The recent winter storm brought with it many challenges for emergency personnel, utility providers, school administrators, citizens and others and for some, it brought about additional expenses, unexpected revenue or just enough of each to break even.
Tecumseh Public Schools Superintendent Tom Wilsie said his district experienced added expense and unforeseen savings but that he expects those ups and downs to balance out as the school year progresses.
“Those days we saved on will have to be made up and we’ll have to run utilities on other days we wouldn’t have,” he said. “And other expenses, such as transportation and child nutrition, that weren’t used those days we were out will be used later, so they’ll pretty much even out.”
Wilsie said his school district had enough snow days built into the calendar year to help the school “even out for now” in that aspect, as well. However, he said he will be looking, along with other administrators, for days schools are scheduled to be closed — such as Presidents Day — that they could be opened to provide a cushion for any future winter weather closings.
Wilsie also said that his district, like many others, was out the expense of clearing sidewalks and parking lots at the various schools in preparation of them re-opening Tuesday.
“But we had assistance from the city on larger areas, such as parking lots, and we greatly appreciate them in that regard,” he said.
At the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center, Mike Jackson, operations manager, said at least two events scheduled for the Expo the past weekend had to be rescheduled, creating a temporary loss in revenue. But, he said, about 300 or more OG&E contractors were using the Convention Center and later, the Otto Krause building to receive catered meals as they worked to restore power, trim trees and clear fallen tree limbs in the area.
“We set up tables and chairs for about 300 people beginning Friday morning and also provided our kitchen area for their caterers to use,” Jackson said.
Robert Murray, logistics coordinator for Base Logistics in New Orleans, said his company made the connections with the Expo for OG&E, which is one of his regular customers. He said Base Logistics provides a variety of services, ranging from bussing crews from hotels to work sites, from providing laundry care to arranging housing and more.
However, for this storm, Murray said OG&E only used the company’s services for meal provisions and dining area arrangements.
“We serve breakfast at about 5 a.m. or 5:30 a.m., then a hot meal or box lunch and dinner at night,” he said. “And we provide them with water or PowerAde to take to the field with them. These crews work in really bad elements so you want to make them as comfortable as you can and to provide for their needs.”
In addition to assisting the field crews, Murray said the company’s emergency response logistics services help ease the burden on utility companies, as well.
“We take the pressure off them logistic-wise,” he said. “They have their regular jobs to do, so we work behind the scenes to provide them a service to help shorten the restoration period.”
Crews were expected to eat breakfast at the Expo today and then head onto their next location, Murray said.
As for the city of Shawnee, the storm’s effects might not be known for a while, City Manager Brian McDougal said.
“When a significant storm blows in like that, we begin to post hours and expenses used for the storm immediately,” he said. “With the governor’s and president’s declarations of emergency for the state, we hope to be reimbursed for those expenses in the future. But it doesn’t help us much now.”
McDougal said the city includes storm-caused overtime for its workers, such as crews in the Streets Department, in the city’s budget and that so far, the storms haven’t created a blow to the city’s ability to serve its citizenry.
For those employees, the overtime on their checks will likely be most-welcome but for the city, the additional payroll could create a problem down the road.
“We’ve got to get out there and clean the streets so people can shop and get on with their daily lives,” he said. “We try to provide the best services we can even though we’re in a tough sales tax crunch. But if there are lots of storms, it makes is difficult for us and we can exceed what we budgeted for storm emergencies, including with employee overtime.”
Another issue with the added expense to the city is the length of time that it takes for reimbursement from the federal government, McDougal said.
“In 2007, there was a pretty expensive storm,” he said. “About 24 months later, the federal funds came in; so if we are reimbursed for this one, it still won’t help with the current budget year.”
Unlike the Christmas Eve blizzard of 2009, this winter storm did cause many citizens to stock up on generators, ice melting supplies and additional food and water, which could show up in sales tax receipts. But those shoppers might not have been able to do enough to really make a difference in the sales tax revenue, McDougal said.
“In such a retail-driven economy, the storm wasn’t necessarily a positive thing,” he said. “During Christmas, purchases that would normally have been made weren’t made during the snow storm and this storm was a bit different. People went out early to stock up, thinking they could be holed up inside but put off regular purchases.”
Because of the differences in the two storms and the type of shopping consumers did before, during and after each, McDougal said it could be quite some time before any positive or negative results are seen.
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Johnna Ray may be reached at 214-3934.
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The recent winter storm brought with it many challenges for emergency personnel, utility providers, school administrators, citizens and others and for some, it brought about additional expenses, unexpected revenue or just enough of each to break even.
Tecumseh Public Schools Superintendent Tom Wilsie said his district experienced added expense and unforeseen savings but that he expects those ups and downs to balance out as the school year progresses.
“Those days we saved on will have to be made up and we’ll have to run utilities on other days we wouldn’t have,” he said. “And other expenses, such as transportation and child nutrition, that weren’t used those days we were out will be used later, so they’ll pretty much even out.”
Wilsie said his school district had enough snow days built into the calendar year to help the school “even out for now” in that aspect, as well. However, he said he will be looking, along with other administrators, for days schools are scheduled to be closed — such as Presidents Day — that they could be opened to provide a cushion for any future winter weather closings.
Wilsie also said that his district, like many others, was out the expense of clearing sidewalks and parking lots at the various schools in preparation of them re-opening Tuesday.
“But we had assistance from the city on larger areas, such as parking lots, and we greatly appreciate them in that regard,” he said.
At the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center, Mike Jackson, operations manager, said at least two events scheduled for the Expo the past weekend had to be rescheduled, creating a temporary loss in revenue. But, he said, about 300 or more OG&E contractors were using the Convention Center and later, the Otto Krause building to receive catered meals as they worked to restore power, trim trees and clear fallen tree limbs in the area.
“We set up tables and chairs for about 300 people beginning Friday morning and also provided our kitchen area for their caterers to use,” Jackson said.
Robert Murray, logistics coordinator for Base Logistics in New Orleans, said his company made the connections with the Expo for OG&E, which is one of his regular customers. He said Base Logistics provides a variety of services, ranging from bussing crews from hotels to work sites, from providing laundry care to arranging housing and more.
However, for this storm, Murray said OG&E only used the company’s services for meal provisions and dining area arrangements.
“We serve breakfast at about 5 a.m. or 5:30 a.m., then a hot meal or box lunch and dinner at night,” he said. “And we provide them with water or PowerAde to take to the field with them. These crews work in really bad elements so you want to make them as comfortable as you can and to provide for their needs.”
In addition to assisting the field crews, Murray said the company’s emergency response logistics services help ease the burden on utility companies, as well.
“We take the pressure off them logistic-wise,” he said. “They have their regular jobs to do, so we work behind the scenes to provide them a service to help shorten the restoration period.”
Crews were expected to eat breakfast at the Expo today and then head onto their next location, Murray said.
As for the city of Shawnee, the storm’s effects might not be known for a while, City Manager Brian McDougal said.
“When a significant storm blows in like that, we begin to post hours and expenses used for the storm immediately,” he said. “With the governor’s and president’s declarations of emergency for the state, we hope to be reimbursed for those expenses in the future. But it doesn’t help us much now.”
McDougal said the city includes storm-caused overtime for its workers, such as crews in the Streets Department, in the city’s budget and that so far, the storms haven’t created a blow to the city’s ability to serve its citizenry.
For those employees, the overtime on their checks will likely be most-welcome but for the city, the additional payroll could create a problem down the road.
“We’ve got to get out there and clean the streets so people can shop and get on with their daily lives,” he said. “We try to provide the best services we can even though we’re in a tough sales tax crunch. But if there are lots of storms, it makes is difficult for us and we can exceed what we budgeted for storm emergencies, including with employee overtime.”
Another issue with the added expense to the city is the length of time that it takes for reimbursement from the federal government, McDougal said.
“In 2007, there was a pretty expensive storm,” he said. “About 24 months later, the federal funds came in; so if we are reimbursed for this one, it still won’t help with the current budget year.”
Unlike the Christmas Eve blizzard of 2009, this winter storm did cause many citizens to stock up on generators, ice melting supplies and additional food and water, which could show up in sales tax receipts. But those shoppers might not have been able to do enough to really make a difference in the sales tax revenue, McDougal said.
“In such a retail-driven economy, the storm wasn’t necessarily a positive thing,” he said. “During Christmas, purchases that would normally have been made weren’t made during the snow storm and this storm was a bit different. People went out early to stock up, thinking they could be holed up inside but put off regular purchases.”
Because of the differences in the two storms and the type of shopping consumers did before, during and after each, McDougal said it could be quite some time before any positive or negative results are seen.
———
Johnna Ray may be reached at 214-3934.
