Published Friday, February 21, 2003
of $110,000
Herald Staff Writer
City officials in Sharon have to figure out where they're going to come up with $110,000 to compensate for unexpected expenses for snow removal.
The bottom line is, the city is either going to have to make money or find a way to save money. That savings might have to come from layoffs, Mayor David O. Ryan said.
Ryan said he has no immediate plans to lay off city employees and will do everything in his power to stop that from happening. He added, though, that it's always a possibility.
"I know it's been a tough winter," Councilman Lou Rotunno said, but the administration is "not living up to the spirit of the budget" if they're talking about layoffs 34 days into the new year.
Council cut more than $200,000 from the proposed 2003 budget to stop six employees from being laid off.
Finance Director Michael Gasparich said a decision will have to be made soon. More people will be affected the longer council waits on layoffs, he said.
Councilman George Gulla said he doesn't understand how the city has spent $280,000 on salt when only $140,000 was budgeted. He questioned why Gasparich ordered salt so many times.
"Let me tell you why. Ii snowed, according to the National Weather Service, in January 25 inches," Gasparich said. "The last part of the month it snowed every day."
Gasparich said the last time Gulla questioned how the city was doing with its salt budget, everything was still OK.
Rotunno asked if the city could get any money because the governor has declared the whole state a disaster area.
Gasparich said there has to be at least 23 inches of snowfall at one time to get state aid, and the application would have to be a county effort.
John Cave, head of the street department, said the city has 900 tons of salt left, which is enough to go around the city nine times.
Gulla asked about other materials such as anti-skid.
Gasparich said the city uses anti-skid some, but it creates a dry-weather traffic hazard because the material is like marbles on dry roads.
Council did applaud the street department for its work to keep the roads clear during the bad weather.
You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Kristen Garrett at:
kgarrett@sharonherald.com