Typically there is snow in December, but this year warm temperatures have graced the state.

With no snow to plow, it has given public works departments a chance to work ahead on projects that would typically have to wait until spring.

Jason Dailey, Cranberry Township director of public works, said most public works departments put together a working project list. That’s what departments often do when they don’t have to tackle snowy and icy roads.

Dailey said the township has quite a few projects to work on such as tree removal in the parks and doing road patches.

Many asphalt plants are staying open, which has allowed the township to do sizable road patches, Dailey said. These are projects that would typically be done in the spring as part of the 2016 paving program.

“We are actually able to get a little further ahead now in our road repairs,” Dailey said.

He said the department also gets facility maintenance done in the winter with repainting, office renovations, construction and routine preventive maintenance.

He noted that November and December are typically months with less snow.

“If we have 15 (snow) events between those two months, that is probably above average,” he said.

Dailey said the township goes through about 85 tons of salt per round of snow.

In most November and December periods, the township uses 800 and 1,000 tons.

“Right now we are at zero, which is good,” Dailey said.

Dailey said every municipality that has a rock salt contract for road use is required to order a minimum and a maximum amount. The township had to put its estimates in a year in advance for how much rock salt it will use.

“If we put in for an estimate of 5,000 tons, most of those contracts say you have to order 90 percent of your estimate, for us that would be 4,500 tons that we would have to order if that was our estimate,” Dailey said.

Dailey said the township uses nearly 6,000 tons if it is a severe winter, but on average it uses 4,500 to 5,000 tons a year.

“Even if this entire winter stayed mild for us and we did not use a lot, we would be saving that money on overtime and wear and tear on equipment,” Dailey said. “The expense of the rock salt will still be there because we still have to order that minimum. We would be looking for areas to store that material or to tarp it.”

Thomas Knights, director of public works in Butler Township, said his township also is saving money with the warm weather.

“Last year at this time, we had used 340 tons (of salt),” he said. “This year, it’s zero.”

Knights said the warm weather came at an opportune time since the township’s salt prices increased to $76.52 per ton this year

Knights said Butler Township has been able to extend its paving and storm sewer projects due to the mild weather.

“We’ve got a jump on next spring,” he said.

The lack of snow also is off-setting overtime costs incurred at the start of the year when harsh weather lingered for months.

“It’s given us a little help in balancing that out,” he said, adding there also has been a substantial savings in diesel fuel this fall.

Adams Township road foreman John Hock said by mid-December last year his plow crews had been out five times scraping snow off roads and had gone through about 150 tons of salt and anti-skid material.

“Each year is something different,” Hock said, “You never really know.”

He said since there is no snow now, this time is being used to check and maintain the 12 plow trucks in the township’s garage. Checking hoses and refurbishing plow blades and their assemblies are some of the tasks being done by plow truck drivers.

“We go over them bumper to bumper,” Hock said.

He said new and part-time drivers also are spending time familiarizing themselves with the many new housing plans in the township.

One aspect that is eased by a mild beginning to wintertime is getting salt and anti-skid material, Hock said.

He explained that once the Pittsburgh rivers freeze, the barges carrying those materials have a harder time delivering supplies. Shipments that are able to arrive at the drop point are divided among the municipalities that ordered it.

“If you try to order 10 loads, you might get two,” Hock said.

But the longtime road foreman said winter will arrive soon enough, along with all the associated traffic issues.

“I think when it comes it’s going to come gangbusters,” he said.

Janis Zubrin, secretary and treasurer of Buffalo Township, said her township’s road crew is catching up on work.

“It’s been a positive thing,” she said. “We have a stock pile prepared for the worst, but we’re hoping for more nice weather.”

Zubrin said the township’s crew of five is catching up on its to-do list.

“It’s been really helpful because they can work on other projects that had to be put aside in the past,” she said.

While municipalities are taking advantage of the unseasonable weather, the state Department of Transportation also is seeing the benefits.

“We’re getting a lot of work done,” said Bob Skrak, maintenance manager with PennDOT District 10 in Butler County. “We’ve amended our plans twice already.”

He said the state crew has done additional road patching, cleaned inlets and cleared trees from the roads.

He said equipment maintenance also has been a priority.

“We’re working a lot on our summer equipment,” he said. “That way we can get an early start right out of the gate.”

Eagle staff writers Will DeShong, Paula Grubbs and Whitney Randolph contributed to this report.