POUGHKEEPSIE – Just a few hours after declaring a snow emergency ahead of the weekend snowstorm, Mayor Yvonne Flowers spent time at the city’s DPW facility with the men tasked with plowing and salting the city streets and parking lots. Mayor Flowers, just six days into her first term as mayor met with DWP Commissioner Chris Gent to learn the snowplowing operations.
Flowers was briefed by Gent on how the crews are divided into two teams for this storm, with the 10-wheelers being operated by drivers from the sanitation crew. Those drivers reported for work at 3:00 pm on Saturday to inspect the rigs and get the sanders loaded with salt. They were joined by members of the parking enforcement division who will use at least one, possibly two pickups to keep all of the city parking lots clean. The crews were scheduled to work until 11:30 pm Saturday until the relief crew came on duty. The second crew was set to work from 11:30 pm until 7:00 am.
The city’s salt barn was replenished with 500 tons of rock salt last week. The salt is spread across the roadways to melt any existing ice and hinder the accumulation of new snow and ice. With the mild winter last year, the city’s salt shed was at half-capacity and is now overflowing. Due to the bulk-buying agreement with local governments using the county contract to purchase the salt, the price is reduced. The caveat, according to Gent is that each participating municipality is required to purchase a predetermined amount of the ice-melting salt.
After the briefing, Flowers joined the drivers in the lot as they readied the trucks to be loaded with salt for the spreaders.
The mayor, with little encouragement, joined veteran DPW driver Jules Meyer in his 10-wheeler that was loaded and ready to pre-salt the roads. Wanting to see firsthand how it works, Flowers and her chauffeur left DPW to pre-salt the northwest section of the city including the narrow sections of Duane Street and Gifford Avenue.
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