April 6, 2023 at 3:29 p.m.
Vilas, Oneida county highway departments ready for late season snowstorm
Vilas, Oneida county highway departments ready for late season snowstorm
For the most part, Oneida and Vilas county highway department personnel were ready although in Oneida County, highway commissioner Alex Hegeman said his department headed into storm recovery down two of its mainline plow trucks "we count on."
"Parts availability for those trucks," he said. "We've had one truck down for two months now and we've been told we can expect the part it needs in 2024. The other one has been down for four or five weeks. Just can't find the parts. So, we're dealing with issues at that end, just having trucks on the road. Obviously, when you get a storm like this, 15 to 20 inches of wet, heavy snow it definitely takes a toll on the trucks trying to push that amount of weight."
Aside from the two trucks not available, the type of snow and plow trucks getting stuck occasionally, Hegeman said another challenge for his drivers was visibility.
"When the guys went out at 3:30 or 4 in the morning, it was still snowing like crazy," he said. "Visibility was very difficult ... just trying to find the centerline was very difficult. The guys were pushing at 10 to 12 miles an hour. They just weren't able to move too fast. Everything just took longer than expected. It was an 'all hands on deck' storm, that's for sure."
In Vilas County, highway commissioner Troy Schalinske said equipment-wise, his department's plow trucks were ready but he echoed Hegeman with regard to the type of snow that fell, how difficult it was for his drivers to see and added he felt the biggest challenge was how much snow fell in the short amount of time it did.
"The amount of snow along with the little bit of rain and sleet that fell before we got the snow and causing the slick pavement underneath," he said. "That made it very difficult for even our big equipment to move."
Schalinske said two of the Vilas County plow trucks got stuck at the intersection of State Highway 70 and State Highway 155 in St. Germain at around 5 a.m. Saturday.
"They were not able to move," he said. "We ended up having to get the road grader over there to get things moving."
Both Hegeman and Schalinske said there wasn't as much as material used as far as salt and brine.
"At this time, I have not seen material totals yet but I am not anticipating them to be high," Schalinske said. "What really helped us out was once the storm was over and we had the roads initially opened up, the sun was out immediately. This time of the year, the sun is a big tool for us. It really helped clear things quickly."
He said he was "extremely proud" of his crew.
"They came in, they did their job, they did it well and as quickly as possible facing the challenges they had," Schalinske said.
In Minocqua, public works director Mark Pertile said there wasn't much done differently but it takes "a long time" to get roads cleared.
"We were slow and methodical in trying to open up all these roads," he said. "Equipment-wise, overall, we did lose a couple trucks during the day but we did have backups we could use."
Pertile said three of the trucks were town trucks that went down with hydraulic and wing issues and one belongs to a company that contracts with the town.
"We did have a little trouble in the morning getting a couple of our drivers into the shop," he said.
The big challenge for Minocqua will be where to put the snow.
During the winter months, when the snow clearing operations are conducted, the snow is trucked to town property behind the Northwoods Zip Line.
"It's getting tight," Pertile said.
Tuesday, town chairman Mark Hartzheim told The Lakeland Times "the wrinkle we've run into is we're into April."
They checked where we normally put the snow," he said. "They checked that with a front end loader Monday and the ground there is all soft and the loader was sinking in. They're not going to be able to bring the dump trucks in there."
Hartzheim said that site is an old town landfill with a clay cap.
"We can't compromise that clay cap," he said. "With that being the case, we're going to improvise a little and get the snow piles out of the areas that we need to but there will be some blocks where it's not impacting businesses ... we're probably gonna leave awhile."
Hartzheim said some of the parking lot of the Campanile Center may be used for snow storage along with the public parking lot between the train station shops and the post office.
"We're gonna have to get creative about where we're placing the snow," he said.
Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected].
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