February 8, 2015

WINTHROP STORM UPDATE
To the Residents of Winthrop:
As you may be aware, the Town of Winthrop should see another 15″ to 18″ of snow accumulation over the next 24-48 hours. Since we are already encumbered with several feet of snow, with sizeable snow banks and street capacity near zero in many locations throughout the town, your public safety team has determined that it is necessary to perform a major snow bank “push back” to enable the new snow to be cleared from the streets and to better prepare for upcoming weather. To this end, we have hired an out-of-state storm vehicle that has a substantial plow blade to perform this pushback over this evening and throughout the day tomorrow. This sizeable plow will be pushing snow back along each street that it can engage and will be creating further capacity along the side of each street.
Unfortunately, this will mean that many of the sidewalks that have been shoveled out will get covered once again. While we regret this, and understand the frustration residents will have with finding that their freshly cleared sidewalks and driveways are covered in once again, please understand that this is necessary to make the streets passable and safe for travel.
While we are out tonight performing this significant snow bank push pack, it would be extremely helpful if everyone could stay off the streets unless you have an emergency.
There is no school tomorrow, and Superintendent Macero will continue to monitor conditions and will make a determination as to the school schedule for the remainder of the week. Please stay tuned for further updates from the Superintendent. Also, Town Hall and other municipal buildings will be closed tomorrow, as parking lots and walkways are still under significant snow cover.
There will be no trash pickup tomorrow.
Our DPW crew has been out straight today addressing a major water main break on Willow Street. Some of our crew is home resting up for the overnight pushback and plow. We will be working in teams of six units at first, then tomorrow with an all out push and plow.
On behalf of the Town Council, I would like to acknowledge the continued efforts of all of the town workers and the citizens of Winthrop for your understanding and patience as we deal with yet another major snow storm.
Stay warm and best regards,
Jim McKenna
Town Manager