Baker City Public Works crews started plowing snow around schools and Saint Alphonsus Medical Center at 4 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 5, after the winter’s first significant snowstorm dropped about 6 inches in town.

Joyce Bornstedt, the city’s public works director, said crews have also plowed some thoroughfares, such as sections of Auburn Avenue and Campbell Street. Other high-priority routes include 10th and Broadway streets.

This is the first time this winter the city has plowed snow.

About 3 inches of snow fell on Jan. 2, but the temperature warmed into the 40s and the snow quickly melted.

Bornstedt said she will monitor conditions in the downtown area today and decide whether to call in a crew at midnight to plow streets in that district. Plowing downtown isn’t possible during the day due to the volume of traffic, she said.

Crews will strive to haul away snow from the temporary berms at intersections and in the middle of some streets, Bornstedt said.

“That’s too much of a safety hazard,” she said.

Bornstedt said she doesn’t plan at this point to expand plowing into residential streets, which make up the majority of the city’s approximately 67 miles of streets.

Bornstedt said the heavy, wet snow also broke trees and branches in several places, including the intersection of First and Campbell streets, where crews had to clear branches that were blocking the intersection Tuesday night.

The National Weather Service is predicting about 2 inches of additional snow in the city over the next six days, with the highest chance on Friday, Feb. 7.

Bornstedt said public works crews have flexible schedules, so if a midnight shift is needed the workers can adjust their schedule so the city doesn’t incur overtime.

The city had budgeted $143,000 for snow and ice control for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2025. The amount the city actually spends varies considerably since it’s based on the weather. In fiscal 2022-23, a relatively mild winter, the city spent $76,000. The previous year the city spent $122,000.

During the winter of 2016-17, the snowiest in the city in a couple decades, the city had to transfer money from its contingency fund to cover snowplowing costs, which topped $300,000.