Mark Sharpton: Winter work update

The Groundhog saw its shadow last Sunday. Supposedly that means more winter. Here at District 1 it seems like the movie, “Groundhog Day.”

We just keep waking up with a repeat of yesterday. This time of year, with low temperatures, it is hard to accomplish some of the road work we would like to, but we have been diligently sanding and salting roads to clear them of snow and ice. The bad weather does provide us plenty of time and opportunity to perform maintenance on trucks and equipment.

This week we have installed a new front end on a pickup truck and changed blades on the motor graders since snow removal rapidly destroys cutting edges. One tractor trailer has new brakes on all 18 wheels. We have also compiled a list of signs in need of repair or replacement.

On Friday, a two-man crew went out with 40 signs we had in stock to install them as needed. All this shop time is an indirect benefit to citizens since every time we perform maintenance on vehicles and equipment it helps reduce the chance of liabilities. We stopped the dominoes playing eleven years ago and always have something to do on behalf of the people. Now if this cold, snowy weather would stop, we could quit living in Groundhog Day.

Thank you for you patience with our efforts to clear icy roads.