Seventy-two hours after the first flakes started falling Friday, street department crews in Lisbon were still working to clear sidewalks buried under a foot and a half of snow.
Elsewhere on the Village Square, mounds of snow stood taller than street signs. Crews were running out of spots to push all the white stuff, while also ringing up quite a bill for salt and sand to keep the roads passable. Lisbon Street Department Superintendent Bill McClelland said his office spent "right in the neighborhood of $4,500 worth," which he added was "pretty much what we'd have used all of last season."
Elsewhere, the story was largely the same. In Salem, many roads remain snow-covered. The Columbiana County engineer's office said the weekend storm cost them $25,000 in labor and materials.
Facing yet another major storm Tuesday and Wednesday, Columbiana County commissioners issued a disaster declaration Monday, starting the process of collecting information to send to the state and federal Emergency Management Agencies. They hope to get some reimbursement for their expenses.
"We're in the beginning of our fiscal year, and so this is not a good way to start out the year on the financial side," said Commissioner Penny Traina.
In the meantime, road crews fear this week's storm could cause even more trouble than Friday and Saturday. County Engineer Bert Dawson thinks roads will "get a crust of ice on top of the existing snow, then we'll get a lot of drifting as the new snow falls on top of that."
While street crews said they think they can weather this next storm with the supplies of salt and other materials they have on hand, they will be needing more if mother nature has any more in store for us this season.
