With local public works employees still clearing the snow that fell Tuesday and Wednesday — more than 2 feet in some parts of Northeast Pennsylvania — many officials say it is too early to know exactly how much the cleanup will cost. They all agree, however, it won’t be cheap.
Scranton Mayor Bill Courtright issued an emergency declaration Monday, authorizing the city to hire outside contractors to help the Department of Public Works clear and remove snow. With overtime for city workers, equipment, supplies and the cost of contractors, Courtright guessed the storm could cost Scranton $300,000 or more.
“This was the biggest storm in 150 years of the city,” Courtright said, noting that the $300,000 estimate may be conservative. “It could be more. We’re just guessing right now. ... We’ll see how much they can get done and assess the situation in (the) morning and take it from there.”
Contractors operating 20 tri-axle trucks, 10 front-end loaders and four Bobcat machines worked overnight with city DPW crews to remove snow from Scranton’s downtown. The emergency declaration expires this morning but can be extended if necessary, Courtright said.
Scranton Business Administrator David Bulzoni said it’s “virtually impossible to budget for a storm like this,” adding that the city is fortunate to have already received a “decent amount” of real estate tax revenue.
“If a storm like this occurred in December, when your fund balance is very low, it can create some really acute problems,” Bulzoni said. “The fact that it happens now gives us a little more time to evaluate the budget and try to determine exactly how we’re going to fund these costs.”
It was still too early Wednesday for Dickson City Borough Manager Cesare Forconi to know how much the storm will cost in terms of DPW overtime and equipment, but he did say crews worked hard and earned every penny.
“It is a tax on the borough when we get big storms like this, and it’s hard for the workers,” Forconi said. “Those guys put in tremendous shifts. They’re working 16 hours a day or longer with storms like this.”
The borough will have to play catch-up with refuse and recycling collection when roads are finally cleared, he said.
Clarks Summit officials budgeted about $28,000 for DPW overtime this year, an estimate based on costs accrued in previous years. Crews logged a bunch of overtime Tuesday, spending about 17 hours clearing streets. That work resumed about 4 a.m. Wednesday.
“Fortunately, there is something in the budget for overtime this year, and fortunately, we haven’t had a ton of storms yet to kill us, but this is definitely going to take a chunk out of it,” Borough Manager Virginia Kehoe said.
Clarks Summit will hire contractors to remove snow early next week. While the borough began budgeting a small amount of money for emergency snow removal after the Blizzard of 2007, that $4,000 or so likely won’t go far with this week’s record-setting snowstorm.
“That’s not going to put a dent in this,” said Kehoe, adding that the borough is “counting on” state or federal assistance. “This is definitely the worst storm we’ve had since I’ve been with the borough, for 12 years, so it’s going to be the most expensive.”
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