Town Council Discusses January Ice Storm

The Town of Chapel Hill reviewed their process for handling ice and snow after the recent storm in their meeting Monday night.

Interim Fire Chief Matthew Sullivan said the ice storm that hit the town last month had a few characteristics that made it tough prepare for and deal with

“It wasn’t fluffy, white easy to push snow,” he said.

Sullivan also said the temperature was too low and prevented the ice from melting.

(Photo by Blake Hodge)

From noon on Friday, when the storm first began, to noon the Monday after, there were only 12 hours of over 30 degree weather and only seven hours of sunlight, which meant ice on sidewalks and roads didn’t melt.

Some residents were upset at what they saw as a lack of response from the town when it came to clearing sidewalks.

“How we clear our streets and how we clear our sidewalks isn’t just about how we get cars from place to place,” said councilwoman Donna Bell. “It’s really a social justice issue. There are people who don’t have cars. There are some people who have to walk.”

Response to the storm cost the town $350,776 , which included spreading 32,000 gallons of brine on the roadways and hiring contractors to help get everything done.

“The Town of Chapel Hill has four brine distributors, five box spreaders, 10 plows and a motor grader,” Sullivan said. “That isn’t sufficient to do the type of clean up we need to do and so we employ contract resources.”

The town brought in an additional four plow trucks, five motor graders, three rubber tire loaders and eight skid steers.

Sullivan said the cost of storm was factored into this year’s budget and can be absorbed by individual departments.

One town employee said there are measures the town can take if another storm exceeds their current budget.

“Obviously we’re not equipped or budgeted for multiple large-storm events,” he said. “If there’s another large-storm event, the first strategy would be to try to find additional funds in departmental budgets to cover those costs.”

If there are not enough funds in those budgets, the town will look to find money in other places. In case of emergency the council can grant an additional appropriation.

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