Written by Carol P. Bartold     

Mar. 4, 2015: Winter's snow falls and beauty comes with a price that involves many levels of strategy, from budget and manpower and scheduling to where to store the snow and how to lessen its toll on infrastructure.

Village Administrator Jim Palmer noted that most of Bronxville's snow-removal expense involves labor and overtime wages. For the 2014-2015 fiscal year, the village budgeted $55,000 for overtime and, as of the most recent payroll, that budget has been mostly expended.

"Unfortunately, the storms have tended to come in Sunday nights through Monday mornings and that means double overtime," said Victor Lema, general foreman in the Bronxville Department of Public Works (DPW).

Lema said that this year, with several storms hitting the region on Sunday nights and lasting into Monday mornings, the village has overspent its double overtime budget.

"Last year we had a couple of storms that came in during the workday," Lema said. "I call that 'free snow.'"

Purchases of salt make up the second-largest budget item for snow removal. According to Lema, the salt garage on Palumbo Place holds 400 tons of salt and remains half full, pending snowfalls forecast for last night and Thursday.

Palmer stated that the village has spent $11,000 of its $30,000 salt budget this year. At the current price of $60.50 per ton, the budget covers approximately 496 tons of salt. Although the village has additional salt purchases pending, Palmer anticipates having monies left over at the end of the fiscal year that can be applied to the overtime budget.

From the first notification that the Bronxville Police Department gives to the DPW that crews need to begin snow-removal procedures, an intricate strategy comes into play. Palmer stated that DPW crews work as quickly as possible to clear primary access routes, then move to secondary and tertiary streets. Once crews have cleared snow from all the streets, they begin to clear sidewalks for which the village is responsible.

"Always, safety is our first priority," Lema said. He added that the demands of snow removal can take their toll on DPW employees who work long hours after a storm. He works to spread out and stagger work shifts to provide adequate breaks and rest.

Once streets are cleared, the village faces a challenge in finding places to store the snow. "The primary goal is to clear the busiest intersections of large snow piles that could reduce sight-line visibility," Palmer said. "The word is 'strategic.' We store it in every nook and cranny we possibly can."

"We have to spread it out," Lema said, "because there is just too much snow to try and get to one central place." He noted that the DPW puts some snow in the more remote corners of the Garden Avenue and Kraft Avenue lots, as well as along Paxton Street.

This winter the village has been able to store snow in the lower Kensington Road parking lot where excavation and construction on the development there has not yet begun.

"All I can say is that this time of year, Victor and I communicate regularly," Palmer said with a laugh.

"Yes, like nights and weekends," Lema added.

"I have to thank the crews," Palmer said. "We're fortunate to have many skilled members in the DPW who do an excellent job of snow removal."

To see pictures of the snow, click here: Bronxville in the Snow: March 2015.

Pictured here: Bronxville DPW trucks lined up to tackle the snow.

Photo above by N. Bower; photos in link by N. Bower and A. Warner