Winter Weather...

Dear Anonymous,

No lame excuses here, only the facts.

I agree, roads, alleys and parking lots were terrible in Gibson City during and after the ice storm. Our city crews did a great job spreading salt (and sand), but salt doesn't work below 15 degrees and we had more than several days with below normal temperatures. Once it warmed up the rain washed much of the salt off of the ice and then the additional moisture would freeze making the ice even thicker, further compounding the problem.

I wish it was as simple as putting the blade down, but snow plows are not designed to scrape solid ice off of the roads. If we raised the gauge wheels on our plows and tried to remove solid ice it would not only damage our roads, but probably damage our equipment as well. Our roads are not level and the gauge wheels keep the blades from digging into the road. When there's solid ice like we had, the gauge wheels ride on top of the ice until it rains, melts or the ice is turned into slush by the salt so it can be removed. I hope this answers your question.

When road conditions deteriorate, please allow more time to get to where you're going and drive safely.

City crews are also beginning to remove tree limbs that are placed near the curb and hopefully will be able to complete the task within the next several weeks. Christmas trees will not be picked up. It is also my understanding that many of our damaged trees on city property will need to be trimmed.

As a side note, we have already used half as much salt as we normally use in an entire season and we still have at least several months to go. Superintendent Stauffer informed me that we are almost completely out of salt. He placed an order two weeks ago, but we still haven't received it yet. Hopefully it will arrive prior to our next round of Winter weather.

In the last two years the cost of salt has increased 40% and Superintendent Stauffer has started mixing the salt with sand to help maintain expenses. Many municipalities are considering the same. I believe that this is a wise use of our tax money and helps make our tax dollars go further.

I hope everyone had a joyous Christmas and I also hope we all have a great New Year.

Mayor Dan


I wrote in the summer complimenting the street crews. Today I'm writing to complain. What's the deal? Our crews are usually right on top of things but not this time. It's dangerous out there! Even the township roads are in better shape... please no lame excuses about salt. Put the plow blade down and scrape the ice off.

Anonymous