Garden City Outlines Snow Storm Response

The Village of Garden City outlined its response to last week's winter storm, highlighting the great lengths that village employees went to to keep roads as safe and clear as possible for residents.

According to the village, crews started working at 4 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 4 and continued straight through until 7:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 5. Plowing switched to salting at approximately 2:30 a.m. Friday.

According to Department of Public Works Superintendent Joseph DiFrancisco, at the height of
the storm the village had 51 trucks on the road, ranging from large and medium dump trucks to
pay loaders, backhoes and garbage trucks fitted with plow blades. The village had 61 employees involved with the snow plowing operation, including employees from the Parks and Recreation and Engineering departments, and 300 tons of salt was used during the cleanup effort.

Pratt Brothers was called in at 2 p.m. Thursday to assist with clearing some parking lots. On Monday, Jan. 8, crews began removing the large piles of snow from the parking lots.

During the course of the storm, mechanics at the village garage were on hand for the duration of the operation in order to keep the plows and equipment fully functional. Seven mechanics and a supervisor were on duty during the storm and responded to 10 road calls during the storm and made 76 repairs. Repairs ranged from a tire blowing off the rim of a pay loader to broken hydraulic hoses, emergency light repairs, broken windshield wipers and bent plow frames, to name a few.

“DPW Street, Engineering, Water and Sewer and Mechanical crews, along with Recreation and Parks Department, worked tirelessly throughout the storm to ensure roads were cleared and safe to travel. They worked tirelessly through blizzard conditions without hesitation in order to ensure the job got done,” DiFrancisco said. “It’s during events like these that all the planning and preparation done in advance ensures a smooth and successful snow removal operation and I think the results speak for themselves.”

Photo: Patch