Our winter weather can vary greatly by a few miles. The preparations for that snow appear to be the same.
The City of Erie said they are prepared for the snow. They did inspections on their plows over the summer. They have ten plows ready to go.
It’s sunny and about 70 degrees but snow is on the mind of Millcreek Twp. Supervisor Jim Bock.
“We have about 19 plow trucks so we need to get them ready for the season,” he said. They have 17 routes that cover about 420 miles of road. They have enough people to drive the plows but not enough to fix them.
They had six mechanics last year. Now they’re down to two but they don’t work on snowplows.
“We currently have no heavy-duty diesel mechanics to work on our plow trucks,” he said.
For months, the position has been posted online with minimal interest.
Bock said it’s not a matter of if but when plows break.
“They’re going to require service,” he said.
“Especially after the first snow. There’s always something that’s going to need done,” he said.
The township will have to outsource repairs if they can’t hire people. That means it could take longer to get the plows fixed.
“We’ll have to wait in line and take a number and the downtime could be significant,” he said.
Roads in Millcreek might not get plowed if this problem continues.
He said the issue is with the mechanic’s union. The township is working with the union to increase pay from the current $20.74 an hour.
“My goal is to, again, attempt to work with the union to try to get this resolved and hopefully we get some applicants,” he said.
He has this advice for people if things don’t work out.
“Moving forward, you’re going to have to be patient should a snowstorm hit and should plows go down,” he said.