Montello Faces Snow Plow Dilemma
County No Longer Wants To Use Its Plows
Posted: 6:28 pm CDT September 19, 2008Updated: 2:56 pm CDT September 20, 2008
MONTELLO, Wis. -- With winter right around the corner, local municipalities and counties are gearing up for snow plow season.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportIn Montello, the city and county are going head-to-head over who should plow the city streets.For years, city streets have been plowed by the Marquette County Highway Department.The 12 miles of city streets take the driver an entire shift to finish."With our work in the city of Montello snowplowing, it takes a county employee approximately six hours to plow the streets," said county highway commissioner Ron Sell. "If I could have those six hours on our sections it would be advantageous to us."Sell said his department is already down two employees, paying 11 percent more for salt and is going into the winter season $85,000 in the hole thanks to the record snow earlier in the year.Sell said every county plow driver is needed to clear their 775 miles of roads, not to mention the county plows no other municipalities in their jurisdiction."Our other villages have their own work force and take care of their own maintenance," said Sell. "We may supply them the salt, sand or even apply it at times, but the actual snowplowing they do themselves."According to Sell, the Marquette County Highway Committee has approached Montello city leaders for several years about the need for the city to assume their own plowing.The city council discussed the issue, but never acted, according to city leaders."So now, I think it got a little bit more serious and OK here we are at this position and we need to move forward and we have to address it," said Montello City Clerk and Treasurer Dawn Calnin.Many of those leaders said they feel forced to make an expensive change just months before the snow flies."I think it's an idea we all have to be creative with at this at this budget process that's going on," said Sell.Sell said his department would never allow snow to simply accumulate on city streets, but they want the city to know they are serious about a change of policy.On Wednesday, a Montello Public Works committee approved the purchase of a brand new snow plow truck, not to exceed $125,000.A special meeting of the Montello City Council has been called for Monday to vote on the issue.Interim Mayor Derek Krentz told WISC-TV, another option to consider is leasing a county plow for $65 an hour plus fuel. The city would still need to hire someone to run the truck.Krentz said he believes that in the long run, purchasing a truck would be a more cost-effective measure for the city.City officials estimate that it could take four to six weeks to take delivery of a new plow, which could run right into snow season.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportIn Montello, the city and county are going head-to-head over who should plow the city streets.For years, city streets have been plowed by the Marquette County Highway Department.The 12 miles of city streets take the driver an entire shift to finish."With our work in the city of Montello snowplowing, it takes a county employee approximately six hours to plow the streets," said county highway commissioner Ron Sell. "If I could have those six hours on our sections it would be advantageous to us."Sell said his department is already down two employees, paying 11 percent more for salt and is going into the winter season $85,000 in the hole thanks to the record snow earlier in the year.Sell said every county plow driver is needed to clear their 775 miles of roads, not to mention the county plows no other municipalities in their jurisdiction."Our other villages have their own work force and take care of their own maintenance," said Sell. "We may supply them the salt, sand or even apply it at times, but the actual snowplowing they do themselves."According to Sell, the Marquette County Highway Committee has approached Montello city leaders for several years about the need for the city to assume their own plowing.The city council discussed the issue, but never acted, according to city leaders."So now, I think it got a little bit more serious and OK here we are at this position and we need to move forward and we have to address it," said Montello City Clerk and Treasurer Dawn Calnin.Many of those leaders said they feel forced to make an expensive change just months before the snow flies."I think it's an idea we all have to be creative with at this at this budget process that's going on," said Sell.Sell said his department would never allow snow to simply accumulate on city streets, but they want the city to know they are serious about a change of policy.On Wednesday, a Montello Public Works committee approved the purchase of a brand new snow plow truck, not to exceed $125,000.A special meeting of the Montello City Council has been called for Monday to vote on the issue.Interim Mayor Derek Krentz told WISC-TV, another option to consider is leasing a county plow for $65 an hour plus fuel. The city would still need to hire someone to run the truck.Krentz said he believes that in the long run, purchasing a truck would be a more cost-effective measure for the city.City officials estimate that it could take four to six weeks to take delivery of a new plow, which could run right into snow season.Copyright 2008 by Channel 3000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
