There's no business like snow business
Local snow clearing businesses in big demand
By DONNA HICKMAN
Daily Journal Staff Writer
Daily Journal Staff Writer
Feb 25, 2008 - 10:30:58 CST
Slick streets. School’s out. Dangerous driving. Canceled plans. With heavy doses of winter weather in the last two weeks, many people who live in the Parkland are sick of snow and ice. But not everybody. Tony Lewis says, “bring it on!”
For Lewis it’s the best winter ever in the Parkland. He’s been clearing parking lots and streets of snow for the last five years. But he’s never been so busy as he has this year.
“I’ve got a crew in Farmington and I’m in Bonne Terre today,” he said Sunday. “I got a call at 7 a.m. and we’ll do 10 jobs today and 10 miles of road in sub-divisions. It’s very tiring, but it’s been a good business.”
Lewis drove his snow plow over the parking lot at Bonne Terre Bowl Sunday. He said he also has a tractor and bobcat skid-steer to push the winter stuff around.
Last year, he went out twice for about 20 hours of work. In the last two weeks, he said he’d done about 90 jobs. Pricing is different based on the size, but the average price per job is $75 to $100.
“This is our fourth session this year and each one has been about 24-48 hours of work,” he said.
Lewis operates TLC Horizons, a landscaping service in Farmington, and said usually this time of year is pretty quiet. He said he’d be trimming trees and cleaning yards. The extra work is a big boost.
“I love snow! It would not bother me if the normal snows would come back like we had when I was a kid,” he said.
Country Way Nursery in Bonne Terre has up to three crews that can be out clearing snow at a given time and owner Joe Stone says they’ve been busy.
“We have about $40,000 worth of equipment we use and this has been an unusual winter for us,” he said. “In the last four or five years, we’ve only had the opportunity to do it twice.”
He said three of the last four storms have been difficult because of all the ice and his crews had to wait for a little melting before they could move it. He said he has regular customers that he knows will need the work done whenever there’s wintry weather. Others may call in to request his services.
“Our guys have put in some long hours lately,” said Stone.
Extra work for the General Services staff clearing snow from entrances and parking lots at Mineral Area College could mean an adjustment to the budget.
“We are going to have to analyze it,” said Dr. Steve Kurtz, MAC President, “We do have an overtime budget for our staff.”
Kurtz said the college will also have to adjust its class schedule since missing two more days of instruction last week when the college closed because of the icy weather.
Donna Hickman is a reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact her at 431-2010, ext. 138 or at dhickman@dailyjournalonline.com.
For Lewis it’s the best winter ever in the Parkland. He’s been clearing parking lots and streets of snow for the last five years. But he’s never been so busy as he has this year.
“I’ve got a crew in Farmington and I’m in Bonne Terre today,” he said Sunday. “I got a call at 7 a.m. and we’ll do 10 jobs today and 10 miles of road in sub-divisions. It’s very tiring, but it’s been a good business.”
Lewis drove his snow plow over the parking lot at Bonne Terre Bowl Sunday. He said he also has a tractor and bobcat skid-steer to push the winter stuff around.
Last year, he went out twice for about 20 hours of work. In the last two weeks, he said he’d done about 90 jobs. Pricing is different based on the size, but the average price per job is $75 to $100.
“This is our fourth session this year and each one has been about 24-48 hours of work,” he said.
Lewis operates TLC Horizons, a landscaping service in Farmington, and said usually this time of year is pretty quiet. He said he’d be trimming trees and cleaning yards. The extra work is a big boost.
“I love snow! It would not bother me if the normal snows would come back like we had when I was a kid,” he said.
Country Way Nursery in Bonne Terre has up to three crews that can be out clearing snow at a given time and owner Joe Stone says they’ve been busy.
“We have about $40,000 worth of equipment we use and this has been an unusual winter for us,” he said. “In the last four or five years, we’ve only had the opportunity to do it twice.”
He said three of the last four storms have been difficult because of all the ice and his crews had to wait for a little melting before they could move it. He said he has regular customers that he knows will need the work done whenever there’s wintry weather. Others may call in to request his services.
“Our guys have put in some long hours lately,” said Stone.
Extra work for the General Services staff clearing snow from entrances and parking lots at Mineral Area College could mean an adjustment to the budget.
“We are going to have to analyze it,” said Dr. Steve Kurtz, MAC President, “We do have an overtime budget for our staff.”
Kurtz said the college will also have to adjust its class schedule since missing two more days of instruction last week when the college closed because of the icy weather.
Donna Hickman is a reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact her at 431-2010, ext. 138 or at dhickman@dailyjournalonline.com.
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