MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Murfreesboro City Council is investing nearly $100,000 on equipment to help its Public Works department better respond to winter weather.
Murfreesboro Public Works Executive Director Raymond Hillis has been hard at work even without snow hitting the ground. Since starting his career with the city three decades ago, his job has become more complex.
“As Murfreesboro grows, we add streets to that [and] streets get longer,” Hillis said. “Murfreesboro’s getting bigger, so we have to grow with that, too, in anticipation of what’s coming.”
Ahead of predicted winter weather, residents can see crews out brining the roadways. However, this year they’re getting a little extra help with snow removal. Last month, City Council invested more than $98,000 to buy eight new plows, bringing the city’s total up to 22 plows. The new equipment will help the department be more efficient as the new plows will be added onto trucks that previously could only lay salt.
“We are starting to equip some of our heavier pickup trucks with plows,” Hillis said. “The foremans and the guys that are out running around in the smaller trucks that catch some of the smaller secondary streets will be able to plow snow as well.”
As Hillis and his team remain on standby for accumulation, he’s grateful to have more hands on deck than he used to.
“When I started there were just like 10 of us, now we’re to mid-fifties,”” he ” Hillis said. “When I first started, it took everybody. We stayed here until the snow was gone. Now, since we’ve grown and we have a lot of additional employees, I’ve got the department divided up in shifts. We can do two 12-hour shifts.”
At the end of December, Council also purchased 1,000 tons of rock salt, which crews will begin to spread when flakes begin to fall.
