With Winter Half Over, 70% of Lower Merion's Road Salt Budget Gone

With winter snowstorms blowing through town on a weekly basis so far in 2011, Lower Merion Township is blowing through its budget for snow removal. 

Chief Financial Officer Dean Dortone reported at the Wednesday, Feb. 2 Board of Commissioners meeting that, through Jan. 30, the township had spent $370,000 on storm related costs this year.

The bulk of the expenditures have been on salt and liquid calcium chloride to melt ice and snow. The $144,000 dollars already spent on those two items make up 70 percent of the yearly salt budget.

The township has also spent $135,000 in overtime payments and $38,000 in outside equipment rentals.

With six snow events through Jan. 30, Dortone said, the average cost of snow removal per storm has been $53,000.

The township has also hired outside contractors to help with the snow removal process and assist township crews. The public works department had some unexpected vacancies, according to Dortone and Township Manager Doug Cleland, making the work more difficult.

“We’re not hiring outside contractors more or less than we have in the last few years,” Cleland said. “We simply look to do that when we’re understaffed.

“One of the difficulties in hiring outside contractors is that everybody else is trying to do the same thing,” Cleland said. Within the last week the township has attempted to bring in extra help but failed due to lack of availability at least once, Cleland said.

“Overall, I think that we get a good value from the workers that we have on our staff for doing snow removal work,” Cleland said.

While this winter has started with an unusual amount of snow, it still has a long way to go to catch the total snowfall totals of 2009-10—about 40 inches worth. If this winter follows last year’s pattern, however, it could be a long and snowy season in Lower Merion. Over 51 inches of snow fell in the area last February, which is over a foot of snow more than the township has had this winter to date.