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Where does all that snow go?

-Daily Freeman Journal photo by Joe Sutter
A tractor loads snow from the parking lot behind the Webster City School District central office into a truck from North Central Turf Thursday. Contractors were busy across town hauling snow away as the city continues to dig out from Sunday's blizzard.

After massive snowfall, crews have been working overtime getting the streets and parking lots cleared. But as snow is carted off by the dump truck, where does it all go?

Most of it is being piled in the lot at the Webster City Street Department, said supervisor Brandon Bahrenfuss.

Normally it’s piled up next to the wastewater treatment plant next door, but space has run out, Bahrenfuss said.

“We have a big lot. We are the tree and grass site,” he said. “We’re making room.”

Next to the mulch and piles of sand, contractors are driving their trucks in to dump snow into the lot, free of charge, Bahrenfuss said.

-Daily Freeman Journal photo illustration by Joe Sutter
Big snow piles go up at the city's street department location, in this image made from multiple photos. Thick snow is finally being removed from downtown streets and parking lots, and it all has to go somewhere.

It doesn’t often get this full of snow.

“I’ve worked here about 10 years, and I’ve only seen it this way one other time,” he said.

“I cannot say enough about my guys. They put in a lot of hard work, long hours, stressful days that have been pretty tough on them,” Bahrenfuss added. ” So now we’re trying to stick to the 7 to 4 routine.”

Roads are still rough in the central part of town, Bahrenfuss said, but crews are doing their best to keep up as the weather allows.

“Not everyone realizes, I need temperatures above 20 and I need sun for the salt to activate and start melting the snow,” he said. “Otherwise I’m just throwing away salt and not doing anything.

-Daily Freeman Journal photo by Joe Sutter
A side dump trailer full of snow is unloaded at the Webster City Street Department's lot on E. Ohio Street. The fields where snow is often dumped near the water treatment plant are already full, prompting the city to allow contractors to dump here as well.

“We’ve had a snowblower, two graders, a tractor, a backhoe, plow trucks here and there, out every day since Sunday. We are definitely making progress. I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, however we still have a lot to do.”

As of Thursday, Bahrenfuss was hoping more scraping could be done to downtown streets this morning.

The National Weather Service on Thursday listed a 60 percent chance of snowfall this afternoon, and a 30 percent chance of snow Saturday, but with little or no accumulation expected.

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