Lombard OKs extra snow removal funding

Long before the blizzard of 2011 dropped even a flurry on the area, municipalities across the suburbs negotiated contracts with snow removal agencies and set aside funds for plowing, snow blowing and shoveling.

Lombard Village Board, under guidance of its public works committee, planned less funding for snow removal this year than in the past, said Carl Goldsmith, public works director.

“We scaled it back into this season,” he said of the village’s $30,970 contract with Beverly Snow and Ice, Inc. of Markham.

When the blizzard hit, plowing streets and making them passable took priority over keeping removal costs down.

Storm response cost the village $243,951, not including the cost of regular employee compensation, according to public works figures. That amount bought salt and other supplies, and paid public works employees’ overtime and bills to Beverly Snow and Ice and another contractor, Goldsmith said.

With the total owed to Beverly at $36,060 — more than the original contract amount of $30,970 — public works requested an increase of $45,000 to the contract at Thursday’s village board meeting. Trustees unanimously approved the extra funding, which village manager David Hulseberg said will come from the village’s contingency fund and savings from projects that came in under budget.

“The $45,000 will get us through to the end of the season,” Goldsmith said. “It’s probably more than is needed.”

If that’s the case, the village may not spend the entirety of the $75,970 it is now authorized to pay Beverly Snow and Ice. But instead of underestimating snow removal costs again, Goldsmith said staff wanted plenty of money ready.

Trustee Greg Gron, chairman of the public works committee, said the group will hear a report about snow removal activities from village staff at its next meeting March 8. He said he expects the report to evaluate plowing procedures, resident complaints about snow removal and ways snowstorm cleanups might be achieved more cheaply in the future.