RUTLAND, Vt. (WCAX) – Winterfest kicked off Friday in Rutland, despite the lack of snow across the region. But fewer flurries are not melting spirits.
A mild winter season is spoiling staples of Winterfest. Sledding on Center Street and snow sculpting have been put on ice.
“We were looking forward to it since we hadn’t done it in a couple of years and we’re like, yeah, this year we’re going to do it but unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate,” Winterfest organizer Haley Rice said.
It’s not just Winterfest that has been impacted, the Rutland Public Works and local businesses that are crucial to help people clear snow are feeling both good and bad impacts of the mild weather.
“You use almost as much salt with a little storm because they’re kind of pesky,” Public Works Commissioner Bob Protivansky said. “It’s not as much time involved and you might not have to put the plows down, but you still have to use salt.”
Protivansky said the department has spent below projections given that they haven’t had to use as much salt or overtime during snowstorms. They’ve only used 37% of the available budget for salt and about half of their overtime budget. He said it’s been a good break for his plow drivers.
“They like the overtime also but time with their families is important, too,” Protivansky said.
On the other hand, some businesses are feeling left out in the cold by customers.
“Normally we get one snowstorm and we sell out of every snow shovel we have and tons of ice melt but now it’s been so mild that we’re still sitting on some of the snow shovels we brought in the beginning of the year, so it’s been tough,” said TJ Clifford, the manager of Noble Ace Hardware.
Clifford says even without sales of snowblowers and ice melt, cold temperatures still brought homeowners to the store, adding that they’ve even sold grills this season because of the mild conditions.
Back at Public Works, crews have used their spare time to look ahead to warmer temps and other projects.
“It makes a big difference, going into the spring. You use the wintertime to do that type of work, brush cutting and things like that. If there’s a couple feet of snow you can’t do that very easily. So, it gives us a real head start,” Protivansky said.
