WINDHAM – On Saturday morning, Windham Highway Division Supervisor Mike Constantine sanded Keene Road, a dirt road off Route 202, frozen by another bout of cold, wet weather.
Less than a half hour later, Constantine returned, only to find that Keene Road was, once again, totally covered in ice.
“Ice storms use an extraordinary amount of sand,” Constantine said.
The following day, amidst 43-degree, spring-like weather, Windham public works staffers were forced to re-salt and re-sand numerous town roads.
“The ground was so cold it refroze,” said Windham Public Works Director Doug Fortier. “Even though it was 40-degree air temperature outside, the roads still froze because the ground was so cold because we’ve had such a cold winter.”
According to municipal officials across the Lakes Region, low temperatures, snowstorms and, especially, ice have demanded an unusual level of resources and dedication from public works employees.
In Raymond, the five-person Public Works Department, as well as five independent contractors, have responded to about 20 weather-related events, according to Public Works Director Nathan White. Last winter, the department responded to 17 events in total, White said.
“We’ve been kind of busy plowing snow,” he said. “I haven’t spent much time doing anything but that.”
White said that his department’s trucks have repeatedly malfunctioned since the beginning of the winter, thanks to the harsh conditions.
“I’d rather have a foot of snow than an inch of ice,” he said.
Standish Public Works Director Roger Mosley said that his department had used much more salt and sand so far than in a typical winter.
“It’s been quite a stretch so far,” Mosley said. “Lot of time, lot of materials going out, and certainly the ice has made it difficult to get around.”
According to Fortier, the Windham department had used $131,419 out of the $188,963 winter salt budget as of Jan. 13. In comparison, by Jan. 16 of last year the department had used only $57,324 of a $141,616 winter salt budget.
“I wouldn’t have expected to be this far through already,” he said.
In the vast Windham sand and salt shed, a once massive pile of sand has been greatly reduced in the past few weeks. Fortier estimated that his department had used some 4,500 yards of sand, leaving 1,500 yards, at most, for the rest of the season.
If the wet, freezing weather continues at this pace, Fortier said, he may need to dip into Windham’s emergency weather contingency fund in order to supplement his $338,818 winter budget – an unprecedented step.
“The town has never had to tap into this reserve, and I’m going to say it’s probably been eight years now that they’ve had this reserve,” he said. “If Mother Nature says, ‘Ha ha, we’ve got another eight weeks of good winter to go,’ yeah, I’m going to say the town will have to tap into that.”
Fortier and Constantine praised their staff, emphasizing the sacrifice necessary to keep the roads safe.
“We’ve got guys that missed anniversary dinners, missed birthday parties, missed parents having heart surgery,” Constantine said. “You kind of go above and beyond sometimes.”
Windham Highway Division Supervisor Mike Constantine, left, and Public Works Director Doug Fortier check out a rapidly diminishing pile of salt and sand last week. Send questions/comments to the editors.
