Potsdam Village Administrator Greg Thompson.

BY ADAM ATKINSONNorth Country This Week

POTSDAM — A mild winter has kept expenses down on the village Department of Public Works snow removal budget so far, and the village administrator reports that the DPW has made quick work of the snow that has dropped on the community.

“Snowfall, we’ve been really lucky, has been at a minimum at this point,” said Village Administrator Greg Thompson at the Jan. 16 village board meeting. “And that which did fall, in my opinion and for those I talked to, was managed effectively and efficiently.”

“As the mayor alluded, we did follow our snow removal procedures and I think it worked, I think it worked very well. As always, I know there are those who would like to see changes made in that management plan. Right now, I think it looks really good for us. Again, as Trustee (Lynzie) Schulte alluded to, we are never going to please everybody 100 percent. We try our best.”

Thompson said one of the village DPWs challenge areas for snow removal is along Clarkson Hill due to the location of the guard rail there.

The village administrator said the village has reached out to the state Department of Transportation regarding the location of the guard rail. Thompson said the DOT is going to put in a request for the village to move the guard rail back further in the spring.

“What that will do is widen that sidewalk out to five feet to match the rest of the sidewalks and then we can clear all the way up through those limits,” the administrator said.

“I’m happy to report, and this kind of goes along with it, plow season has been, knock on wood, a little bit slow. We have only consumed about half the actual overtime hours that we did last year at this time,” Thompson said. “Last year at this time, our high overtime hours were right around 96 hours total for the season for our highest individuals.”

“Right now we’re right around 40/45. So we are down considerably on that,” Thompson said.

The administrator also said fuel use is down too this year so far.

“The fuel consumption has been drastically, drastically reduced as far as the amount of fuel we’re having to use to get the job done,” he said.

Thompson thanked the board for allowing him to purchase two new snowplows last year. He said those new plows along with the other village plows backing them up have allowed the DPW to save money on repairs this year.

The administrator said the newer equipment is allowing the village trucks to stay on the road longer.