LAWRENCE COUNTY Union head: Don't fault the road crews

A PennDOT supervisor said the complaints are not legitimate.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Complaints about poor road maintenance and snow removal on state roads in Lawrence County aren't the fault of the workers, their union president says.
David Vercilla, president of Local 1816 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, answered concerns brought up a few weeks ago by township and borough officials about the poor condition of state-maintained roads. Vercilla is also an equipment operator in Lawrence County for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
"It rubbed us the wrong way when township supervisors put us down," Vercilla said at Tuesday's county commissioners meeting. "People have the assumption that we are just sitting in our trucks 24 hours a day."
Instead, Vercilla said snow removal truck operators work two shifts, 4 a.m. to noon and noon to 8 p.m. Anything after that time must be approved by supervisors.
Explanation
Vercilla said his supervisors have been reluctant to hand out overtime this year, often sending home part-time and A-Class operators. Vercilla said he is a B-Class operator, the highest ranking for a snow removal operator. At times he has had to cover four snow routes, each being about 40 miles, he said.
Vercilla added that new computers in the trucks calculate the distance traveled and the speed of the trucks only, allowing a certain amount of anti-skid material to be dropped on the road. He contends the amount of anti-skid material used per lane-mile has been cut in half in a cost-cutting measure.
Township and borough officials at a Council of Governments meeting earlier this month said they planned to write a letter to the local PennDOT office complaining about snow removal.
"It seems like a bad year compared to any other year. It's spotty. They seem to be taking care of some places and not others," said Rich Lukas, a Hickory Township supervisor.
Mahoning Township Supervisor Poncho Exposito agreed, saying conditions on Pa. Route 551 and U.S. Route 224 were a disaster.
Local officials were also concerned that when PennDOT maintains its roads, it uses tar-and-chip materials, while state roads in neighboring Mercer County are paved.
Dave Raybuck, assistant county maintenance manager, said maintaining the roads and removing snow is a balancing act for the local PennDOT office.
"I think like with any private company, you have to manage your resources. There's a point in time when you have to make decisions, and not everyone is going to be happy with those decisions. You have to make do with the resources you have available and the information available," he said.
Response
Raybuck said they use cameras and special equipment to determine if more snow removal trucks need to be on the roads. He said overtime is always an issue but that they have spent more money on overtime this year than in the past few years.
"This has been a very unusual winter. There has been more ice accumulated this winter than in the past 10 or 15 years that I know of," he said.
The supervisor added that Lawrence County maintains its roads based on a budget handed down from state officials and must use tar and chip to maintain its roads. He said he does not know why Mercer County is able to pave its state roads.
"Everyone has complaints. I personally don't feel as though any of their complaints are legitimate. It's been a very interesting winter, and the roads are and were in reasonably good condition," he said.
cioffi@vindy.com