Yep, sand/salt mix is the normal follow-up here after the snow falls. I haven’t heard anything about why it wasn’t done. I have heard reports of plows and spreaders sitting idle, possibly waiting for taskings and not getting them.
In my 30 years in public service as a PW Director, we didn’t run plows until we got 3 inches on the ground, which is standard procedure nationwide. Then you get into the argument do you wait until after the snow stops before you plow?
Most agencies budget for snow and ice control/removal, but then they sit on their butts and do nothing. If the budget year ends on December 30th and they haven’t used their budget, it is swept back into the General Fund.
I always made sure to buy more brine and salt & sand to have on hand instead of letting it go back to the GF. And if we had an event after December 30th, then my snow budget was already flush with the new budget year.
Another fallacy is the cost of manpower to take care of the plowing and sanding. If it’s snowing and we were plowing, those crews were still getting paid to show up for work as if it the weather was good, therefore the labor cost hasn’t changed. Then I would flex the crew schedules to avoid OT pay and would have staff assigned to come in after hours.
I always figured if my streets were clear then our businesses were open and generating sales tax.