Elaine Blaisdell Cumberland Times-News
OAKLAND — Garrett County will likely see savings as far as snow removal goes thanks to the mild winter.
The county is saving money on the cost of fuel and wear and tear on vehicles used to remove the snow, according to Jay Moyer, general roads superintendent.
The county allocates an estimated $400,000 in winter overtime and this is where they are now showing some savings, said Monty Pagenhardt, county administrator.
“Also, the weather is so hard to predict and we can be creative on our call-out times during the week, but if we go into snow removal operations on weekends or holidays there will be an additional cost,” said Pagenhardt in an email to the Times-News.
“There is still a savings but it’s not as great as it could be if the snow events occurred during the weekday during normal working hours,” said Moyer.
Even though there has been some overtime, there still has been significant savings for this fiscal year as opposed to fiscal 2011, due to scheduling, according to Pagenhardt.
The total overtime so far is $110,005; fiscal 2011 was $169,974.
The appropriate salaries and fringe benefits for all county employees is based on 40 hours per week for 52 weeks.
“We have experienced savings when compared to budgeted expenditures by being creative with our scheduling of employees,” said Pagenhardt. “The public and our employees need to realize that we have been very diligent to operate the county roads department and all other departments with less human and financial resources in an effort to provide quality public service in all areas of governmental obligations. We also have been successful in preserving and retaining jobs for our employees during very difficult financial times.”
The roads department watches the weather and plans ahead for snow storms; scheduling is adjusted accordingly, said Moyer.
“We make sure the roads are in passable condition as early as we can,” said Moyer.
The roads department is funded from the Garrett County general fund, according to Pagenhardt.
This fiscal year, $1.4 million was budgeted for snow removal, including materials, overtime and abrasives, which make up most of the budget. So far, the county has spent $641,390 on snow removal compared to $1.09 million at the same time last year.
The roads department is called out to treat the roads when there is an inch of accumulation, according to Moyer.
“We have to treat an inch of accumulation as if it were 6 to 8 inches because of freezing and icing effects,” said Moyer, who noted that if snow is left untreated, cars traveling on it can pack it down and turn it to ice.
Both Moyer and Pagenhardt agreed that this winter so far has been unseasonably mild.
“I do not recall as mild a winter for sure in my tenure with the county (16 years) or maybe since I have lived here,” said Pagenhardt.
Contact Elaine Blaisdell at eblaisdell@times-news.com
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