Berkley, Huntington Woods Ready for Winter Storm – but are Residents?

After a winter with noticeably less snowfall than in recent years, forecasters are calling for up to 5-8 inches of the white delight overnight and into Friday morning.

With a winter storm warning in effect from 10 p.m. Thursday to 7 p.m. Friday, forecasters are calling for first a rain-snow mix turning to heavy snow overnight with a few rumbles of thunder possible thrown in.

The snowstorm means trucks from Berkley and Huntington Woods will be powering their way down city streets to clear the way and keeping the roads safe with salt.

Both cities say they are ready for whatever Mother Nature offers up over the next 24 hours.

“We’re geared up to have folks on call and ready to roll,” Director Derrick Schueller said Thursday. “When we need to have people on the roads, they’ll be there.”

Manager Claire Galed said her city’s people are also ready to tackle what could be the year’s first significant snowfall.

“We’re anticipating that maybe this time the weather forecasters will get it right and we will get some snow,” Galed said Thursday morning. “Obviously, it’s something that we assess as we go along. We’re ready though, and our trucks will be ready when we leave here today in case we need them. Our general policy, though, is not to plow until the snow reaches 4 inches, but if it’s really coming down we might go out and try to get a jump on it.”

In Berkley, Schueller said the decision to call in workers to operate plows after business hours is not in his department’s hands.

“During regular working hours, the decision on when to send out the trucks is entirely ours (Public Works),” Schueller said. “But, if it’s after working hours, which could be tonight for instance, it’s the ’s decision. They will contact our foreman on call. They determine when the roads are becoming a safety issue.”

Residents Ready, Too

Like their counterparts at Public Works, the residents of Berkley and Huntington Woods appear to be ready for Mother Nature's wrath.

Some, such as 68-year old Berkley resident Joseph Kidd are welcoming the dose of winter weather.

"It's about time it snowed," Kidd said Thursday. "I was beginning to think I was living in Florida. It's Michigan. It's supposed to snow. Bring it on."

Huntington Woods resident Sarina Gee is equally as excited about the prospect.

"My boyfriend owns two snowmobiles and my kids and I love to ski," Gee said. "That should tell you all you need to know about how I feel about a snowstorm coming."

Meanwhile, Isaac Dunford is less than enthused about the possibility, but accepts the reality of the situation.

"I was hoping to get through without having to shovel my driveway much," the Berkley resident said. "The older I get the less I enjoy the winter. I was hoping we would get through it, but it looks like we are not going to avoid it. I'll dig out the shovel tonight and be ready in the morning."

regardless of which side of the proverbial snow fence you're on, winter is a fact of life in Michigan. Each of these residents agree, like it or not, that it's nice to know the city is prepared for whatever Mother Nature has to offer over the next day or so.

Cost of Snowflakes, Road Salt

Should the weather forecasters be right tonight, then it’s likely city workers will be hitting the roads well before normal business hours, meaning overtime pay and costs to both cities.

“We usually have about 10-15 plowable events a year,” Schueller said. “This year I think we’ve had three, maybe four so far. Because of that you can see that there hasn’t been as much overtime or costs as there might be in a typical year. It’s been about one-fifth of what we would expect it to be at this point.”

Huntington Woods has spent less on snow removal this season then in typical years, but the amount of money saved is difficult to determine over time, Galed said.

“It is hard to say. What we do is try to find a middle ground,” Galed said. “Some years we’re going to be under, some years we’re going to be over. Clearly, we haven’t spent hardly any money on overtime this year, but next year we may spend double what we anticipated. ... Overall though, over a 10-year period, we’re probably on target with what we thought we would be spending.”