An early morning dusting
City crews were busy this morning clearing streets and sidewalks. Officials said clearing the city’s Uptown is also a priority to help shoppers and other business-goers navigate the area. Above, Brandon Moore, of the city’s parks department, runs the brush to clean sidewalks and driveway aprons along Fifth Street this morning. (Journal-Tribune photo by Mac Cordell)
Marysville city officials are praising the work of the men and women who clear the city streets.
Monday night, as the most recent snow storm was beginning, city council spoke in glowing terms about the preparation and work done by the city streets department.
“They are doing just an excellent job,” said City Manager Terry Emery.
Emery reminded residents that the city plows streets in a specific progression, clearing major roads and streets first, before moving into the residential areas.
“We do have priority streets that we do address in order,” Emery said, adding that for residents on smaller, less populated streets, “It may be a little bit of time before we get to you, but we will get to you.”
Emery and Public Service Director Jeremy Hoyt told council members about the work Street Superintendent Joe Tracey does for the city.
“He is a master,” Hoyt said.
He explained that Tracey looks at the forecast about a week out and begins making plans.
Emery said Tracey and the crews communicate well with each other and city officials to let them know what’s happening.
“It is just awesome to watch these guys do what they do,” Emery said.
Hoyt said the city did not purchase salt this year at Tracey’s recommendation. Hoyt said the city has been stockpiling salt for several years.
“We’ve got plenty of salt,” Hoyt said.
He said that last winter, the city used about 500 man hours and 500 tons of salt to deal with wintery road conditions. Through Sunday, the city has used about 1,300 man hours and 900 tons of salt this winter.
“We have almost doubled our amount for this year already, but we had such a build-up, we are OK,” Hoyt said.
Emery said that while the crews hit the major streets, Tracey often deploys several employees to help clear the uptown area.
“It really made a difference in being able to park and navigate the curbs,” Emery said. “It is a great service and it helps the uptown. We will do that as soon as time allows.”
He said that a recent trip to Delaware reminded him how nice it is to have the uptown clean so travelers do not need to park in the snow or climb over snow banks to get into shops and businesses.
Several city council members took their turn expressing appreciation for the snow crews.
In other business:
– In the Public Safety/Public Service meeting before the council meeting, Hoyt said the city will be working to run electric to Innovation Park. He said the city has been discussing the project for a while, “We were just waiting until we had a fish on the hook before pulling the trigger on that,” Hoyt said.
The city has had several fish on the line, but have not been able to land a tenant for the 206-acre property along U.S. 33. In November, Newark-based Southgate Corporation broke ground on an 84,000-square foot building to be used for Class A industrial and R&D projects.
Hoyt said the city actually budgeted for the expense of running electricity to the site in 2019, but did not make it happen. The project will include electric to the site as well as street lights and trees at the park. Hoyt said as part of the project, the large sign along U.S. 33 will be lit.