The relatively mild winter didn't spare Baltimore County's budget.

Although only 7.5 inches of snow fell from December through February in the Baltimore area -- less than half the 18.9-inch average for the three-month period -- the county spent $2.6 million responding to snowstorms this winter.

Thomas Hamer, deputy director of public works, said the cost is slightly higher than the $2.4 million average spent in each of the past five years, noting that crews were called out six times this winter, and that an individual storm can cost more than $500,000.

"It gets real expensive because the public's expectation is very high, when you're talking about the ability to get to work in the morning," said Hamer, scheduled to request County Council approval April 5 for a $600,000 transfer from a surplus account to cover the costs.

Hamer said the costs include $892,000 for overtime because crews must be called out on weekends and after regular business hours to respond to storms and reports of storms.

"These storms don't come on a 9-to-5 schedule," he said.

The county uses 33 contractors and 248 staffers from the schools and public works departments to make the county's 2,500 miles of roads passable during storms, said Ellen Kobler, a public works spokeswoman.

Seventy workers from other departments are available during heavy storms, she said.

Kobler said that this year's $2.6 million cost is considerably higher than the $375,000 spent by the county last winter, when 1.1 inches fell in the area.

But it was much less than the record $5.4 million spent in 1996, which included a Jan. 7 blizzard that dumped 22.5 inches of snow onto the Baltimore area, he said.

Kobler said that each layer of road salt costs $53,000 and that many storms require several layers.

Pub Date: 3/04/99