By Mark Boshnack

Tri-Towns Bureau

ONEONTA — Riding with plows, both public and private, gave a chance to see what people who clear the snow are up against.

The trip with Dan Obergefell, supervisor of the city Department of Public Works, started at about 5 p.m. He has a cell phone in his 3/4-ton pickup truck that makes a rider feel as if he is in snow command central.

Obergefell said his men went to work at about noon Wednesday to try and keep ahead of the snow. But about 5:05 p.m. he said, "It is getting to the point where it is getting hard to push."

Coming over his radio was a town report of a man who was complaining that the plows were pushing the snow onto his property. The voice over the radio told the driver to "don't plow — it's OK."

Obergefell explained: "You get a lot of complaints about snow being pushed on the sidewalks, but with this much snow you have to get it off the roads," even if that means inconveniencing some property owners.

At 5:13 p.m., he said, "It's getting to the point we can't even see (very far)."

The plowing situation was made a little better because the college students are away. The biggest problem in plowing, he said, was getting around parked cars. The colleges' situation usually exacerbated this, so he was glad the snow fell when it did.

Driving down Wall Street, Obergefell commented on the difficulty his truck was having moving the snow.

If the city has many more heavy snowfalls, he said, "we are going to have to get more weight on the trucks."

Turning onto Dietz Street, Obergefell noticed a lone car buried in the snow. That can be a problem," he said. But numerous passes opened the street.

And at 5:15, he turned to clear Wall Street.

As he plowed the intersection of Chestnut and Wall streets, he explained the crews stopped salting the roads at about noon when he saw that the heavy snows made the process a waste of resources.

Turning onto Ford Avenue at 5:19, he talked about the seeming futility of plowing in heavy snow.

"I went up this street about a half an hour ago and there is probably about 6 inches again (on the road)," Obergefell said.

The calls started coming into Obergefell's phone faster — his mechanic needed plowing help if he was going to get to work; trucks needed chains.

To keep the operation going, Obergefell said at 5:30 p.m., he needed to return to the garage.

But John McCoy, who has a private plowing business, was able to continue The Daily Star's tour of the city at about 6 p.m.

McCoy was on vacation from his job as pressroom foreman at The Daily Star but not from his plowing business. He takes care of about 20 driveways and several lots in the city.

The Christmas lights were getting a little dim because of the heavy snow falling as he tackled the lot at the First Presbyterian Church on Main Street.

He has been plowing for about 25 years, and unlike the city drivers, he has no two-way radio or cell phone.

His biggest concern, he said, is "when you get hung up (referring to the possibility of a breakdown on the road), you are on your own."

If it's anything over 4 inches of snow, he said, he loses money because of the time it takes to plow. But that is part of the job, he said.

With snow like Wednesday's, which he said was more than he remembers ever seeing, plowing "takes about four times as long."

When he first tackled the church's driveway, his one-ton truck strained against the load of the snow. As it started to slide, he backed up and took another pass.

Little-by-little, he punched the snow into walls against the fences and building.

"I usually try to keep up with it (the snowfall)," he said. "I should have gotten started (plowing) with this one a little earlier."

But after about 40 minutes of plowing he finished and headed up Chestnut Street, and while passing Wall Street, tracks of the city plow were visible in the snow.

Otherwise, the street looked unplowed.

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Mark Boshnack can be reached at (607) 563-1493 or at starsidney@wirelessthinktank.com.