ESCANABA -- The City of Escanaba is about a month into snow removal season, and despite the slow winter, they've already done plenty of salting and a little snow plowing.
As long as it's not a weekend, the crew plows all the streets in Escanaba, but on the weekends they only do the major roads.
The snow fleet consists of three graders, four plow trucks, two front-end loaders, and a snow blower. The city has set aside a budget of about $500,000 for winter cleanup.
"The problem we have with that half a million dollar budget is the employee costs keep increasing," said City Engineer Bill Farrell. "So with the same amount of money, you can't get as much done."
The lack of heavy snow doesn't mean the crew isn't staying busy. They've also done a lot of road patching, tree work, and maintenance around city buildings.
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