Tulsa Winter Storm Cleanup Costs Cost More Than $230,000

By Jeffrey Smith, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Monday marks the 17th day of winter storm cleanup this season.  The cleanup cost in Tulsa from the most recent storm is more than $230,000. The City of Tulsa reports the cleanup effort is over and the work wasn't cheap.

"It's very expensive to cleanup from after one of these storms. But it's important for the public to understand that the streets system is by far and away, the largest and most expensive physical asset that we, the taxpayers, have," said Paul Strizek, Public Works Contracts Manager.

As of February 1st, more than 50 crews logged 2,200 regular hours and 3,800 overtime hours.

The overtime pay from the most recent storm alone is more than $69,000. Add that to the $116,000 in overtime pay from the Christmas storm and streets workers have earned close to $200,000 in overtime.

"All of the city agencies -- everyone from the airport to the zoo -- has been put on notice, as I do, several times every year, to capture all their figures. Capture their personnel, straight time, overtime, and materials and their equipment costs," said Paul Strizek.

However, because President Obama declared Oklahoma a federal disaster area, Tulsa County is eligible for federal aid.

1/30/2010  Related Story: White House Approves Oklahoma Governor's Storm Aid Request

FEMA can pay up to 75 percent of the total cleanup costs. The state will contribute 12 percent.

"It covers personnel, equipment and materials, yes, all three of those," said Paul Strizek.

For materials, Tulsa has put down 2,500 tons of salt over the last five days, at a cost of $160,000.

Strizek says when it comes to federal assistance, every penny counts.

"It will be a tremendous help to us, especially considering the state of our finances today," said Paul Strizek.

The total cost of overtime pay and materials so far this season is more than $750,000.

From the morning of Thursday, January 28 through 12 a.m. Monday, February 1, street maintenance crews applied 2,481 tons of salt and 35.5 tons of salt and sand mixture to arterial streets. Crews drove 30,523 arterial lane miles and plowed 17,845 arterial lane miles.

After this storm, the city of Tulsa has 4,000 tons of salt remaining, 1,000 tons of salt and sand mixture and 3,700 tons of sand.