Snow removal crews work furiously in wake of storm

Blizzard drops 26 inches

WILLIAMS - Last week's snowstorm dumped over two feet of snow in and around Williams causing the Williams Unified School District to cancel classes for the week and putting the city of Williams' new snow removal strategy to the test.

The Williams Water Department reported eight inches of snowfall on Monday, Dec. 7 and 18 inches on Tuesday, Dec. 8 for a total of 26 inches over both days. The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning that extended through Tuesday.

Williams Mayor John Moore said the city's snow removal crews did an excellent job of responding to s large amount of snowfall in a short amount of time.

"I think the guys did a great job on snow removal," he said. "I think last year's major snowstorm was a good learning experience for our street crews in the city and myself. I think that while this snow wasn't as much snow as last year it was a big snow to all come at once and they got out and did a really good job. You can always find some areas that you missed or something that didn't go quite right but we've got a lot of miles of streets and the guys did a good job."

Moore said that in response to last year's Dec. 16 storm, the city hired temporary, on call employees to augment full-time city workers.

"I think that last year's snowstorm helped us learn some things," Moore said. "What we did this year that was a little different, rather than work our guys so long that they got so tired that they couldn't work anymore, we early on in the year advertised and got people who could drive our trucks and operate our equipment, qualified people."

Classes were cancelled Dec. 8-11 at Williams High School, Williams Elementary-Middle School and Heritage Elementary School due to hazardous road conditions on the district's bus routes.

Williams Unified School District Superintendent Steve Hudgens said that even when Highway 64 reopened, many families were unable to get their children to bus stops to be picked up. Even if they could, many roads remained iced over.

"When you have nice afternoons and water runs and water turns to ice, ice first thing in the morning even on straight stretches of road is not good," he said. "I'd rather have people screaming and yelling because we're not in session and the kids are safe. It's a safety first issue."

Hudgens went on to say the district is open for suggestions from parents about how to proceed during hazardous weather situations.

"They're welcome to call me or sit down with me and discuss alternative ideas," he said.