Our most rugged winter in several years has had a major impact on road department budgets.
Stats provided to KVOE News by the Lyon County Highway Department show a total of $144,000 spent from Nov. 1-March 1 — $28,000 on labor, $70,000 on equipment and $46,000 on materials. For comparison, that’s almost as much as the $167,000 total from the past three winters combined.
Lyon County Engineer Chip Woods says the extra money spent this winter will have an impact later this year, especially if our active weather pattern continues.
Final stats from 2015 through 2018 are still pending from the city of Emporia, but Street Supervisor Mike Dvorak says the current winter costs are about $49,000, including $40,000 for salt mix, $1,250 for fuel, $300 for repairs and over $7,000 for employee overtime. He estimates the city spent around $15,000 per year for the past three winters.
Here in Emporia, we have received close to 25 inches of snow since early November and over 5 inches of rain.
Lyon County statistics
Nov 2015 through March 1, 2016 Labor = $8,000 Equipment = $23,000 Materials = $26,00 Total = $57,000
Nov 2016 through March1, 2017 Labor = $6,000 Equipment = $17,000 Materials = $13,000 Total = $36,000
Nov 2017 through March 1, 2018 Labor = $12,000 Equipment = $32,000 Materials = $30,000 Total = $74,000
Nov 2018 through March 6, 2019 Labor = $28,000 Equipment = $70,000 Materials = $46,000 Total = $144,000
