Extremely cold temperatures and several inches of snow over a four-day period last week presented some challenges for City staff in delivering City services, but overall everything went as smoothly as could be expected, City Manager Mike Bailey said Monday.
“We did have some obstacles we had to overcome to continue picking up trash, sanding roads and fixing waterline breaks, but City staff did a great job in keeping things running throughout last week’s weather event, the likes of which we really haven’t seen before,” Bailey said.
Public Works Director Keith Henry said some pieces of equipment, particularly those with diesel engines, failed to start or run due to cold temperatures.
“They don’t like the cold, apparently,” Henry said. “We do a lot of prep work by adding fuel additives to our machines before cold weather hits, but we still had some issues this time around. But in the end we were able to serve our customers and did our best to get everybody taken of.”
Bailey said Water Department crews also had issues when the pumps that are used to fix water leaks froze, slowing down leak repair work, and that some trucks had difficulty navigating the snow and ice.
“The lines to the pumps kept freezing, so there was that to deal with as well,” he said. “But Street Department staff did a great job of keeping those areas treated until the lines could be fixed. And at one point we had to send a sand truck to lead a fire truck to the scene of a call they were responding to but couldn’t get through the ice and snow. At another time, we had to send a sand truck to rescue another sand truck.
“These are not things we typically have to deal with, but this event was different than any we remember seeing in recent history, both in how cold it was and how long it lasted. It was quite an event, and one that I hope we don’t see again.”
Henry said that even though large amounts of sand and salt were used to clear roadways, the City still has a good supply.
“We typically stock 1,500 to 2,000 tons of material to treat our roads on an annual basis,” Henry said. “We have already replenished part of our sand supply, and while we still have salt, it takes a little longer to come in than sand. We expect more salt will arrive soon.”
Police Chief Tracy Roles said no fatality or serious injury accidents occurred during the event.
“We had some slide-offs and people getting stuck in the snow, but that’s about it,” Roles said. “We had very few collisions, which I think is due to the citizens doing such a good job of staying off the roads as much as possible, and because our Street Department crews got out and did a good job of keeping the roads clear. That really kept the crashes down.”
A few City services were inoperable during the event, but for the most part, it was business — if not quite as usual, as close to usual as possible.
“We did have to close the recycle center and the golf course, mostly because no one wants to play a round of golf when it’s 20-below with nine inches of snow on the ground, but otherwise, we kept everything up and running,” Bailey said.
“I want to thank all the emergency service workers in Bartlesville for their performance last week, but I’m particularly grateful to the ones who work for the City of Bartlesville,” he said. “Our employees did an outstanding job in making sure City services continued as seamlessly as possible despite what at times felt like insurmountable challenges. Their dedication, professionalism and hard work is second to none and greatly appreciated.”