Politics & Government

Blizzard Snow Removal: How'd the Village Do?

Village trustees got an update on where the village stands and how Public Works did during the '11 blizzard on Monday night.

At Monday night's Village Board meeting, trustees got an update on how the village fared during the great blizzard of 2011 from Interim Public Works Director Jeff Perrigo and Police Chief Philip Norton. Overall both reported a postive outcome for how the Village handled the storm.

Village Board President Mark Pfefferman also added that he received many compliments of how good of a job Glen Ellyn did clearing the snow and thanked the Public Works Department, The Volunteer Fire Department and Police Department for their role in keeping things running smoothly.

Here's a rundown of how things went:

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  • Glen Ellyn got 20-22 inches of snow with wind gusts of 45-55 mph creating whiteout conditions. Snow drifts around the village measured up to eight feet in certain locations, all in about 18 hours.
  • Volunteer firefighters spent the night in both firehouses to be prepared for any emergencies. 
  • All 15 Public Works trucks were out clearing snow and helping out where needed. Crews worked in 12-hour shifts for 24 hours.
  • Within 24 hours the main streets and the Central Business District were funcitoning again. Within 48 hours most secondary streets and cul-de-sacs were cleared. Within 72 hours the crews had moved on to general cleanup and pushing snow back at intersections.
  • Due to worries about high winds actually tipping the trucks over and the reduced visibility, crews could not work several times over Tuesday night.
  • Glen Ellyn spent approximately $80,500 between 7 a.m. on Feb. 2 and 7 a.m. on Feb. 4 on labor, salt and fuel.
  • $7000 was spent on salt alone during and after the blizzard, using about 350 tons of road salt.
  • Public Works recieved 262 calls between Wednesday and Friday:
160 for streets that had not been plowed 31 for snow blocking driveways 29 miscellaneous  16 for sidewalks not being cleared
  • The Police Department responded to over 80 calls during a 48-hour period of time, most were for stuck or stranded motorists. 
  • The Village actually came in under budget and will be fine in its salt reserves if they weather stays pretty good through until April, Perrigo said.


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