Snow removal budgets being used up by repeated winter weather events (AUDIO)

MASON CITY —  With another snow event, cities and counties are starting to look at their snow budget numbers.

Mayor Bill Schickel, during today’s “Ask the Mayor” program on KGLO, said Mason City has used about three-quarters of what was budgeted for this fiscal year. “We’ve used quite a bit of our snow budget so far, better than 70%, but like I mentioned before, spring is right around the corner.”

Schickel says it’s always tough to figure out the right number to budget for snow removal.  “We use historical data on this. There’s really no good way to predict exactly how much for example salt we’ll have to put out…we’ve put out about 800 tons so far. Same thing with sand, we’ve put out about 2400 tons of sand. Along with the manpower, the workforce that we need to put in operation to keep the streets safe and clear. It’s a priority and we’ll make sure it gets done.”

Schickel praises the efforts of the city’s snow removal crews.  “I’m very proud of our crews. You know I have a chance to travel to other communities, and when I come back to Mason City, I’m usually very impressed with what good shape the streets are in, especially compared to some other communities.”

You can hear more of Schickel’s comments from today’s “Ask the Mayor” program via the audio player below