Local snow removal businesses feeling impact of this year’s mild winter

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Snow removal businesses have been patiently waiting for snow that hasn’t come around much this season, and they’re starting to feel the impact of this year’s mild winter.

“It is pretty surprising, I mean here it’s February and you don’t need a coat,” said James Bouc, the owner of Snowmass Snow Removal.

Bouc has been plowing snow in the capital city for over 25 years, but during that time he’s never seen a winter quite like this.

The crews and equipment have only been out on the streets a couple of times this season.

“We have had two times that we had the equipment go out and it’s very rare, very odd, I’m surprised to see that,” Bouc said.

A very different scene than what we saw last year, a historic snowfall that left his crews working around the clock for days after.

“We were just non-stop maintaining the equipment and keeping guys out there, trying to keep them refreshed and ready to go,” Bouc said.

Bouc says the lack of snow this season affects everyone’s livelihood in the snowplow business.

“It gives us more challenges, then we gotta find more work for the guys to do stuff where they can, you know keep them busy, you want to keep your employees busy. It’s been a challenge, it’s been a challenging season for that, for snow in that aspect. We are keeping them working on other items in the shop and building other equipment but it’s been a challenge,” Bouc said.

Another concern comes from a lack of moisture on the ground.

According to Nebraska’s Drought Monitor, parts of Lancaster County are seeing a moderate drought, but other areas in the state are considered under a severe drought.

“Obviously the season’s not done long-term, it looks like it pretty much is. I just hope we get the moisture and I hope obviously it would be nice to see a couple more snowfalls, but more than anything I’d really like to see moisture here,” Bouc said.

Snow removal businesses aren’t just dealing with a lack of snow, they’re also seeing shortages in employees too.

Because of that, Snowmass created some special sidewalk machines this year to help relieve some pressure off of their manpower. The portable machines can quickly remove snow and ice from sidewalks and have rubber edges to protect the nearby grass.

“People are trying to look at more ways to save on manpower and that’s one of the things we were looking at and it did help. I mean that one machine, or each machine, we’re saving like four different personnel and that’s big. Sure, they’re not cheap, but in the long run, trying to find personnel is tough too,” Bouc said.

Snowmass says they have seen the price of parts and equipment jump anywhere from 50 – 70%.