First snow storm was well-handled in Sparta

By Rose Sgarlato
SPARTA — A perfect storm might be what some may have called last weekend’s snowfall that dumped over 19 inches on Sparta. People had plenty of time to prepare for what turned out to be an accurate weather forecast, making the lives of clean-up crews and residents much easier.

“We had the advantage of a pretty good forecast, the timing was down,” said James Zepp, head of the Sparta DPW. “We were able to coordinate with the police department, so that all ran smoothly.”

According to Weather Works, a forecasting resource that Sparta DPW uses, 19.5 inches fell on Sparta. Neighboring Newton had slightly less at 18.5.

Snow removal and Sunday clean-up was seamless, according to Zepp, who employed a full crew of 25 drivers covering 100 miles of Sparta roadway. The 23 trucks that the town owns were prepped and ready to go by Friday afternoon. Servicing the storm began around 12:30 am on Saturday and went right on through for 24 hours.

“This being the first of the season, we had a dynamic game plan,” Zepp said. “We inspected our routes prior to the storm and made sure we had no impediments in our way like resident’s basketball hoops or other.”

And Zepp was grateful to Gov. Christie’s state of the emergency declaration. Many Sparta businesses were closed, and for the most part, residents hunkered down.

“The trick is to keep the roadways open, so trucks can take care of the primary roads. The fact that it was a Saturday, and people did not have to go to work helped,” said Zepp.

Sergeant Dennis Proctor of Sparta Police Department echoed Zepp’s words. According to Proctor, there were only seven motor vehicle accidents into late Sunday and 14 disabled vehicles, an all-time low.

“Everybody heeded the advice when the governor declared an emergency; they listened and stayed off the roads,” said Proctor. “For the amount of snow that fell, we got the least amount of problems we have had in my 23 years of being a police officer.

Patrolling during a snowstorm was a seamless transition, added Proctor, because in the last four years, Sparta Police has switched to an all-wheel-drive Ford Explorer fleet eliminating the former Crown Victoria sedans.

On Sunday morning, Zepp said post-clean-up was a breeze due to people clearing out driveways and not back on the roads yet.

“Now we will have site distance issues because piles are so high,” Zepp said. “So residents will call, and we will try and take care of that.”

The mildness of winter temperatures has also helped the whole scenario. Roads are not icing up as quickly, and so Sparta schools were full-steam ahead on Monday morning with no delays.

“The Board of Education always talks to the police, making sure roads are safe and busses can travel, and we gave them the green light to open Monday,” said Proctor.

With January behind us and February around the corner, the rest of what may fall this winter remains to be seen. Based on past winters, being cautiously optimistic is probably the way to go.