OBSERVER Photo by Jo Ward Crooked Brook in the city of Dunkirk is holding record high waters as the snow from the Christmas weekend storm melts.

Heavy wet snows and lake effect blew in during the Christmas weekend, dumping upwards of 2 feet in some parts of the city of Dunkirk. Answering the call to keep the city clear was the department of public works, and according to DPW Director Randy Woodbury, things in the city went very well.

“It looks like we got about 2 feet of snow all together,” Woodbury told the OBSERVER. “It was nice that individual salters went and put salt down before the snow came so it was relatively easy to clean it up after. The only difficulty we had was the alternate parking and that’s an issue that we have every year; so we just have to deal with it.”

Woodbury said garbage crews that worked during the day got some rest and then came back in after 6 p.m. to clean up the alternate side once the cars were moved.

When asked about damage along the lakefront, such as to Point Gratiot which suffered an extreme amount of damage during a windstorm in November, Woodbury was happy to report that no further damage was sustained that the city knows of, the only point of interest they are monitoring is Crooked Brook.

“Crooked Brook is high and we have somebody down there working on that right now,” Woodbury said. “When the winds come in the way they are and with the high level of the lake as it is makes everything difficult. When the wind blows from that direction it backs up Crooked Brook like we’ve never seen it before.”

Winds peaked between 40 and 50 mph over the Christmas holiday with the highest recorded Sunday night at 48 MPH. Woodbury however states that’s normal during these types of storms and they just keep a close eye on it and make sure to keep everything in order as best they can; he was just thankful they have the equipment to manage.

“I’m glad that Mayor (Wilfred) Rosas got the three new plows and the two new loaders with plows, without those we would have been way behind,” Woodbury said. “We also added two new people to the staff before the snow came, so we had good people with CDLs ready to help and everybody answered the call. I’m very, very proud of everyone including the drivers, the mechanics and the people that keep the water and wastewater plants running. It can get tricky with weather like that, but they did a great job.”