Teamwork, Planning Kept Flossmoor Public Works on Track During Recent Storm

When the town of Flossmoor experiences a snow emergency like it did this month, Public Works employees like Kevin Long, Foreman of the Department’s Streets Division, have two responsibilities.

“I have a responsibility to my community and a responsibility to my own home and family,” Long said.

Long led a crew that worked continuously for 36 hours, with four people working per shift. Long, who drove one of the plows himself, said that visibility was one of his biggest challenges since the snow was falling at a rate of three inches per hour at various times.

“I was going mailbox to mailbox,” he recalled. “I would see a mailbox, (plow) about three to six miles an hour, and then I’d see the next one in the headlights.”

The town’s emergency plan calls for main roads to be cleared first. During this storm, Public Works plows had to act as escorts for emergency vehicles. Firefighters had to respond to a fire during the storm, Long said, and Public Works plowed the way so they could get there in time.

Keeping the streets open and the infrastructure up and running cost the town approximately $30,000, including overtime, equipment and salt, Flossmoor officials said.

Flossmoor and other communities had an advantage this time around because residents prepared themselves by staying home from school or work, and town officials had their plan in place and were ready for the storm. Residents were very understanding, though some understandably lost patience after the storm, as clean-up efforts continued.

“(The residents) stand behind us as long as we stay with policy,” said Long. "(But they need to keep in mind) not only do we have our shifts to do, we have our own homes and families to care of too.”