Municipalities across Butler County gear up for winter weather
Despite a recent string of mild winters, public works employees throughout Butler County leave nothing to chance when it comes to winter weather preparation.
“We’re available 24/7,” said Butler Township Public Works director Dave Meeder. “My guys and I will go out any time we receive the call.”
One of Meeder’s most vital responsibilities involves staying up-to-date with what can be the most unpredictable of the four seasons.
“I monitor the weather a lot,” said Meeder, who has 18 years of experience in maintaining roads. “I’ll use the local news, and plus I use the Weather Channel when they’re calling for a winter event.”
The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh is tracking a complex system that is making its way through the county over the next few days.
“As we get into the afternoon and overnight period on Thursday, (Butler County) will be getting some of that lake snow coming down from the northwest,” said meteorologist Colton Milcarek. “That’s really going to be where you’ll probably get most of the snow from this system.”
Milcarek noted that the northern part of the county could see somewhere between 7 and 8 inches of snow, while the southern portion could receive a couple inches.
The process of making sure road conditions are at their best — even during the worst parts of storms — begins long before the temperature dips below freezing.
“We did our winter maintenance preparation right before Thanksgiving,” said Cranberry Township Public Works director Kelly Maurer. “We have all of our 17 trucks ready to go and all our salt is stocked. We also have 27 people available, and those are all full-time staff.”
In addition to using more traditional methods, municipalities like Cranberry have taken advantage of significant technology improvements to help guide winter maintenance efforts.
Following a trial run last year, officials are now using seven underground pavement sensors. All seven have been placed in remote areas throughout the township, most notably near schools and the municipal center.
“They tell us what the temperature of the pavement is, and we have found it very effective,” Maurer said. “It projects 72 hours in advance when the snow is going to lay on the road, and that sometimes can be different than when it starts snowing. When we can tell when the snow is going to lay on the road, then we can start planning our crews accordingly.”
According to Maurer, just last year that technology saved the township about $150,000 in salt, gas and labor costs.
“We had four sensors last year, and we added three more (this year) because we found it’s just a new tool we can use for snow removal,” she said. “It’s a way to leverage artificial intelligence to be able to perform our winter maintenance duties a little better and be able to plan better.”
Municipalities like Butler Township, which has 12 employees covering 92 miles of mostly rural roads, have found that there’s typically a sweet spot when it comes to ordering and storing salt.
“We order about the same amount of salt every single year,” Meeder said. “We have minimum requirements that we meet. There has been years that we’ve maxed that out on our contract, and there’s other years we have not. It all depends on the severity of the winter.”
Even smaller boroughs like Slippery Rock that have only three people working to maintain safe driving conditions feel comfortable when it comes to executing proper winter safety procedures.
“We have a highly dedicated and skilled roads and maintenance crew that is very attentive to what’s going on,” said Slippery Rock Mayor Jondavid Longo. “We’re always doing that preparatory work in anticipation of weather events.”
