County Road Crews Trimming Trees, Preparing For Snow, Ice
Although only half an inch of snow fell within the Ste. Genevieve city limits last Thursday morning, some of the county roads received more. (Photo by MARK EVANS/Herald staff)
By MARK EVANS
mevans@stegenherald.com
With snow coming down and single-digit temperatures predicted, road and bridge work and equipment took up much the short Ste. Genevieve County Commission meeting last Thursday.
Road and bridge foreman Scott Schmieder reported that his crews were dealing with the light snow and preparing more the bulk of winter weather further down the line.
He said some additional salt may need to be ordered.
The commissioners agreed that there was no need to take any chances on running out.
“I’d be a proponent of having any extra salt,” Second District Commissioner Randy Ruzicka said.
That led Presiding commissioner Garry Nelson to mention the salt bin in the proposed new shed at the road and bridge lot near Weingarten. The plan is for a portion of the building to be divided off for salt storage, with the floor and walls treated, to prevent the salt from eating away the concrete.
Nelson noted that the salt bin should be accessible from two sides.
Schmieder said he may order another set of blade edges for plowing snow. He said the equipment was being prepared for use. He hopes to get “several snows” out of the current blade edges. It was agreed, though, that there is no guarantee of this happening and that having additional ones on hand would be good.
“If you don’t use them this year, you’ll use them next year,” Nelson said.
Meanwhile, the road and bridge crews had been trimming trees and limbs and doing other maintenance, Schmieder said. A bad spot on Pinkston Road was being patched.
The tree trimming led Nelson to mention a complaint received from a caller on Becker Road. The individual said that after trees were trimmed, the roadside “looked like a tornado went through,” with twisted, splintered limbs, etc.
Nelson said he checked out the site and agreed that in a away, it did resemble tornado damage.
“It does sort of look like tornado damage, with splinters sticking out,” Nelson said. He noted that with the crews having to use the equipment on hand, limbs are twisted off limbs, rather than cut. Therefore it leaves a more damaged-looking tree behind. He pointed out, though, that all debris on the ground had already been picked up by the time he visited the scene.
“I don’t see what could have been done different,” he said. “It was cleaned up good.”