1/3/12 Snow stays on roads as Millersburg tries new policy
By Nick Sabo
January 3, 2012
291
SUMMARY: Three traffic accidents Monday attributed to road conditions
If not for a new snow-clearing schedule aimed at saving money on overtime, Rick Hannahs would have had three trucks out for winters first snowfall Sunday Jan. 1.
Instead, a single snow plow went out Monday evening, salting intersections and hills.
Theres no doubt in my mind trucks would have gone out when the snow started flying, Hannahs, Millersburgs street supervisor, said.
Millersburg council decided to scale back on snow removal in a package of cuts aimed at making up lost revenue. In addition to savings in overtime, council slashed the budget for snow removal materials by $10,000.
The cuts, which also include closing the Crissey Memorial Pool for 2012, were passed after voters turned down a .5 percent income tax. The income tax would have generated $500,000 a year and offset losses in state revenue from the phasing out of the tangible personal property tax.
As approved by council, the new snow removal measures include keeping the plows in the garage until two inches of precipitation have accumulated. The Ohio Department of Transportation will be responsible for snow removal on state routes, and no snow removal will be carried out between midnight and 4 a.m. Alleys and some secondary roads will not be plowed.
Monday morning saw three accidents attributed to inclement weather, according to Millersburg Police Department dispatch records. The crashes occurred on North Washington, South Washington and Glen Drive, with the first reported at 8:55 a.m. None of the streets had been salted or plowed. The separate accidents involved a total of five cars, including a parked car on South Washington.
The accident on South Washington occurred north of the state Route 83/Clay Street split.
While accidents are expected on the first snow of the year, MPD Chief Tom Vaughn said its still too early to tell if it (the snow removal schedule) has had any affect or not.
Hannahs, likewise, said just what effects, if any, the snow removal schedule will have on the village budget and safety on village roads remains to be seen.
Were trying the new policy, Hannahs said. Once winter is all said and done, well see how it worked out.
Previously, the police department determined when road conditions were becoming unsafe. They would then call out the street departments fleet of snow plows.
MPD Capt. Kim Herman contacted the street department at 5:20 p.m. Monday that the streets were getting icy, according to dispatch records. Records indicate the village received two calls about road conditions, one shortly before Herman made the call to the garage.
The cuts approved along with the new snow policy included eliminating janitorial serve at village offices, a savings of $6,500; eliminate pest control at offices, $360; eliminate cell phone reimbursements to employees, $2,700; reduce computer services by $3,000; place mowers on a rotation, instead of changing them out every year, $2,375; eliminate Ohio Revised Code monthly updates and codified ordinance updates, $1,968. Closure of the Crissey Memorial pool for the 2012 season is expected to save about $50,000.
