Public works department keeps on plowin’

BY JENNIFER DOME
Staff Writer

Brick Township’s public works department, police department and other emergency responders had a lot of numbers to crunch this weekend — 17 inches of snow; minus 10 degrees wind chill; and gusts of wind measuring up to 40 mph.

Public works crews were still plowing snow throughout the township midday Monday, said Glenn Campbell, who works with the department.

Workers were called in at 11 a.m. Saturday in anticipation of major snow hitting the area at 2 p.m., Campbell said. From about noon until 3 p.m., the crews applied the liquid calcium/salt mixture to the roads that helps keep the pavement clear of up to 4 inches of snow fall. After that, the department began plowing — a job that began at 4 p.m. Saturday and continued until Monday.

“Our guys are still out there plowing,” Campbell said at noon Monday.

About 17 inches of snow fell in Brick and because of the wind, some streets still had about an inch of snow left on them at the beginning of the week. Campbell said he hopes the combination of the sun and the liquid calcium/salt mixture, which will help the plows lift the snow completely off the roads, will eliminate any snow on the roads.

“We should expect to see pavement today,” Campbell said Monday.

Schools were closed Monday and although there were a lot of motor vehicle accidents this weekend, Brick Police Lt. Douglas Kinney said there were no major accidents.

When asked if the accidents were on smaller roads or main roads as well, Kinney said, “they were all over the place.”

The township opened its emergency operations center at 7 p.m. Saturday, after the county opened their center, Kinney said. There were about nine people there from the public works department, fire, first aid, administration and police department. Kinney said the center stayed open until noon Sunday.

“It was pretty much a precautionary measure,” Kinney said.