Between Chelsea’s narrow streets and the stormiest winter in almost a decade, the issue of how to dispose of snow was at the forefront of many people’s minds this year.
Earlier this year, the city council submitted an order asking City Manager Fidel Maltez to look into the possibility of Chelsea purchasing a snow melter to more efficiently clear city streets after snowstorms.
A 150 ton per hour snow melter would cost about $900,000, and it would take the city about nine months of lead time to purchase the heavy machinery from Canada, according to Maltez.
“Aside from purchasing the unit, Public Works would have to continue getting crews to load the snow into the melter,” stated Maltez. “We would likely set up the melter in a central location on a large street with a large sewer pipe, such as the City yard, a park or a school parking lot. We estimate that the crew would cost $25,000 per night, per crew, for loaders/skids and dump trucks to take snow to the melter. In addition, we will spend about $3,000 per unit on fuel.”
Maltez said that if the council wants to pursue the purchase, he could get more details and add the item to the city’s capital improvement plan figure.
“This will be very greatly appreciated by the people of Chelsea,” said District 6 Councilor Giovanni Recupero. “They know what we are going through with the snow that was here. This will help us tremendously, and I don’t see (any) issues with us getting one, it should be very appreciated by the people, and thank you once again to the city manager for getting us all the information that we need.”