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First snow a good test run for clean up crews

Posted at 2:03 PM, Nov 09, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-09 15:03:48-05

MILWAUKEE -- The first snow of the season was more aesthetic than nuisance. The sticky snow defied gravity, sticking to vertical objects around the area. Tree branches covered out to the tips. Fences, painted white with giant flakes. A gorgeous portrait of winter. 

It also gave local crews a chance to flex their muscles and gear up for when the real snow starts. 

"Less than two inches is not too bad," John Laskowski, Superintendent of Public Works for the City of Greenfield said. "Especially with the temperatures we have."

Laskowski says they won't have any plows on their trucks for this small amount of snow. They will just hit the pavement with a salt brine to make sure the roads aren't slick. 

But this is the perfect way to work out the kinks in the beginning of the season to test out their equipment and get the new guys some experience. 

It was a much different story for Laskowski when he started 24 years ago. 

"I was a bit overwhelmed," Laskowski said. "It was my firs attempt using the wing plow. I tried deploying it a few times and it was still chained up. That failed miserably. I had to come in the shop and the mechanics like, hey. Take the chain off."

"It's a lot," Tyson Fell said. "They break it down to you on those sheets. This is your area from road to road to road to road. It lets you kind of centralize your situation instead of overwhelming the product."

He won't have the blade on the front of his truck to worry about either. Instead, Fell can get a lay of the land he'll come to learn like the back of his hand. 

"Nice to get out there when you're not worried about trying to plow," Fell said. "Makes it a lot easier to function, to maneuver around the parked cars and things of that nature. Nice to get out early and get something done."

He's also a Greenfield resident. So he's happy to know he's making a difference.

"It feels good," Fell said. "It's nice to know my wife can get my kids to work and I'm taking care of it on the other end."

Leaf pickup shouldn't be interrupted because of this first snow. Laskowski says they will continue picking up leaves this week. Any resident nervous about their leaves being picked up can drop them off at Greenfield DPW or mulch them on their own.