Niles Spent $182,000 On February Snowstorm

The 20.2 inches of did more damage than causing potholes and muscles sore from shoveling. It cost the village about $182,000.

Steve Vinezeano, Niles assistant village manager, provided the cost breakdown, below, to Niles Patch Tuesday. The village may be able to recoup as much as 75 percent of the cost from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

At Tuesday evening's village board meeting, Vinezeano said he spent the morning of Feb. 1  

On Tuesday night, clearing snow, with employees working 12 hour shifts, he said.  

"Their initial goal was to make roads passable. They had zero incidents and zero injuries," Vinezeano reported. 

All village facilities were open by Feb. 3, and the public services department continued its elevated hours clearing snow from alleys and cul de sacs, as well as handling six water main breaks. On Feb. 3, the village called the bus shelter company to clear snow from the bus shelters, and the fire department spent two weeks clearing snow from around hydrants.

Vinezeano reserved his biggest praise for the public works department.

"I would honestly say Public Works would receive an A for snow clearing, and an A+ for doing it without incident," he said.

Mayor Robert Callero offered his own praise, saying,  "It was a great job by police, fire, Public Works, administration and especially that young gentleman up there right now (referring to Vinezeano).  You may not know he spent the whole night here Tuesday night. He slept on the hard floor."

Village Trustee Jim Hynes acknowledged Vinezeano for answering his phone calls immediately that night and for leaving his cell phone number on his voice mail.

An inability to sleep the night of the blizzard woke Trustee Joe LoVerde at 3 a.m., he said, and added it was great to see retired employees helping out, as well as employees who crossed departments to aid the effort.

"Everyone was pitching in. I was proud to be a resident of Niles that night," LoVerde said.

Both trustees got some mileage out of ribbing Village Manager George Van Geem for his foresight in scheduling a warm-weather vacation and being out of town when the storm hit, leaving Vinezeano to manage it.

The costs break down to:

Public Services Department 

• Overtime from Jan. 31-Feb.10: $91,164
• Contractor costs for semi and front end loader: $6,215
• Salt cost: $71,343

Police Department

• Overtime: $300
• Equipment rental: $800

Fire Department

• Overtime:$13,000

Total

• $182,822

The video at right shows Milwaukee Avenue in Niles during the Feb. 1 rush hour, as the storm was beginning.