Winter storms depositing snow and ice in Pea Ridge has stretched the city Street Department budget and, in the second month of the year, already depleted the amount budgeted for snow and ice removal.
"We've used $10,000 of the $15,000 we budgeted and after I buy this stuff, the budget is gone," Nathan See, Street Department superintendent said, explaining that he placed an order for salt, calcium chloride pellets and two metal blades for snow plows.
"It's never ending right now," he said. One plow is to replace one on the plow that is worn down and another for a back up. "This one (the worn blade) we just put on before the end of the December snow. They will last quite a while, but wear down when you get to pavement trying to get the slush off the road. We're trying to keep ahead of the ballgame and have supplies in stock."
"We are not low on salt yet," See said, but is having trouble locating salt to replenish supplies to prepare for the next round of snow and ice.
"It's been colder than anticipated," he said last week. "I looked around for salt and can't find any suppliers. There are six barges stuck in the Illinois River because of the freeze."
See said he bought 20 tons of "feed salt" which will require additional work because employees will have to break open the bags. The salt for the Street Department is usually bought in bulk. "You take what you can get," he said. That salt cost $3,500.
"Everybody's out of salt," See said.
He said salt and sodium chloride will be mixed for snow melt. "We're almost out of sand," he said.
"We're going to get the stuff out of the road one way or another," he said of the snow and ice which covered Pea Ridge streets last week.
See said salt will work down to about 5 degrees if the sun is shining and calcium chloride will work to negative 15 degrees. The calcium chloride helps the salt react. He said the sand helps heat the salt if the sun is shining.
As for beet juice, See said it works good for pre-treatment, but isn't as effective once snow or ice is on the pavement. He said salt is better for cost efficiency.
"Last year, we hardly used anything so much of what we had was left over from last year," See said. There was money left over in the snow and ice removal budget from previous years, although the budget is balanced at the end of each year.
In 2011, nearly the entire budget of $10,000 was used because of an ice storm, See said.
"What will happen?" See said of going over in snow and ice removal portion of the budget. "They'll have to amend the budget for that. In the long run, it will affect other projects planned for the rest of the year."
See said the only other resource for income is if a disaster is declared and FEMA comes in, as happened with the floods of 2011 and 2013 and the ice storm of 2009.
"I've been talking to Benton County -- they're running out. Everybody's out of salt," he said. "I'm just lucky I'm getting that 20 tons."
General News on 02/12/2014