OBSERVER Photos by Braden Carmen
Pictured is the completely cleared sidewalk outside of Dunkirk School No. 7 on Monday afternoon.
The northern part of Chautauqua County took the brunt of the storm over the weekend, but local officials reported a solid response.
“Our crew did a superb job. I’m proud of every single one of them,” said Dunkirk Director of Public Works Randy Woodbury. “All of the streets and parks division worked around the clock for several days.”
Even when the conditions didn’t let up, Dunkirk was prepared to handle the storm. “We got much more snow than we were initially expecting. Then we thought we were caught up, and then then 8 inches more came down,” said Woodbury.
Woodbury noted many of the workers from water maintenance helped out as well, because of their ability to operate the plow trucks. “Everybody that was available was out there,” Woodbury said.
Woodbury said the city’s Alternate Parking presented a challenge because the city had to work around the 5 p.m. time to move from one side of the road to another.
Another challenge specific to this storm was how early in the year it came. Woodbury said the storm “came a little early” and because of that, some of the places where snow fences are usually set up to combat the drifts were not yet in place. As long as the snow is able to melt before the next major storm, Woodbury believes the city will be even more prepared to combat the drifts the next time the area is hit with heavy snowfall.
“Considering the storm we had, we couldn’t have done a better job,” said Woodbury, who noted city officials have reached out to praise the department’s efforts.
Meanwhile in Fredonia, the impact was not quite as severe as it was in Dunkirk. Fredonia Department of Public Works Superintendent Scott Marsh reported the village got a little over a foot of snow. Marsh said that things went “very well” in the village of Fredonia.
As of Monday afternoon, the village of Fredonia was about a quarter of the way done with clearing the sidewalks. “We were prepared. Everything went really well,” Marsh said. “Our guys did a good job.”
The town of Dunkirk also reported a positive outcome from the storm, despite tough circumstances going into it. The town of Dunkirk is down to only one worker in charge of keeping the roads safely plowed, as the town is seeking to fill a vacancy.
“I’m happy with what he did,” said Dunkirk Town Supervisor Richard Purol. “I had very few calls of anyone complaining.”
The town of Dunkirk also received assistance from the town of Sheridan with the storm, while Dunkirk aided Sheridan when it could, as well.
“There were no issues I was aware of. I thought everything went well,” Purol said.
