A town's road budget bottoms out

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

WILLIAMSBURG - Realizing the town's snow and ice account is thousands of dollars in the red, the Board of Selectmen has declared a snow and ice emergency.

That vote, taken unanimously last week, means the town can spend money not yet allocated for snow and ice removal, if it becomes necessary. Town Administrator Steven Herzberg said the additional funding could come from a number of places, including the town's stabilization account.

Herzberg said the weather during first few weeks of the winter road-maintenance season has been so bad that the town has overspent its snow and ice budget by $3,200.

To declare such an emergency, the town's Finance Committee also had to sign off on the decision - which it also did Thursday night in a unanimous vote.

The problem is shared by highway departments in cities and towns around the region, many of which have also already run through their allotments for winter road care - funding that has been pared by tight budgets.

Although the town is over budget, Highway Department Superintendent Bill Turner said supplies of sand and salt are good.

"Right now the sand pit is full of sand and the shed is full of salt, and this is the first time this year we have had it completely full. That is where the money is going," Turner said.

The town spends approximately $74 a ton on sand and salt.

As is the case every winter, the town cannot predict how many storms the rest of the season will bring, but Turner said if the end of the winter is anything like the beginning, the town could be in trouble.

"It all really depends on what the weather does," said Turner. "But if we have another month like we had in the end of December and the beginning of January, the sand and salt won't last us very long."

Though he could not say exactly how long the sand and salt reserves will last, Turner estimated the department has enough to carry it through six more storms.

"Ice storms are the worst. With big snow it isn't so bad, especially when we get snow along with some warmer weather," Turner said.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.