Winter, What Winter? R. Mark DeVries, PWLF Maintenance Superintendent, McHenry County Division of Transportation Woodstock, Illinois Chair, APWA Winter Maintenance Subcommittee
an you say “bad winter”? That was my intro last year. What a difference a year makes! In 2010-2011 we experienced one of the harshest winters I can remember. We followed that up with perhaps the warmest and least snowy winter on record. That was true for everywhere but Alaska, who really saw the other side, with record-setting winter snowfalls. What will this year bring? Well, that is the question everyone is asking. What I can tell you is that agencies all across North America are faced with different challenges when extreme weather patterns vary way off normal. An easy winter can mean good and bad. Did your agency have a windfall of funds due to the lack of snow removal? Did you have to find ways of dealing with unused salt and materials? Did your agency have to pay for storage to meet contract requirements? Will your agency be faced with this year’s budget being cut because it was “adjusted” based on last year’s winter? These are very real issues and concerns. So, where do you turn if you need help with these or any other snow and ice questions? Well, your APWA Winter Maintenance
Subcommittee is made up of snow and ice professionals who are willing to lend their expertise. They are far more than just winter experts; they are volunteers who freely give of their time and talents to help our association and its members. I am so proud to be part of this group and have the honor to chair the subcommittee. Through the incredible efforts of this group and our APWA support staff, our snow and ice programs have exploded. The Snow Conference in Milwaukee was record-setting in many ways. The conference boasted more attendees, vendors and booths than ever before. The educational sessions were incredible and the certificate workshop was awesome. The conference theme was fleet and included an educational fleet track. In addition, our APWA Fleet Services Committee attended and added to the conference as well. Our host chapter did an outstanding job. The Winter Maintenance Subcommittee participated in every aspect of the conference and was instrumental in its success. One major undertaking the subcommittee is dealing with is the rollout of the Winter Maintenance
Supervisor Certificate Workshop to chapters. Besides holding the workshop at the Snow Conference it will also be held at six fall chapter conferences all across North America. By the end of 2012, it is estimated that APWA could have 1,000 certified members through this program. Pretty impressive given that the program is just over a year old. With its success come new challenges. The program has been so successful that the demand is difficult to meet. Criteria for the rollout and presenters have also been difficult, so the subcommittee has formed a task force to evaluate the issues and help formulate a plan for the future of the program. Your subcommittee continues to work in all the other areas of winter maintenance as well. This year more than ever we have reached out to other committees in APWA and partnered in different projects. The subcommittee is involved in the areas of sustainability, roadway safety, fleet services, emergency management and leadership. We continue ongoing projects like the awards program, Click, Listen & Learn, Congress sessions, and our involvement in committees outside APWA like TRB and AASHTO. These great
“We must not be afraid of dreaming the seemingly impossible if we want the seemingly impossible to become a reality.” – Václav Havel (1936-2011), playwright, essayist, poet, and first president of the Czech Republic (1993-2003) 6 APWA Reporter
November 2012
