Snow removal costs add up in New Ulm

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- So far this winter, the 37 inches of snow dumped by Mother Nature on New Ulm's streets and parking lots have cost the city $102,881.26 to plow and remove.

That figure includes the amount of time spent by city crews in plowing, sanding and removing the snow, the cost of renting additional equipment, the salt and sand used in plowing and sanding and the contract haulers needed to supplement the city's own truck brigade.

Since last fall, there have been eight storms in which at least 2 inches of snow has been deposited through the end of February.

In his reports to the City Council, Street Commissioner Tom Patterson has documented his crews worked 1,689 regular hours and 230 overtime hours in disposing of 1,413 truck loads of snow.

In order to accomplish the job, the city has spent $58,574.78 for equipment rental, front-end loaders and such, while paying contract haulers $6,091.49 for their help in snow removal efforts. Meanwhile, salt, sand and related de-icing materials has cost the city $805.

"I think we've done a pretty good job of getting the snow out in spite of the cuts that had to be made in the budget," Patterson said.

However, Patterson did acknowledge taking heat for the windrows of snow in the downtown business district.

"We probably could have done better with that, but overall I believe it has gone pretty well this winter."

Fortunately, for the budget-squeezed department, there's only been a handful of really big snowfalls. The daddy of the bunch, when 10 inches fell, occurred at the end of January. That required 430 loads of snow to be removed from the city's downtown area and city parking lots.

That storm cost the city $25,468.42, one-fourth of the city's total expenditure through the end of February.

The second largest snowfall, measuring 7 inches, which occurred Dec. 9, cost the city $18,086.58, and a 6-inch snowfall on Jan. 26-27 resulted in the city spending $16,096.98.

Those three storms accounted for nearly 60 percent of the city's expenditures on plowing and snow removal so far this winter.