Chesterton Tribune

 

 

15 inches (and counting) of wet snow slows plowing efforts

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By KEVIN NEVERS

The wet heaviness of the season’s first significant snowfall was still hampering efforts in Duneland this morning to clear the roads.

Meanwhile, in many of the unincorporated county’s subdivisions, on-street parking was doing the same thing.

And Chesterton Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg spoke for his counterparts in the Porter Public Works Department and Porter Count Highway Department when he urged residents to be patient. “It’s not just the amount of snow we had, 15 inches,” he said. “The problem we’re having is that it’s really heavy. It’s taking three times longer than normal to plow.”

The usual one-hour job in a subdivision, say, has become a three-hour job, Schnadenberg said. Typically it takes him 30 minutes tops to plow the Duneland Chamber of Commerce’s parking lot, which the town owns. This time, Schnadenberg said, it took him 90 minutes.

“It hasn’t been uncommon this weekend for subdivisions not to see a plow for four or five hours,” he added. “Holy smokes, it’s just taking a long time.”

Plows in Chesterton have been running non-stop since 11 p.m. Saturday, with drivers working in 12-hour shifts, six guys on and six off. “That’s the only way to do it,” Schnadenberg said, “instead of having everyone on at the same time.”

Schnadenberg did express his frustration with folks who still think it’s a good idea--despite the fact it’s a Town Code violation subject to a $100 fine--to throw snow in a roadway that’s been cleared. “It’s the same old thing that I have yet to figure out,” he said. “We spend the time plowing the roads and then people are putting it back in the road. I’m tired of complaining about it.”

Porter Public Works Director Brenda Brueckheimer concurred with Schnadenberg’s assessment. “It’s taking at least three times longer,” she said. “The snow is very heavy.”

But the density of the stuff has also been putting some significant mechanical stress on her fleet. “We’re dealing with some breakdowns now,” Brueckheimer noted.

Unincorporated

Subdivisions

For his part, Porter County Highway Superintendent David James is rather wishing that folks in the subdivisions would give his drivers a break, and a little more credit. Between 7 and 7:55 a.m. today, he said, he received 59 calls--59 complaints--from residents wondering why their subdivisions weren’t free and clear.

“There were a lot of Super Bowl parties yesterday, with a lot of on-street parking,” James said. “We made a few passes in the subdivisions but it’s tough when you’ve got to go around the cars. Then everybody left but we were still working on the main streets and haven’t gotten back to the subdivisions.”

There is a two-inch snow ordinance on the county books, James said, but it’s tough to enforce. “If we do that, I’ve got to have a truck hang out while the cars are removed. And then the main roads aren’t getting attention.”

“We’ve got 32 truck and 812 miles to plow,” James added. “Please be patient.”

Porter County Commissioner Laura Blaney, D-South, posted this plea on her Facebook page today: “Folks, please be patient with our highway department. All of our equipment and guys are out on the roads. They’ve been working since 3am today after starting at 4am yesterday. They are busting their tails! They can’t do the subdivisions until the main roads are cleared. There’s no point in getting people out of their neighborhoods only to have them get stuck on the main thoroughfares. I know you’re frustrated. Please know we are doing everything we can.”

James’ plows were moving slowly, at least early today, for one other reason. “There’s the weight of the snow but then the temperature dropped and the road surface froze,” he said. “It’s slick under everything and the guys have to slow down.”

And while James was thankful that the high winds forecast for Sunday night never materialized, he was less enthused by this morning’s finger of lake-effect adding insult to injury.

Outages

At 12 p.m. Sunday the Northern Indiana Public Service Company was reporting outages affecting 7,900 customers, the effect of heavy snow and gusty winds.

At 8 a.m. today, that number had been reduced to 527, with none reported in Chesterton; 89 in Portage; one in Valparaiso; and one in LaPorte. The rest were in Lake County.

At 6:38 p.m. Sunday, the Chesterton Fire Department responded to a tree limb on a line in the 100 block of Westchester Court. That limb had popped the breakers and was burning, Fire Chief John Jarka said.

“The fire looked impressive, it was burning the limb in three different spots, but once it went out we just waited for NIPSCO,” Jarka said.

Neither the CFD nor the Porter Fire Department reported responding to any weather-related medical emergencies this weekend.

Accidents

Sgt. Larry LaFlower of the Porter County Sheriff’s Police put the number of weather-related slide-offs and accidents at more than 100.

Things you need to know in wake of the snowstorm

Refuse and recycling collection will be delayed by one day this week in the Town of Chesterton, on account of the snow, the Street Department said.

Monday’s route will be collected on Tuesday, Tuesday’s on Wednesday, and so forth.

Monday’s Public Meetings

As of deadline today, the Duneland School Board’s meeting at 6 p.m. today had not been canceled, although classes were. Assistant Superintendent Monte Moffett announced the school closure in e-mails and robo-calls to parents at approximately 6 p.m. Sunday.

The Burns Harbor Plan Commission’s meeting at 7 p.m. had also not been canceled.

Before leaving for either meeting this evening, it would be a good idea, nevertheless, to call the Duneland School Corporation or the Burns Harbor Town Hall and check to see that it was not canceled sometime after deadline.

Clear Snow from Hydrants

Chesterton Fire Chief John Jarka is asking residents to make a special effort to clear snow from fire hydrants. He’s also asking private plow services not to bury hydrants.

The home you save from fire may be your own.

 

Posted 2/2/2015

 
 

 

 

 

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