6 The Dailas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, February 9, 1994 Manta delares war on winter By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Jackson Township road fore- man Rich Manta has declared war on winter storms. He sees each snowfall as a military objective. His weapons are salt, cinders, anti-skid material and the town- ship's four plow trucks. His sol- diers are the men on the road crew. Appointed October 18, 1993, Manta had less than two weeks to familiarize himself with the town- ship's 25 miles of roads before the season’s first plowable snowfall came with no advance warning on Halloween. . “Ever since, I've been out plow- ing with the guys until the cows come home,” he said. “We've been hit with everything but the kitchen sink.” Manta brings a wealth of mili- tary construction experience to his job, having served 16 years with the U.S. Army 223rd Avia- tion Brigade, the 365th Engineers and the 328th and 104th Aviation brigades. Presently a sergeant and up for promotion, he served in Vietnam and filled a stateside post during the Persian Gulf War. ; Manta also is an instructor with the 2091st Army Reserve School. “This isn't a job that you can Low-salt diet “Ever since, I've been out plowing with the guys until the cows come home.” Rich Manta Jackson Twp. road supervisor learn about from a textbook,” he said. “You have to go out and do it — the magnitude is immense. You don't just hop into a truck and go out and move snow.” Each road must be approached individually, Manta said. Drivers must know where the potholes, manhole covers and ditches are, so that they can avoid them. Making the job more difficult, a third of the township's roads are dirt. He also had to learn his equip- ments’ capabilities. Narrower roads or dead-ends with small turnarounds require the smaller trucks, while roads with hills might need the four-wheel drive or diesel truck, Manta said. Simply opening a road requires plows to make two sweeps, one in each direction, which can take up to two hours, he said. Later they can go back, spread more cinders and widen the plowed areas. “We hope that people realize that we can’t get every road down to bare pavement immediately,” he said. “It takes time.” Cars parked where they don’t belong and people plowing snow from their driveways back onto a cleared roadway make things - worse for the plow crew, Manta said. During December, the road crew faced a snowstorm every other week, while in January the storms came in like clockwork every week. During the week of severe storms and record cold in January, Manta and his men worked two weeks straight with- out a day off, logging several 16- hour shifts. The weather took its toll on both his men and his equip- ment. He attributes his success to his men, all “top notch” and well trained by the late Jack Bombick, who had been road foreman for many years and died on the job. “It's hard to follow in the foot- steps of a guy like Jack,” Manta said. “He worked hard and was very dedicated.” ' He says that the previous warm winters had many area residents spoiled and unaccustomed to driving on snow and ice. “Now we're back to the old- fashioned winters,” he said. (continued from page 1) more screened ash available. “We can't get salt from our supplier, Bradco in Towanda,” Wagner said. “Right now we're relying on anti-skid material. I've gone through more than 500 tons of that and could use another 500." Back Mountain municipalities obtain their winter road materials from several sources. All are tied into the state's piggyback system, in which prices are somewhat lower because the materials are bought in bulk. Cinders are also available from the State Correctional Institution at Dallas (SCID), simply for the cost of hauling it away. Each municipality generally gets 100- 150 tons. Area municipalities have formed a road materials purchas- ing cooperative, again to take advantage of lower prices for bulk orders. “Individual ‘municipalities also ~'have negotiated contracts with suppliers of anti-skid material, made from gravel or a mixture of sand, cinders and gravel. These are all finite sources, dependent on the weather, de- mand and supply. As long as machinery isn't broken, trucks can run and storage piles aren't frozen solid, supplies get through. January's snowstorms and cold weather have played havoc with salt deliveries, according to Molly Mangan, public relations assis- tant at Akzo Salt in Clarks Sum- mit. Akzo operates a salt distribu- tion facility at the Buttonwood Yards in Wilkes-Barre and sup- plies road salt through the state piggyback program to many Luzerne County municipalities. While the snowstorms blocked truck and rail shipments, the bitter cold froze rivers used by salt barges, Mangan said. And the price has increased due to higher transportation costs. “This has been an outrageous year for salt,” she said. “To date we have shipped more than 2.5 million tons of it. That's enough salt to take care of 25 million miles of roadway. Fortunately the break in the weather has allowed us to resupply.” The Buttonwood Yards received 13 railroad cars of salt February 7 and expected another 26 cars the next day, she said. Conrail has made special ar- rangements, allowing Akzo to route entire trainloads of salt directly to the areas needing it most, bypassing other stops along the way, Mangan said. Akzo has also arranged with its salt mines in New York State to allow large customers to send their own trucks directly to the mines to pick up the precious material, instead of waiting for it to be deliv- ered. Barges from Akzo's salt plants in the Caribbean have also been sent to the Northeast, Mangan said. Birthday bash (continued from page 1) girls and their children, to help Sr. Andre celebrate. “I'm especially interested in the sisters’ fundraisers to help women and children,” she said. “I feel very connected to the sisters and their work. We talk a lot about helping the poor and feel that it mustn't be a sacrifice. It's important not to be grim about it - it's okay to have fun while helping out.” As Hession finished speak- ing, a conga line at least two dozen strong snaked through the room, between tables and chairs, to a Caribbean song. Sister Catherine McAuley would have been pleased. - snow removal expenditures were: Woodridge——— (continued from page 1) evere weather busts show-removal budgets By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff section. Salt keeps the ice down, they said. Supervisor Walter Glogowski explained that there is a lag time of up to half an hour when the trucks run out of salt and must go for another load. The old-fashioned winter weather that Dad once bragged about has returned with a vengeance. Unfortunately it's become much more expensive. Representatives from area municipalities met last week with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) to total the past month's road clearing expenses, in the hope of getting some reimbursement from either the state or the federal govern- ment. Because road conditions and finances vary between munici- palities, January's weather has affected some more than others. Dallas Borough Already over budget by about $2,200, the borough has spent $11,000, according to borough manager Milt Lutsey. It spent $2,900 to buy 56 tons of salt and 183 tons of anti-skid material (coarse gravel mixed with cinders.) Dallas Township Treasurer Glenn Howell estimated that the township has used half of the $50,000 budgeted for snow removal. Because salt from its supplier, Bradco in Towanda, isn't available, roadmaster Frank Wagner has had to make do with anti-skid material alone. i *Pve gone through more than 500 tons and could use 500 more,” he said., Franklin Township Secretary Sandy Race estimated that the township had spent $11,000, while it had budgeted $8,000. “We have spent about $5,000 on salt and anti-skid,"” she said. “We ended up buying salt in large bags because we had been told that bulk salt was being rationed.” Harveys Lake Secretary Carole Samson said that while the borough had budgeted $3,500 for snow removal and materials, it had spent $3,765 on wages and $4,365 on materials. Because the borough regularly buys salt in 80-lb. bags, at $4.75 per bag for a 375 bag delivery, it hasn't had any problem getting it. Storage problems prevent the borough from buying bulk salt, Samson said. Jackson Township Secretary Henry Zbiek estimated that the township spent its entire 1994 snow removal budget ($18,224) in January: $2,270 for anti-skid, $1,888 for salt, $9,017 for wages and $1,168 for fuel. Lehman Township Supervisor Andy Kasko added that no one could get road salt for several weeks in January. He asked residents not to plow out their driveways and leave the snow on the roads which have already been plowed. Township secretary Henry Zbiek reported that the January $2,270 for anti-skid material, $1,888 for salt, $9,017 for wages, $3,905 for repairs and $1,168 for fuel. “We have spent our entire snow removal budget of $18,224 in one month,” he said. The supervisors asked profes- sional urban planner Marlene Pawlowski to prepare an estimate of updating the township's zoning map for the March meeting. In other business, the supervi- sors voted to: e Pass an ordinance designat- ing the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority as the receiver of its sewage. This ordinance was nec- essary because the township's former sewage treatement plant, the Dallas Area Municipal Au- thority, now ties into the WVSA' instead of treating its own sew- age. ® ie Promted Duss Sih of Roadmaster Doug Ide estimated that he spent $16,000 of the pired term of John Trescavage on $40,000 budgeted for snow removal — $9,000 for labor and fuel the Municipal Authority. r and $7,000 for materials. . Kingston Township Township manager Jeff Box said that he has spent approxi- mately $14,000 in wages and overtime and $7,000 in materials — - 700 tons of anti-skid and 300 tons of salt. “We're not over budget because we always budget for a worst- case scenario,” he said. e Authorize zoning officer John Krupa to attend training sessions in Scranton and at the Penn State main campus, for $20 and $160 plus mileage, respectively. ETT S (. 2) CORRECTION: FREE ELECTRONIC HEARING TESTS WILL BE GIVEN AT Jonathan R. 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