Cost of winter storm response revealed

At least two local municipalities said the daily cost of plowing and treating streets and roads was about $10,000 during the three-day storm this week.

El Paso County and the city of Pueblo report spending at or near that amount. It includes overtime and other personnel costs, as well as materials such as salt, sand and fuel for plows and other vehicles.

Colorado Springs and Pueblo County said they needed more time to determine accurate cost figures.

“It would be very difficult for me to come up with a dollar figure at this point in time,” said Corey Farkas, manager of the city’s Streets Division. “Every storm is different. There are so many variables involved — how long the storm lasts, how much ice and snow there is, how many miles of pavement you have to treat.”

Farkas said the city budgets $1 million for winter storm response, and his department comes close to using all of it every year.

“Compare us to an area like the Denver city limits, similar to us in size, they have a $5 million budget,” he said. “We do more with less.”

Jim Reid, public services director for El Paso County, said street and road crews try to be as efficient as possible and save money where possible.

“We buy salt and sand in advance before demand increases,” he said. “We try to lock down fuel prices as soon as we can. We’ll change shifts to limit overtime.”

Several residents expressed surprise at the cost estimate.

“I would have guessed $7,000 a day,” said Sherry Hulterstrom. “It’s a little higher than I would’ve thought. That’s still a lot of money.”