-hit storm, and it’s the only major storm we have in the winter, its easier because you’re only fixing your trucks up for one, loading your salt trucks up for one, and getting only one major delivery of salt,” said McManimon. “When it’s these hit and miss storms — these little one that blow through and leave just enough to make the roads slippery — that becomes a lot more expensive. You have to go out every night and put salt down to deal with the ice, that means I have to bring crews in and I have to pay them overtime, multiple times.”
He points out that in general, people can deal with one inconvenient storm a year. More than that and their patience wears thin.
“Snow looks beautiful the first time it comes and people hope that it comes in December, because it’s a state of mind,” McManimon said. “Winter has just arrived and it looks beautiful. After that it’s enough. And we’ve had enough.”
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