The sting of spring

CLINTONVILLE – The spring storms that brought snow, ice, and flood waters to the city of Clintonville have had a financial impact on the city that is still being calculated.
That was the message that Justin Mc Auly, director of the Clintonville Public Works Department, shared with the Clintonville Public Works Committee at its April 30 meeting.

Snowstorm
The mid-March snowstorm that brought around 25 inches of snow to Clintonville had a financial impact of $68,726, Mc Auly said. This figure includes the cost for labor, fuel, use of a contractor, and equipment usage.
“This does not include equipment repair, because we got equipment that broke down, labor to fix it, or salt and sand usage,” Mc Auly said. “With that added on, we’re probably pushing $80,000.”

Mc Auly said he will submit the cost breakdown to Waupaca County to see if the city qualifies for disaster funds.

Ice storm
The two ice storms that hit Clintonville the first week of April had a financial impact of $30,730, Mc Auly said. This figure includes the cost of brush cleanup.
“We’ve already picked up, as of last Monday (April 27), 83 loads of brush,” Mc Auly said. “A massive amount of brush that we picked up.”
The financial figure also includes the cost for tree removal.

“We had trees that basically laid across the street,” Mc Auly said. “They got cut up and pulled to the side of the road. We had to come in and do more cutting and haul them away.”
Mc Auly said he will also submit the cost breakdown for the ice storms to Waupaca County.
“I don’t know if we’re going to receive a penny, the county is going to at least try,” Mc Auly said.

Flooding
Mc Auly said he doesn’t have a final financial impact total for the flooding from the heavy rain April 13 and 14.

One of the areas impacted by the flooding was the shoreline behind the building that houses Clintonville City Hall and the Clintonville Fire Department. The area has now been reinforced with erosion matting and large rocks, Mc Auly said.
“It collapsed in about four different locations where it was a 15-foot drop to the water, just a straight drop,” Mc Auly said.
In addition, the asphalt in the area began to crack.
“The next thing that would have went in (the water) was the guardrail, light poles, and the paved area,” Mc Auly said. “That is our exit for the north bays of the fire barn, so we wanted to shore up that shoreline so the fire (department) could have a quicker response time.”
In the area near the dam, there was flood damage to the riverwalk. All but two of the electrical pedestals need to be replaced, Mc Auly said. The chain link fence by the pedestrian bridge was also damaged.
“The pedestrian bridge, I don’t know if we can save it this time,” Mc Auly said. “We lost a lot of concrete. There were large chunks of concrete that was falling off of it after the flooding was done.”
Mc Auly said debris such as trees and docks were slamming against the pedestrian bridge during the flooding.
At W.A. Olen Park, Mc Auly said the steel pedestrian bridge was damaged. He said the bridge was lifted off of the center pylons.
“My only worry with these bridges is they were built way back in the day and (building) codes now days, you have to be so many feet off of high-water mark and I don’t think either of them are,” Mc Auly said.
Mc Auly said the swinging bridge at W.A. Olen Park should be able to be saved. He added that that bridge wasn’t hit by as much debris, and the bridge was able to move as water flowed into it.
“I’m hoping to get our bridge inspector here to look at our pedestrian bridges in the future,” Mc Auly said. “But they got one guy, and he’s focusing on the street bridges right now, trying to get them open.”
All the street bridges in Clintonville are now open.
Mc Auly said the enclosed shelter in W.A. Olen Park was flooded up to the bottom of the windows. He said city employees have cleaned up the building and were trying to dry out the building. Some of the wood inside will need to be replaced, as well as the water heater, and the kitchen appliances.