KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With Monday's snowstorm mostly covering grass and cars, several cities in the metro considered it a dress rehearsal for when winter arrives.
"We've had to figure out how to adjust our snow operation, which can already be tricky and cold and complicated," Meg Ralph, public information officer for the city of Overland Park, said.
Public Works crews in Overland Park began training during the summer so this taste of winter in October wouldn't catch them off guard.
They know their routes and equipment well in order to stay safe on the road and are following COVID-19 protocols to stay healthy.
"Sometimes you’ll see one driver in the truck, in which case, they'll be out, they may have a mask on and may not," Ralph said. "In other cases, you might see two, and you still will see a mask on those drivers if they're in the trucks together and that's just city policy across the board."
Economically, Overland Park has weathered the pandemic well – so well, they're still hiring.
"We're always looking to fill maintenance worker positions," Ralph said. "It's kind of one that is a spot that we're always trying to recruit for."
But across the stateline in Kanas City, Missouri, that's not the case.
"With this first round of budget cuts, we did have to eliminate some open or vacant positions," Maggie Green, public information officer for KCMO Public Works, said. "We did not lay off anyone in public works, but we did eliminate some of those positions that remained open so that will impact the boots on the ground."
That means when the big snowstorms hit and at least 200 trucks are needed to clear and treats the roads, KCMO public works will look to the city's parks, water and solid waste departments for help.
But until those storms arrive, Monday's was a good preview.
"We had our plows, our spreaders going," Green said. "It gives our crews a chance to practice."
Because this past winter there wasn't much snow, cities have plenty of road salt in stock.
KCMO has 30,000 tons of it across the city's five salt domes, according to Green.
