Steve Burns
WMAL.com
ROCKVILLE – (WMAL) Despite the mild winter, Montgomery County’s Department of Transportation is asking the County Council for over $9 million in reimbursement money for snow removal and related costs.
Just over six inches of snow fell in the winter of 2016-2017, the county said. But despite the paltry totals, not every forecast was entirely correct. That meant crews had to be mobilized anyway.
“We kind of live and die by the forecast,” DOT Chief Operating Officer Emil Wolanin told WMAL. “We’re mobilizing our own forces, as well as contractors, supplies materials, everything associated with battling the storm, as it’s forecasted.”
Wolanin pointed to the final storm of the season, in mid-March, as one that was forecasted to be much more dire than it turned out to be.
“We got our contractors lined up, we got them on standby, and you have to pay them for that,” he said.
Very little snow removal money is issued in the initial budget, and Wolanin said it’s common practice for the county to reimburse the department at the conclusion of snow season in order to avoid over-budgeting.
And regardless of the storm, Wolanin said they need to keep their supplies stocked.
“We have to make sure all our salt domes are filled, as well as other treatment materials” like brine are ready to go, he said.
The reimbursement following the winter of 2015-2016, Wolanin said, was north of $30 million.
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