By Per Peterson
Spring certainly is not in the air, but it is on the minds of some important officials in town.
The month of February brought more than 34” of snow to Tracy, and that amount of snow raises multiple concerns, one of them being what’s going to happen when it all melts. And that, coupled with what happened in Tracy a little over seven months ago when the skies opened and dumped nearly 12 inches of rain in Tracy and the surrounding area, has some concerned about the spring to come.
“I feel a lot of the major problem areas are going to be outside of town; the problem now is all the ravines are full,” said Tracy Public Works Director Shane Daniels. “We’re going to have some draining issues. As far as the streets go, we may have some freezing in the more shallow storm sewers. Most often, we don’t see much flooding in town after winter. But if we see another heavy snow in March, we’re going to have issues as far as where it’s all going to melt to.”
Tracy City Administrator Kris Ambuehl said there are parts of town that need attention now to hopefully prevent things from getting too bad when it all melts.
“There are some spots along the Highline Road that they’ll (snow) blow out to try to divert that water,” he said.
Daniels concurred, saying Highline Road on the west side of town is a red-flag area.
“There are three residents there, and their basements usually get wet every year, so we’re just going to try to be as proactive as we can and try to cut a path in that ditch as soon as it starts melting,” he said. “Right now it keeps snowing, so we can’t do it now.”
See this week’s Headlight-Herald, for more on this article.