Blizzard Over, Village Focuses on Hauling Away Snow

Trucks continue to haul snow from downtown Glen Ellyn and other parts of the village to various dumping sites, including the Village Green and Ackerman Park.

Glen Ellyn has piled thousands of tons of snow in the parks as the public works department has cleared the streets of the village.

Jeff Perrigo, interim public works director, said snow removal has been his department’s top priority since a winter storm dumped 24.3 inches of snow on the Glen Ellyn last week.

“We’re still plugging away, making sure we clear out the downtown area and making room for parking,” Perrigo in a telephone interview. The hauling away of the snow was a combined effort of the public works department and a private trucking company, Perrigo said.

“I have no clue how much snow has been taken over there, but it’s a lot,” Perrigo said Monday afternoon.

Perrigo said he is not currently concerned about any possible flooding that may result from the snow melt due to the freezing temperatures in the forecast.

“That’s too far away right now. The weather forecast doesn’t show any warm up that is going to make us worry about that right now. Our top concern is getting the snow out of the streets,” Perrigo said.

But there may not be much concern about massive flooding from the heavy snowfall.

Julius Hansen, public works director in La Grange Park, said the Blizzard of 2011 had a moisture ratio of 10 or 12 to one, and at least during one point of the storm the ratio was 15 to one. That ratio means the snowfall is equal to about an inch-and-a-half of rain fall, Hansen said.

Flooding in some areas of Glen Ellyn is a concern, especially after the flooding that occurred in June 2010 following a series of heavy rainfalls. Perrigo, though, said a slow melt, like what occurred over the weekend, is easily handled by the village sewer systems. He said the melt off typically runs into the sewer system because the ground is still frozen and cannot absorb the melt. And hauling away a lot of the snow from city streets will also help with any possible melting concerns.

While some villages are nearing the end of their road salt reserves due to the large amount of snow that has fallen this winter, Perrigo said Glen Ellyn has adequate stores of salt in case of any immediate storms. However, he said they may seek to bolster existing stores before the winter ends.

Perrigo said he is still running numbers to see how the excess plowing during the blizzard is affecting his budget. The village ran 15 trucks through the storm to keep the village streets clear of snow. Crews worked in 12 hour shifts and operated continuously to handle the massive snowfall.

At the very least, the Village owe those guys a big thanks.