SIDNEY — For once, the weatherman was right.
A snowstorm blanketed the state of Ohio Monday through Tuesday morning. According to the Sidney Wastewater Treatment Plant employees, 0.71 inches of melted precipitation was recorded — an equivalent of more than 10 inches of snow — from 7 a.m. Monday to 7 a.m. Tuesday. Blowing winds caused drifts across roads making travel hazardous.
From the state to county to city to villages, their employees were on the roads plowing the snowfall and then watching as the wind blew the snow back onto the the road they had just uncovered.
“Crews had to start out on the main roadways, and were doing so up until about 10 a.m., then they started on the residential roads around 11 a.m. They began clearing alleys at about noon,” City of Sidney Public Works Director Jon Crusey said, adding that everything else went smoothly with no significant issues that he was aware of due to the snow.
Sidney Police Capt. Bill Shoemaker said Tuesday morning, “So far so good, we have not had any increase (in crashes in the city of Sidney). Drivers are doing their part by slowing down and driving cautiously.”
“The village of Botkins had public works employees plowing last (Monday) night and this (Tuesday) morning.” said Randy Purdy, village administrator. “We will continue to keep plows going as needed for drifting. We have asked residents to not park on the street if at all possible.
“Last (Monday) night there were spots were drifting and snowfall were bad enough that when you went down one side of the street and turned around to come back up the other side there were drifts in the area just plowed. I have also asked resident to avoid unnecessary driving if possible, at least until road conditions improve. We run two plow/dump trucks and one pickup with a plow attachment. If needed we plan to move snow to the wastewater plant,” said Purdy
Bruce Metz, Jackson Center village administrator thanked the residents for their cooperation during the snowstorm.
“This snowstorm was something we have not scene for quite a while and the Village crews were very well prepared for this event,” said Metz. “We started plowing with two trucks at 4 p.m. At 7:30 p.m. we called in a third driver so we could keep up. Crew shifts vary from 4 to 8 hours depending on the event.
“The biggest issue was the drifting snow and the crews did a nice job keeping up with it,” said Metz. “Tuesday afternoon crews will begin hauling snow piles from this event. Crews will be hauling snow out to our Wally Byam Memorial Park by the woods. Crews will continue hauling snow on Wednesday and they will prep the snow plows to be ready for in the event we get more snow from the system coming in on Thursday. I would also like to thank our residents on their patience while we are plowing and removing snow,” said Metz.
Shelby County Engineer Bob Geuy said his crews have been busy plowing the 400 miles of roads his office is responsible for.
“We have 13 truck routes and we had them all covered. Additionally we have four smaller trucks out cleaning up intersections,” said Geuy.
“Our staffing level is just enough to cover the thirteen routes and the cleanup trucks. Yesterday (Monday) morning we had four people out checking the roads and we made the decision that we would hold off running all the routes until later in the day because we knew what was coming.” said Geuy. “A crew went out full at 3 p.m. on Monday to cover all the truck routes.. That crew went home around 10 p.m. to get some rest while another smaller crew remained on main routes until 4 a.m. Tuesday morning.
“The first crew came back in at 4 a.m. Tuesday morning and they are still on out on their assigned routes as of noon Tuesday. We anticipate they will remain on their routes until 4 p.m. At this time our staff feels that we should have the routes cleaned up and passable for normal traffic. With the cold temperatures they will still be some snow and ice of them so the public should still us caution when driving,” he said.
Geuy said the drivers had to deal with limited visibility until around 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning when the wind died down a little.
“This wind and drifting always is a challenge and typically this will extend the time it takes to clear the roadway a significant amount,” said Geuy.
With this storm over, crews are cleaning up the roads and preparing for an anticipated storm Wednesday or Thursday.
“Today (Tuesday) we will continue to work to get the roads in the best shape possible. We are monitoring the weather and will make decisions on the Wednesday/Thursday storm event based on what we are hearing is coming in,” said Geuy.
“I’d like to remind the public the we have almost 400 centerline miles to clear. When these types of conditions are present the roadways will be snow covered and slick. Please slow down if they have to be out and it they can, stay home until conditions get better,” he said.
