Road crew works overtime to clear snow

MARENGO — The Iowa County road crew pushed snow in 12-14 hour shifts following two storms that dumped about 20 inches in the county this month, Iowa County Engineer Nick Amelon said last week.

Amelon told county supervisors that all the motor graders and loaders were out Friday as the county continued clearing roads.

Secondary roads had recorded about 45 hours of overtime, with weekends and the Jan. 15 holiday.

The county got the last of stranded residents out of their homes Tuesday, Jan. 16, after clearing main roads of snow from major storms Jan. 8 and Jan. 10 and an a few additional inches of snow Friday, Jan. 12, Amelon said.

Workers then began removing snow to widen roads to two lanes. Twelve-hour shifts were scheduled for the weekend of Jan. 20-21.

“They had the option to work this weekend,” said Amelon, and they chose to do so. “They care about their roads,” he said.

Amelon said the road crew was tired – they’d been coming in before 5 a.m. and working until 10 p.m.

Amelon’s office received many phone calls following the storms, he said. Most people wanted to know when their roads would be cleared so they could get out.

“I receive very few complaints,” Amelon said.

People tell Amelon he needs to double staff and equipment, he said, but that costs more money than the county has.

“I think you guys did a spectacular job,” Jonathan Degen told Amelon.

Some residents have suggested the county buy a snowblower, said Amelon. He’s willing to revisit the idea if supervisors want him to, he said.

In 2021 Amelon got some quotes for a snowblower. At that time, a 25-year-old machine was $60,000 and a 30-year-old snowblower was $50,000. Parts for them are hard to come by, he said.

Supervisors asked how often they’d have used a snowblower if they had one. This would have been the first time in about eight years, Amelon said.

“I have no problem getting one,” said Amelon, but getting parts for an older machine will be a problem.

And the county still wouldn’t be able to dig everyone out in 24 hours. Clearing 190th alone would have taken longer than a day, Amelon said.

A snowblower has to be attached to an end loader, and they were all out pushing snow, Amelon said.

Supervisors asked Amelon to look into it again, but Supervisor Alan Schumacher said the county can’t pay for one unless it can get a grant for it.

Even if the county buys a snowblower, it could sit unused for 10 years depending on how mild the winters are, Amelon said.

“It’s more of a want than a need at this point,” said Schumacher. The county’s budget is too tight.

If the county had storm systems like this three times a year, the expense might be justified, said Schumacher, but not when crippling snowstorms are infrequent.