By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
It may be a source of consternation for schoolchildren, but the string of milder winters in recent years have been a welcome gift to area municipalities, especially in face of reduced state aid and higher fuel costs.
For public works employees, the lack of snowfall and warmer temperatures seem to mean two things — less salt used and less late-night overtime.
Just ask Don Hansen, the superintendent of Public Works for Princeton Township. He and his employees — including Assistant Foreman Chris Torres — have a veritable mountain of road salt sitting in an igloo-shaped structure off John Street, which equals savings for the Princeton Township coffers.
That mountain means that he won’t have to secure more of the salt mixture in November and December, necessary during more wintry weather.
”If I have a bad December now, we will have enough to get through it,” Mr. Hansen said.
All told, Mr. Hansen said he usually requests about $80,000 worth of salt and potential overtime hours for dealing with whatever Old Man Winter might throw at Princeton Township.
There may have been a string of mild winters lately, but that does not mean that somewhere down the road the township won’t get socked again. So the township keeps its salt dome full, in preparation for whatever the next winter season could bring.
”There is nobody in the world who can accurately predict the weather,” Mr. Hansen said.
In Princeton Borough, officials account for weather-related expenses a little differently, according to Administrator Robert Bruschi.
”We budget a limited amount of money, and then add to it as the winter goes on,” Mr. Bruschi said.
For the borough’s budget — usually adopted sometime in the spring — that means that however many overtime hours or pounds of salt or sand are used, it must eventually be paid for, so a mild winter does amount to some savings.
”By the luck of the draw, we probably won’t have to add a lot to the budget for those things this year,” Mr. Bruschi said.
West Windsor Township uses a transportation fund to pay for winter transportation expenses, meaning savings carry over, year to year.
A line item in the budget usually refills that fund, so the mild seasons have meant that less has been needed for the annual replenishing of the fund, according to Township Administrator Christopher Marion.
In 2007, the township budgeted approximately $300,000 for clearing the roads and dealing with snow and ice, and only about $150,000 of that was expended.
Following that trend, 2008 so far has only seen about $50,000 spent out of around $279,000 budgeted for winter expenses.
”Absolutely, it has been milder,” said Joanne Louth, the township’s chief financial officer. “We have had less snow expenses the first three months of this year, as compared to last year.”
Plainsboro Township officials faced around $360,000 in cuts in state aid this year, so savings from reduced winter transportation expenses were welcomed, they said.
”We love mild winters, there’s no doubt about that,” said Township Administrator Robert Sheehan. “Every little bit helps.”
Most of the public works departments draw on funding that follows the calendar year, so there is always the potential for late November or December snow storms burying hopes for a budget surplus.
So officials hope for the mild weather, especially in the closing months of the year.
While the budget is currently being worked out in Plainsboro, Mr. Sheehan said he believes that with some luck, the township will end up saving around $75,000.
”That’s the bottom line, if we’re not hit with storms in December,” he said.
