Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Gene Kennedy reportingFor the second time this week, a storm blew through Utah, and another storm is forecast for this Friday.
The constant storms are draining snow removal budgets for cities all over Northern Utah.
KSL Meteorologist Len Randolph says this month almost half the days have seen snow. Snowfall is up about 20 percent; that means more plowing, more salt and more money to do it all.
This latest overnight storm hit Park City hard enough that school was canceled.
Snow piled up in front of bathroom doors, on basketball courts and on playgrounds. For snow plow operators it's an opportunity to stay ahead in the clean-up game. But in terms of paying for it, Park City is behind.
The city is now using emergency funds for snow removal. Public works officials tell KSL it may have to ask the city for more money in the next 30 days. The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is pinching pennies too. Nile Easton, spokesman for UDOT, says, "What's killing us this year is the frequency of the storms. It's like every two days we're in the line of fire for a storm to come through."
The state feels it is prepared. UDOT budgeted almost $18 million for snow removal, the most in at least 10 years, but $16 million of that is gone.
With months of winter still ahead, UDOT will likely dip into emergency reserves as well. "If we get through that, we'll end up taking from small rehabilitation pavement projects," Easton says.
The city of Logan is already in that position. It may have to put off repairing sidewalks and roads this spring. De-icing alone is costing Logan $90,000 more than what was budgeted last year.
Salt in Salt Lake County is going fast, too. About a third of the county's salt budget has dissolved, and the budget took effect at the beginning of this month, not back in July like it is for many governments.
Kevin Smeltzer, with Salt Lake County Operations, says, "Every winter, we have the same issue. The temperatures drop, so we have to salt, but we've had so many cold days, I think it has been a bigger issue this year."
So it seems no matter where you live, governments could use more money right now for snow removal. Come spring, in some areas, the public will have to be patient with bumpy roads for longer.
