Across the North Shore, Departments of Public Works (DPWs) from different communities are looking back on the snow-removal efforts from the historic blizzard that occurred last Saturday.
Some said their efforts to acquire more snow-plow contractors were successful, while others said there could have been more to help during a storm that dumped two feet of snow in the area.
Lynn DPW Commissioner Andrew Hall said he was proud of snow-removal efforts in the city, but acknowledged there could have been more contracted workers.
“We had less than 200 contracts and we have about 240 pieces of snow-removal equipment,” said Hall. “We could have used more. I don’t think a single guy who had their snow plow wasn’t helping with the effort.”
Hall said the city is now in its snow-removal phase and the DPW is using the equipment it has to collect as much snow as it can. The DPW has three loaders and six dump trucks to carry the snow and 6,000 tons of sand to de-ice the roads of Lynn. He said he will eventually ask the city for more equipment to help expedite any future snow-removal operations.
“We have one 5,000 stock of sand on Commercial Street and 1,000 tons at Parkland Avenue,” Hall said. “Our equipment is really good but my request will be based on the trucks’ and vehicles’ life cycle. You can’t stop the replacement of old equipment.”
Last year, the city had 187 pieces of contracted snow-removal equipment and 173 in 2020. The lack of contracts for the upcoming winter season was a concern for the Lynn City Council.
Peabody Public Services Department Director Bob LaBossiere said the city was facing similar problems to Lynn — specifically the high banks of snow created by the storm. LaBossiere said the department lost six workers this year and some sidewalk snow-removal machines were not functioning.
“We had a lot of snow and our guys are tired,” LaBossiere said. “Right now we have to keep working until we get it done.”
LaBossiere said between the Public Services Department and private contractors, Peabody had 110 total pieces of equipment compared to the approximately 115 pieces the city had last year. He hopes to do more advertising for contractors for next year.
In Lynnfield, however, DPW Director John Tomasz said he had no issues with acquiring snow-plow contractors.
“Last year we had 25 and now we are up to 50 contracted vehicles,” Tomasz said. “We are very aggressive about acquiring contracts.”
Tomasz said he has heard no issues from residents of Lynnfield regarding the amount of snow in the town. His department has around 15 vehicles altogether, from sidewalk plows to front-end loaders. He said one of the reasons for his team’s success was the snow being light.
“If the snow banks get too high, it gets very difficult,” Tomasz said. “Fortunately, we had light snow rather than a hard one and we were able to get all the way down to the black asphalt. We don’t need ice or sand right now thanks to these guys.”
Tomasz said Lynnfield will continue its active recruitment for contracts next year.
Swampscott DPW Director and Assistant Town Administrator Gino Cresta also said his town had no problem with hiring contractors.
The town has 18 contracted vehicles, an increase from 14 in 2021.
The Swampscott DPW has 13 snow-removal vehicles, including a one-ton dump truck and two front-end loader trucks.
“The only issue we had was with visibility during the storm,” Cresta said. “We started at 4 a.m on Saturday and wrapped up around 12:30 p.m on Sunday.”
Cresta said there were no issues with the main roads either and thanked his team and contractors for their efforts.
“I’ve been at this for a while,” Cresta said. “I have a good staff and our contractors are excellent. We advertised like crazy and we even saw billboards from other towns. We need to just keep going.”
The Saugus DPW has been working 24 hours a day since Saturday to clean up the rest of the snow in town. Select Board Vice Chair Debra Panetta said she has not heard any complaints from residents about the amount of snow still left.
“I usually get calls from people in the town if there is anything wrong with the snow removal and I haven’t heard anything yet,” she said. “Our DPW is still working around the clock and keeping everyone safe.”
Panetta said the main center of Saugus was almost completely cleaned of snow. She said in terms of contracting equipment, Saugus had a satisfactory amount and had no issues with finding contracts this year that she is aware of.
The town of Nahant faced harsh winds during the storm, making cleanup difficult in the middle of the day. Town Administrator Antonio Barletta said the contractors and DPW employees were able to start getting to work as soon as the wind died down in the afternoon.
“They started early in the morning and the wind picked up from 10 a.m to 3 p.m,” Barletta said. “They continued to plow afterward and clean up snow near the school and elderly housing. Thankfully the snow was light.”
Barletta said he had no issues with hiring contractors and the DPW had eight vehicles. He expects to hire more contractors next year during the storm season. He was also thankful there was no storm surge in Nahant compared to the surge that occurred on the South Coast and Cape Cod.
“There was no serious flooding, maybe just a splash,” he said. “We got lucky.”