Digging out of the snow

Last Friday morning while most Nevada residents were asleep in warm beds city employees were busily driving up and down the 65 miles or so of city streets plowing the snow so people would be able to get to work and the police cars, fire trucks and ambulances could get around town when needed.

These hard working people who braved the bone-chilling cold of those early morning hours while the snow was still falling to make it possible for the rest of us to get around, deserve the thanks of all Nevada residents.

Harlan Moore, interim city manager, told the city council Tuesday night that this was the second largest snowfall in Nevada's history and by 8 or 9 a.m. on Friday most of the main city streets had been plowed and the city Square had been cleared.

This effort came with a $3,000 price tag for overtime, however, Moore said that he thinks much of that may be recovered from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Even if the city has to cover the entire cost it was worth it. Had the streets not been cleared most of the town would have been paralyzed and quite a few businesses would not have been able to open.

It was a rare, heavy snowfall that was very difficult to address. It seemed that places to put the cleared snow were in short supply, making the tremendous job of clearing streets even more daunting.

Yes, the piles of snow at the foot of our driveways were inconvenient.

Yes, the mounds of snow down the middle of the downtown streets were inconvenient.

Yes the parking lots were not completely cleared until Sunday and some short, dead-end streets were not cleared until Friday afternoon. Remaining snow was an issue for some drivers.

Those things are merely temporary inconveniences. The city was still able to function and because the streets were plowed early, much of the remaining snow was able to melt off the streets during the past week.

When the city reviews how their plan worked they will probably make changes so the next time we get a large snow storm things will work better.

Just remember that it could have been much worse. We could have had an ice storm to bring down trees and power lines and still be huddling in unheated homes like residents in the St. Louis area, or had 18-inches of snow like Butler.

Nevada Daily Mail