The winter weather has made the last few weeks in office for Trumbull County Engineer, Dave DeChristofaro, quite a learning experience.
The office works to design, build and maintain roads and bridges throughout Trumbull County, but for the last few weeks, keeping the snow off the roadways has been the top priority.
DeChristofaro has not even held the office for a month, but has already dealt with several winter storms that have put a huge dent in his budget. With three snow storms within three weeks the Trumbull County Engineer says now that when he sees snow he sees dollar signs. "We've spent, today as a matter of fact, we spent about $50,000 just on snow and ice control. So far this year, it has been $150,000 to $200,000," DeChristofaro says.
DeChristofaro also says the weather has also been tough on his crew, who have been working on overtime since Tuesday evening. "Last year it wasn't so bad, and the year before it was nice, but this year we are having trouble keeping up with the ash, getting it mixed fast enough," said plow driver Bill Kauffman.
Other communities are also feeling the pinch. Officials in Girard say they may run out of salt if we continue to get a lot of snow over the next few months, and officials in Warren say they have spent $40,000 so far this year on overtime in the road department.
