Winter Storms Hard on Budget | Video

Rene Thibault | 3/16/2013

With another winter storm hitting the Magic City, street crews are back out on the roads again. But, these late winter storms are having a big impact on the Street Department`s budget.

When significant snow storms move through Minot, street crews work around the clock to clean up the city. Workers try to keep all blades and sand trucks on the roads.

Having crews working 24-7 means that resources get used up fast. Crews quickly go through fuel, sand and salt. Vehicles take wear and tear and employees have to be paid for their overtime work.

“You have guys working like I said 12 hours a day, seven days a week, continuously. That`s a lot of overtime every week. That`s probably the biggest strain on the budget, because you can`t budget for snowstorms, we have our normal budget, it just come out of our regular street budget,” said Minot Public Works Director Dan Jonasson.

Jonasson also expects Minot street crews to be working around the clock for the next 10 to 14 days to clear up this last blast of snow.

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