Timing of winter storms and predictions of more to come are troubling, local officials say.
By: Leon Tovey and Melissa Hayes
The spate of snowstorms that has hit central New Jersey one after another since late January has taken its toll not only on the nerves of the populace, but on the budgets of Public Works departments in Monroe and Jamesburg as well.
The first big storm of the year, which hit on the weekend of Jan. 22, dumped between 16 and 18 inches on the area, and two more major storms since, one on Feb. 24 and one on Monday, each dumped around 6 inches.
While township and borough officials have been quick to point out that cleanup efforts from the storms have gone smoothly, the timing of the storms and predictions of more to come are troubling, they say.
Monroe Township Business Administrator Wayne Hamilton said Wednesday that the township had already expended 39 percent of its 2005 budget for materials. The township has spent about $28,000 for salt and $8,500 for calcium chloride since the January storm, he said.
"Obviously that’s an area we’re looking at closely," Mr. Hamilton said of the materials budget. "We should be OK, but obviously that’s weather dependent."
Mr. Hamilton said the impact on the Public Works Department’s overtime budget had been far less severe because the two February storms hit during the week, when Public Works employees would have been working anyway.
The department racked up around $11,000 in overtime costs during the January storm, he said, but the impact of the February storms has been far less severe.
Mr. Hamilton also said that because acting Gov. Richard J. Codey had declared a state of emergency during the January storm, the township is eligible to apply for compensation from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Wayne Horbatt, superintendent of Monroe’s Public Works Department, said overtime costs at this point in the year were pretty close to last year’s at the same time. The department spent $55,000 for overtime in 2004.
"We’re not going to relax yet, though," Mr. Horbatt said. "If you look at the Farmer’s Almanac, it says we’re going to see storms into the first couple weeks of March."
But the Public Works Department is ready, with more than 300 tons of salt stockpiled and ready for the next storm, he said.
Jamesburg has spent around $11,000 on labor, material and equipment costs this winter, Borough Financial Officer Denise Jawidzik said Wednesday. That’s about 9.4 percent of the Public Works Department’s total 2005 budget.
But Ms. Jawidzik said that Jamesburg, like Monroe, would apply to FEMA for $2,898 in compensation for the materials and labor costs accrued during the cleanup from the January storm.
"Of course I have no idea how much of that we might actually get back," she said. "But there’s nothing we can do about snow removal costs at this point not unless we stop plowing."
Jerry Tague, facilities director for the Monroe Township School District, said that since money for snow removal comes from the general budget, he did not know how much as been spent so far.
Mr. Tague said the only time the district needs to spend additional money on snow removal is on weekends or if overtime is needed and when a contractor is needed. Mr. Tague said contractors are used when they need a front-end loader and other necessary equipment to handle large accumulations.
He said with storms like Monday’s, when school is closed, staff members go in for a normal workday, which means no need for overtime.
In Jamesburg, where snow removal at the schools is handled by the borough, the district has used one extra snow day, and will tack an extra day on to the end of the year, making June 22 the last day of school.