Brown Christmas said blessing for road budget

A warm December may mean more summer maintenance on Whitman County’s roads.

Public Works Director Mark Storey reported Tuesday morning the county had spent an estimated $100,000 of its $760,000 snow removal budget in 2011.

The county typically budgets $760,000 for yearly snow plowing and sanding. Storey said that was based on a multi-year average. He said future snow removal budgets will likely increase when the heavy winter of 2008, in which the county spent in excess of $1 million to deal with winter roads, is factored in.

Money for snow removal comes out of the county’s total road budget. Portions of the money unspent on snow removal is put into a reserve account, with the remainder being used to patch, gravel and chip seal roads in the summer.

The reserve, said Storey, is kept in case of heavy snowfall years, like 2008, or to deal with emergency situations.

Phil Meyer, county maintenance operator, said the winter weather thus far has allowed some trucks to haul freight on a permit basis because frost keeps roads stable in the morning.

Roads are closed and opened by permits in the winter. County road officials attempt to prevent damage done by hauling heavy trucks over soft road bases.

Storey said the recent temperatures, with freezing overnight and warming in the day, is harder on roads than day-long sub-freezing temperatures and will likely prompt more of a need for maintenance this spring and summer.