Sunday snowfall dumps 17 inches
Published on February 15th, 2006
STONEHAM, MA - Stoneham finally received the true winter wonderland it waits all winter for on Sunday, as 17 inches of the white fluffy stuff was dumped on the streets, lawns and driveways of Stoneham.
The snow was more of the white fluffy variety - a much easier shoveling proposition than the typically wet and heavy snowfall Stonehamites expect. Despite the relatively light snowfall this winter, Stoneham's snow and ice budget is to the brink after the latest storm, according to DPW Director Bob Grover.
The snowfall started around 2 a.m. Sunday morning and didn't let up much during the morning, afternoon and early evening - keeping the 20 DPW employees and 30 hired contractors busy throughout the day.
The storm gave the plow workers some much-needed work, as the lack of snow has hit the pocketbooks of the contractors operating the plows on the truck.
"We've barely had any work this season...there's only been four storms and for some of the minor ones they only send out the sanders," said Tom Fryeberg, a local snow-plowing contractor. "I think I've only worked 26 hours this winter - including 18 last Sunday - and that's a lot less than I usually do in a winter."
According to Grover, the cars parked on the snowy streets were an issue for the plows.
Grover said that the Sunday blizzard cost the town between $80,00-100,000 and that it puts Stoneham right at the $190,000 figure budgeted for snow and ice removal this winter - a budgeted line item that Stoneham DPW almost annually runs well over.
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