Bernards Township Department of Public Works

Snow Operations January 2016

Blizzard of January 22 -25, 2016

• National Weather Service reported 30” of snow and 50 mph winds for Bernards Township.

• Just 4” from the all-time record storm 1899

• Most snow in a 24 hour short duration (most snow fell between midnight Fri. –midnight Sat.)

Weather Works Service Forecasts (Thursday 1/21/2016 to Saturday 1/23/2016

Forecast date Range Bernards Snow Prediction • 6:16 am Thursday 7”- 14” 7 inches • 2:02 pm Thursday 6”- 12” 6 inches • 6:20 am Friday 7”- 14” 7 inches • 1:37 pm Friday 10”- 18” 10 inches • 5:54 pm Friday 12”- 20” 12 inches • 3:21 am Saturday 16”- 26” 16 inches • 10:24 am Saturday 22”- 30” 22 inches • 5:58 pm Saturday 24”- 32” 24 inches • Actual 30 inches

DPW Staffing

• Prior to 2008 38 personnel

• Fully Staffed 2016 32 personnel

• Actual Staffing * 28 personnel

* 1 Laborer and 1 Groundskeeper positions open and 2 out sick

Divisions within DPW

• Fleet • Roads • Grounds • Buildings Fully Staffed

• 3 employees • 17 employees • 9 employees • 3 employees • 32 Total

DPW Snow Operations

• Township Infrastructure as related to Snow Operations includes: – 113 miles of roads (350 lane miles) – 31 miles of primary and secondary

sidewalks/bikeways out of 81 miles total – Municipal facilities – Emergency Services facilities – Bus and train station lots – Municipal lot – Schools

Snow Removal area of DPW Responsibility

• Township Infrastructure as related to snow operations include:

– Town Hall - PVP Park – Police Department Building -War Memorial Park – Police Annex (Hills) -Southard Park – Health Department Building -Harry Dunham Park – Engineering DPW Building -Mountain Park – Library -Rebel Hill Park

-Sons of Liberty Park – Community & Teen Center Buildings – Community Service Building -Basking Ridge First Aid & Fire – Grounds Garage -Liberty Corner Fire – Brick Academy -Liberty Corner First Aid – Farmstead

Snow Removal area of DPW Responsibility

• Township Infrastructure as related to snow operations include:

– Lyons Train Station – Basking Ridge Train Station – Stone-house Road Commuter Lot – South Maple Ave Municipal Parking – South Maple Ave. Municipal Parking (across from Library) – Ridge High School – William Annin School – Oak Street School – Cedar Hill School – Liberty Corner School – Mt. Prospect School

Difficulties Encountered

• Blizzard conditions created near zero visibility thereby preventing periodic snow removal as accumulations increased.

• High snow amounts rendered small contractor ,as well as, small DPW vehicles ineffective.

• Resident vehicles parked on roadways during the storm created additional issues.

• Loaders and backhoes necessary in sections of the Hills due to snow amount and steep grades.

Difficulties Encountered

• County Roads were addressed by large trucks on a delay which made for tough travel during the snow storm.

• Upon clearing County roads, large windrows were placed across Twp intersections adding additional strain on resources.

• Individual communications during the storm and 911 calls to County dispatch placed strain on the system.

• Intersection sight lines called in by PD.

Difficulties Encountered

• Contractors varied performance, worst areas in the Hills and Spring Valley Blvd. added approx. 100 lane miles and 60 cul-de-sacs to in-house crews.

• Large snow piles necessitated loading and removing snow from schools, municipal lots, facilities and train stations.

• Large snow amount contributed to 12+ days of sidewalk clearing by our Grounds crews.

Storm setbacks, difficulties

encountered

-Blizzard Visibility issues -Small plow equipment contractor -Small plow equipment DPW -Breakdowns DPW -Ultimate use of loaders/backhoes slower operation. -Parked vehicles -Large snow piles needed to be removed -Large amount of snow hampering sidewalk crews. -Design issues with roads/ undersized cul-de-sacs.

• Increase in Time necessary to complete operations.

Geographical Snow Route Analysis

Geographical Snow Route Analysis

Geographical Snow Route Analysis

Geographical Snow Route Analysis

Geographical Snow Route Analysis

Storm Cost Totals

$14,000.00

$95,000.00

$25,000.00

$83,000.00 $80,000.00

$109,000.00

$188,000.00

$297,000.00

Salt/ Misc. DPW In House Labor

OT

Contractor Muni. Lots

School Contractor

Roads Contractors

Total In-House cost

Total Contractor

cost

Total $-

$50,000.00

$100,000.00

$150,000.00

$200,000.00

$250,000.00

$300,000.00

$350,000.00

Storm Re-Cap (Good News)

• Plow trucks entered all roads during the onset of the storm and until they were ineffective.

• Within 24 hours from the end of the storm, all Township plow sections were open (at least one lane) by the early morning hours of Monday.

• Monday morning all municipal facilities, municipal lots, commuter bus lot, Lyons & Basking Ridge Train stations were open for business.

Storm Re-Cap (Good News)

• Schools at 90% completion by Monday evening, additional resources needed to load and remove snow Tuesday, open Wednesday morning.

• Township loaders (3), backhoes (2), and large snow blowers (2) were utilized to widen snowed in roads with no impact to resident driveway openings.

• Basking Ridge business district including County road was cleared of snow piles by Thursday.

Recommendations

• Incorporate Snow complaints into our GEO Portal later this year. This would allow for residents to report issues via web and have it on file for DPW to address and provide response.

• Set up DPW Administrative personnel with remote access to man phones and GEO –Client.

• Revise ordinance restricting parking vehicles during snow operations so that PD can administer more effectively.

• Contractor looking to modify plows for this contingency.

Recommendations

• Exploring Snow Operation GPS System. • Request resolution placing responsibility on

residents to maintain sidewalks along their frontage, so as to free up resources that can be redeployed to roads clearing.

• Currently we used 3 loaders in the storm, retain oldest loader to provide additional resources (backup) as was the case in this storm.

• Increase the number of large plow trucks, size of plows and snow blowers.