Storm kept Public Works
crews busy on holiday
By:Sally Goldenberg
New Jersey residents dreaming of a white Christmas got their wish last week, but Department of Public Works employees were not as pleasantly surprised by the holiday snow.
In Hillsborough, the DPW workers put in a total of 455.5 labor hours of holiday time, meaning work time exceeding the regular workday on Dec. 24. The sanding, salting and snowplowing costs totaled $35,394.25 for the township, according to DPW Supervisor Buck Sixt.
Mr. Sixt reported that the necessary materials, including 146.25 tons of sand and 93.75 tons of salt, contributed $4,608.75 to the total cost during the first snow-tackling effort that occurred between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. Dec. 25. The cost of labor, inflated because the 18 employees including one contractor were working on a holiday, made up the remaining $2,397 during the first time slot.
After working through the night, nearly the entire department came out again to battle the storm on the afternoon of Christmas.
At a total cost of $28,388.50 including $19,908.50 for labor and $8,480 for materials the DPW got to work laying 150 tons of sand and 202.5 tons of salt on the ground before plowing, Mr. Sixt reported.
"They never went home. They stayed here. They spent their Christmas right here," Mr. Sixt said. As a result, he said, "The roads were excellent. They were bare."
Mr. Sixt could not recall working on Christmas during his time in the DPW. "I’ve worked here for 25, going on 26, years. I’ve worked many New Year’s. This is the first Christmas that I can recall, Christmas Day, that we’ve been here."
Manville’s DPW employees also worked through the holiday storm.
Phil Petrone, DPW manager in Manville, said between three shifts, the two employees together worked 31 hours of overtime on Christmas Eve and Christmas.
"There wasn’t enough snow for plows," Mr. Petrone said, noting that the Manville DPW does not plow for less than 3 inches of snow. "We got out very early and we salted all the emergency routes. The sun was working with us to melt a lot of it off."
Mr. Petrone, who has worked with the DPW in Manville for five years, said he has never before worked on Christmas. The total cost of the snow removal and labor was $2,200.

