Fox Valley communities attend winter workshop

One loudly squeaking wheel finally got some grease in Elgin Friday.

In response to years of complaints about leaf pickup and snow removal performance, Fox Valley school and public works employees attended a full-day workshop focused on best practices in winter operations.

The workshop, held at the Hemmens Cultural Center in downtown Elgin, was attended by 150 workers from Elgin, South Elgin, St. Charles, Batavia, East Dundee and Barrington and Elgin Area School District U-46 and Community Unit District 300.

Mark DeVries, road maintenance superintendent for McHenry County, and Ben Jordan, coordinator of University of Wisconsin-Madison's Engineering Extension Program, spent the day talking to workers about the mechanics behind snow and ice removal, Elgin General Services Director Dave Lawry said.

"One of the weaknesses was that there wasn't a lot a lot of hands-on training in the past," Lawry said. "You gave a guy a set of keys and a plow and they got to work."

The seminar's lessons will be reinforced at the end of the month, with more workshops planned the week of Sept. 22, Lawry said.

Supervisory staff from the various municipalities will conduct several modules on truck inspection, the operation of snow spreaders, plows and hydraulics.

Drivers also will receive behind-the-wheel training, Lawry said.

"We picked that week because it's before we had to get leaf collection in and we didn't want to get in the middle of construction season."

Lawry said he hopes the workshops will become a permanent part of prepping for winter.

"This is something we want to start thinking about on a semiannual basis," he said. "The technology does continue to change."