Politics & Government

Warm Temps, Lack of Snow Leave Plows Idle, Rinks Closed

From snowplowing patterns to the city's outdoor ice rinks, it's anything but 'business as usual' for Eagan city officials.

In Dec. 2010, Eagan's Public Works Department had already tallied more than 1,000 overtime hours snowplowing the city's roads and sidewalks.

But this December, the city only used 187 overtime hours for snowplowing, according to Eagan Transportation and Operation Engineer Tim Plath.

"Last year was the snowiest December on record," Plath said. "That is the opposite extreme of what we’re looking at this year." In 2009, the city had 560 hours of overtime during the month of December, Plath said.

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The unusually warm temperatures and lack of snow so far this winter have meant that it's anything but 'business as usual' for Eagan, according to Plath and Eagan's Parks and Recreation Department Director, Juli Seydell Johnson. From snowplowing patterns to the city's outdoor ice rinks, city officials have been forced to adapt to the disruptions the unseasonal weather has brought to the city.

Last December, Plath said, the city's snowplow crews responded to 11 snow events. But this December, the 28 plows, pick-ups and front-end loaders the city uses to clear streets have only been dispatched five times.

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With temperatures hovering at or near freezing points, the city has also been dealing with less snow and more ice on the roads, Plath said, which means that snowplow crews have used a higher-than-average amount of salt and chemicals so far this year. The city also purchased new trail-clearing equipment, Plath said, which it will employ this year to speed up snow removal on public trails.

The city's Parks and Recreation Department is also feeling the burn from warmer temperatures so far this winter. Because of the weather, the city's 14 outdoor skating rinks and tubing hill have remained closed for much of the season, Seydell Johnson said.

Typically, the city opens the rinks just before the holiday season and employs roughly 20 seasonal staff to attend to the rinks and tubing hill. Without snow, those staff members—some of whom are local students—have been out of work so far this winter, Seydell Johnson said.

The warm weather means that the city's park users have also been forced to adapt. Use of the city's indoor ice skating rinks is up, Seydell Johnson said. Many of the city's playground facilities and trails are still seeing regular use, she added.

"We’re still seeing people out there, they’re just not doing the usual winter activities," Seydell Johnson said.


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