DICKINSON — About four weeks after Snowmageddon rolled across North Dakota, the City of Dickinson has totaled up a final tally of approximately $224,000 spent in processing and working on historic blizzard. The funds include everything from overtime costs to materials used to clear roads.
From April 12 through April 19, the City of Dickinson Public Works Department spent $224,179.45 on overtime, contractors, cutting edges, brine, salt and fuel. Public Works Director Gary Zuroff noted in a report to the Dickinson City Commission on May 3 on all the efforts that were made during the storm.
“First of all, I want to thank all those who had contributed to the team during the storm. We could not (have) done it without you from cleaning streets to answering phones and making food for the crew. Your hard work did not go unnoticed,” Zuroff said. “There were employees that went above and beyond in this event that makes me real proud of the Public Works team and other city departments.”
In total, from April 12 through April 16, the city’s Public Works Department spent $36,676.81 and worked 956.5 overtime hours. Zuroff noted that on April 15 and April 16, the department received the highest number of call-outs at 605.25 hours — which is on top of normal 10-hour workdays. He added that they also had more than 500 hours in regular time of ice and snow removal during the regular scheduled work week. Snowmageddon , overall, had Public Works employees working approximately 1,500 hours.
“We had people working longer hours than they should, but they were dedicated to get the (roads cleared), especially the emergency services open… and to help where needed,” he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Along with city employees, many other people and businesses in the community stepped up during the historic storm, including Tooz Construction, Winn Construction, Rock Solid Express, E. Schwartz Construction, Terry’s Waterworks and Martin Construction. Zuroff noted that Tooz Construction had the most availability for trucks, totaling the highest number of hours at 322.25, and a cost of $46,110.
Materials used in this storm included 16.93 tons of salt, 29,699.5 gallons of brine and 52 cutting edges, which is a significant amount during that time frame. Overall, Public Works spent $98,299.81 on materials.
On the fuel side, Zuroff initially reported to the commission April 19 that the city went through $13,000 in three days. After calculations, he noted that the total cost of fuel was $12,768.33 at nearly 3,714 gallons.
Zuroff also acknowledged his gratitude toward Solid Waste/Recycling Manager Aaron Praus, Interim Street Chief Scott Hirning and Street Operations Manager David Clem before the commission for their efforts in maintaining the city’s streets during the blizzard.
