The Bismarck streets department was ready to swing into action early Friday in response to weather forecasts calling for up to 6 inches of snow, but when the precipitation didn't materialize, crews put in their regular eight hours and were sent home.

Keith Hunke, public works director of service operations, said 14 operators were brought in at midnight Thursday as the city geared up for what was predicted to be the first major snow event of the winter. Plans included an extended 12-hour shift, with a second crew coming in at noon for relief. But the snow didn't come and the first shift put in a normal eight-hour day and went home, and the second crew was called to come in for a normal day.

The city of Bismarck doesn't have a separate snow removal budget, so determining what savings are made due to a lack of snow is difficult, according to Hunke. "When you look at our budget, we don't have things such as snow removal broken out as a function. Snow removal, patching, sweeping - it's all just melded together," he said.

As far as sanding operations, it's been a normal winter for Bismarck. "We've gotten those inch and inch-and-a-half snows that make the streets slippery enough that we send out the trucks. If you go out and look at the sand we've stockpiled, there is about a third of the pile left in the shed, which is about typical for this time of year."

One area in which a savings can be determined is the amount of overtime paid to workers. This year, through the end of February, $1,600 has been spent on overtime. Last year, over the same period, $19,000 was paid in overtime wages. Hunke said winter isn't over and there are still chances for a spring storm, which isn't uncommon in North Dakota.

Bismarck has 320 center-line miles of streets to maintain, but when you total the left and right lanes along with center lanes there are more than 1,300 miles of lanes to be plowed. It takes about 30 hours for crews to plow every street.

"We haven't done an entire citywide plowing event this winter," Hunke said. "A couple of times we did send them off to brush off State Street, otherwise they've just gone out to push some snow around."

Despite the lack of snow to plow, the 31-member street crew is kept busy taking care of street sanding and sweeping, road maintenance and sign maintenance. "We have other things they can do too," Hunke said. "We send them up to the landfill to help out."

Hunke has been with public works since 1982 and became director of service operations in 1998. He remembers the winter of 1996-97 as one of the worst the city had to deal with as more than 100 inches of the white stuff fell that season. According to the National Weather Service, this winter has produced only 14.4 inches, well below the average of 39 inches.

"Since I've become director, the winters have been pretty mild, but that's nothing I can take credit for," Hunke said. "The wear and tear on the roads does seem to be less this winter because of the lack of snow. It's been a dry winter, and it's the snow melting and freezing overnight that creates that freeze-thaw action that creates potholes."

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@bismarcktribune.com.)