(Memphis) The City of Memphis says its going to be dipping into its overtime budget to get all these icy roads cleaned-up but officials say it’s worth it.
Memphis is dealing with day two of freezing rain.
If you combine that with the three days of bad weather we had in December it is costing the City some money.
But Dwan Gilliom, with Public Works, says it is less than you might think, “We have spent less than $7,000 in overtime.”
Hey says that’s out of the $72,000 budgeted for the year.
As workers in brine, sand and salt trucks treat major roads, intersections and overpasses, the biggest cost to the City, so far, has been in materials and supplies.
Memphis has spent $25,000 for 20,000 tons of sand and 1,100 tons of salt.
But all of that is expected to last us for several years.
As for overtime, Gilliom says the City is well within its budget.
He also says Public Works is monitoring road conditions closely to make sure workers are sent to where they are needed and not where they aren’t, “When you get into an overtime situation, you don`t want to waste taxpayers’ money. You want to have adequate resources out there but you don`t want to have overkill.”
But no matter the cost, he says making sure people are safe is the City’s highest priority.
