~by The Scranton Journal with GreeneCountyNewsOnline
December 2023 will go down in history as one of the warmest winter months. Mother Nature reminded the state of Iowa she is in charge with two snowstorms last week.
The first came on Tuesday with snow amounts ranging from five inches in the northeast part of Greene County to 10 – 12 inches in the south / southwest region.
As Greene County secondary road crew members plowed through the snow on Tuesday and Wednesday, another storm was forecast for Friday and Saturday. This one packed strong winds and arctic temperatures.
Unfortunately, the forecast was correct as the storm raged for two days. Winds of 35 – 45 miles per hour drove the snowflakes, whipping them in piles of drifts measured by feet, not inches high.
Greene County engineer Wade Weiss deployed the road crew all day Friday and Saturday until early afternoon, struggling to keep the roads open with the driving wind. The workers took a break in the afternoon, returning to the roads with their plows when the winds lessened later in the day.
An extra challenge was the driver of an oversized load hauling a crane from a wind turbine getting “lost” on his way to Sparky’s Friday, getting stuck crosswise on Q Ave near the Spring Lake road. The road was blocked until the next day.
Weiss noted the amount of snow was really hard to judge but he felt parts of the county received a total of 20 – 22 inches in the two events.
Sunday was a bright and sunny day. Workers had focused on paved roads Friday and Saturday, and got to unpaved roads Sunday during what he called “a productive day.” By that evening, virtually all the county roads were plowed allowing at least one-way traffic. Monday the crews worked to widen the passage.
Highway 25 between Scranton and Bayard was a bottleneck as the road was completely blocked by drifts until Sunday evening. On Monday, the State Department of Transportation used a snow blower to widen the passage.
“We try to open all the roads as soon as we can,” explained Weiss. “Stalled vehicles on the roads are the main problem.”
County employees worked many extra hours during the storms, with some employees overnighting at the Rippey shop to be sure they made it to work. Weiss estimated a total of 840 hours spent moving snow and a cost of between $8,000 and $10,000 each day for diesel fuel.
Overtime isn’t a problem in the secondary roads budget, though. Weiss explained that several employees work other jobs and they prefer receiving comp time to being paid overtime.
“A lot of them have farm jobs, and it works out well that during the spring and the fall, when it’s busy for farmers, it’s not a good time for road maintenance,” he explained.
Overtime pay accounts for only about 1 percent of secondary roads wages, Weiss estimated. When he first came to Greene County in the 1990s, overtime pay was 8-10 percent of the secondary road wages.
Weiss noted there were a few small problems with equipment, mostly due to the extreme cold temperatures but they were able to make repairs and return to the roads fairly quickly.
County secondary roads also assisted towns in the county, providing diesel fuel to the Scranton street crew, helping the Grand Junction crew mount snow blades on a truck, and taking salt/sand to Dana. He said all towns in the county rely on secondary roads for their salt/sand mixture.
It’s been several years since this area has received so much snow. Weiss joked he tries to forget this type of event but Mother Nature made it clear, she is still in charge of winter weather.
