Middletown roads passable, mayor says

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (WTNH) -- If you're looking for the value of a good work ethic, you'll find it in most any town or city in our state - and Middletown is no exception.

"Been wearing myself out, I feel old," said Kirk Lisica.

Put the blame on Old Man Winter.  Middletown's streets, which are averaging about three feet of snowfall, are being defined as "passable."  And as Mayor Daniel Drew will tell you, there is a difference between "clear" and "passable."

"We've recorded a number a number of snow drifts, four or five feet in some other places," Drew said. "Our plow trucks physically can not get through that amount of snow.  What we've had to do in response is deploy our massive industry size snow blowers."

While some municipalities are having difficulty where to put all this snow, this isn't a problem - yet - in Middletown, because they're bringing it to Veteran's Memorial Park, where they still have a lot of room.

Public works has even responded to emergency calls to clear roads for rescue vehicles.  Basically, when it comes to snow removal, the work is 24 hours, day in and day out, until mountains of snow look more like mole-hills.

"It's a massive undertaking," Drew said. "It's moving very consistently, but it's not a quick process."

Or a cheap one, as the snow budget is now gone.  The mayor plans to apply for a FEMA reimbursement.  Meanwhile, the old addage of putting in a good day's work will end up really being putting in a good week's work at least.

"It's terrible.  It's too much," Lisica said. "Too much, wears me out like a spark plug."