BRUNSWICK

On Monday, the Northeast was coping with the third major storm in seven days, and now communities in the Mid-coast are feeling the strain.

In the last week, back-to-back storms have meant public works crews are working overtime and getting little downtime between shifts.

In Brunswick on Monday, Maine Street was being cleared of snow from the last storm when the most recent storm began, dumping another layer of powdery snow on sidewalks and roads alike.

“We ask for their patience,” said Publc Works Director John Foster, regarding Brunswick residents who may be getting sick of snow-covered sidewalks and streets, as well as towering snowbanks.

Foster said he has received complaints from residents about streets not being plowed or about snow that is blocking sidewalks.

“They’re all important,” Foster said, referring to the town’s roads. “We try to prioritize downtown and the school zones and outer Pleasant Street.”

Crews have been hardpressed to keep up with the accumulating powder, and the sidewalks along outer Pleasant Street, Foster said, are covered under three to four feet of snow.

Once the snow stops, sidewalks and curbs can be cleared. The problem is the snow hasn’t seemed to want to stop.

On Monday, the National Weather Service predicted up to 15 inches of snow and frigid temperatures before this most recent storm was expected to let up.

With the exception of one of the town’s two primary sidewalk tractors, Brunswick’s snow removal equipment has been in good shape, said Foster.

“There’s the usual blown hydraulic hose, wiper blades, headlights,” said Foster, “but all the equipment except for one sidewalk tractor are operational.”

Public works is also dealing with a basic fact of life: “Staff and employees need to get rest between storms,” said Foster.

On Jan. 26 — the day before the worst winter storm, eight out of 19 plow truck crew members were out sick with the flu.

“I had a number of guys who came back in, but were not in 100 percent shape,” Foster said.

Crews came in to work at 4 a.m. the morning of the blizzard, and most worked 30 hours straight before being sent home, only to come back about six hours later, and back on the road.

Foster said he expects to see that impact his budget after payroll is processed.

Foster has recently ordered more sand to replace the town’s dwindling supply, putting the department $9,000 over budget on its sand budget. The sand budget for the fiscal year is $36,000.

Overall, “it’s going to be hard to stay within budget” when it comes to snow removal, said Foster.

Brunswick offices closed early Monday. School was canceled and a town council meeting slated for Monday night was rescheduled until Feb. 9. Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority closed its offices on the former Naval air station.

To give plows space to clear the roads, Brunswick had issued a parking ban that was slated to be lifted at 7 a.m. this morning.

The town of Freeport, which bans overnight parking in the winter months, extended its ban from Monday morning until 6 p.m. today.

Freeport Town Manager Peter Joseph on Monday said he expects that town’s public works budget to be impacted by overtime incurred by employees who worked 85 hours last week, as well as fuel costs.

“We were ahead of schedule, budget-wise, until the snow hit,” Joseph said.

Joseph noted that “people are itching to get snowbanks cut back,” but advised residents to be careful and to abide by the parking bans.

“When the plow drivers are out, be extra cautious,” he said.

Topsham Public Works Director Dennis Cox said his staff worked roughly 40 hours of overtime last week on top of a regular 40-hour workweek. Working those type of hours, “the guys are suffering,” and due to the lack of sleep some are coming down with head colds. Cox missed the end of Super Bowl because he was in bed knowing he’d be up early to deal with Monday’s storm.

Cox didn’t call the crew in Sunday to clear roads or sidewalks knowing another storm was coming. With wind chill temperatures forecast to dip as low as minus-18 Monday night, the storm cleanup was expected to be extra hard on the aging equipment. The four trucks that were down late last week are going again, but now there are a couple more out of service with problems. The bitter cold makes the hydraulic fluid thicken so it pumps harder and crews have to deal with failed seals.

The public works crews can also be the target of residents’ frustration as they feel the burden of what hasn’t necessarily been a high number of storms this winter but a lot in a very short period of time.

Cox set a parking ban in Topsham for 9 a.m. Monday through noon today. He tries to get the bans up within an hour after the storm starts and give crews six hours after the snow stops to clean up. He expected the crew to go home at around 3 a.m. and be back in at 6 or 7 a.m. to clean up without any cars blocking the road. A plow route takes about four hours. With the snow piling up, there have been some issues with pickup trucks plowing snow across the public way, creating bumps in the bank that can’t be pushed back by town plow trucks, and sometimes leaving strips of snow in the road that can send smaller cars off the road.

Cox wants folks to understand, “We’re doing the best we can but things like stop signs and intersections are growing out from the curb and things are going to start to get real narrow,” so drivers should be careful and aware. Snow banks are growing higher so visibility can be bad at intersections.