Mayor: City Lost Two DPW Trucks in Storm

Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn said two city Department of Public Works trucks were victims of the major winter storm that blanketed two feet of snow on the city.

McGlynn said during a Friday press conference he would request to include two new DPW trucks among the items to be funded by a possible $3.2 million interest-free loan from the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority discussed by the City Council this week.

McGlynn said one of the trucks, a smaller plow, actually overheated and "burst into flames" due to the stress from pushing "heavy, wet snow." McGlynn said the truck was "a $50,000 item."

The other truck that died during the storm was a sander, which was also valued at $50,000.

McGlynn is proposing purchasing two larger trucks that are combination plows and sanders at a cost of $200,000 each.

According to McGlynn, those trucks will help the city after identifying problem areas during the last storm.

"They'll take care of some of the areas that we recognized were issues during this storm, and they'll just blow those areas out in any future storm," McGlynn said, anticipating the City Council will support such a measure.

McGlynn thanked residents for their patience and cooperation during the storm. He said he toured the city throughout the storm with DPW Commissioner Paul Gere.

Medford utilized a major piece of equipment called a "snow-eater" during the storm that hadn't been used since the Blizzard of '78. McGlynn said the machine was akin to a giant snowblower.

Under the circumstances, McGlynn felt city employees tasked with clearing streets for safe travel did a "very good" job.

"We know it wasn't perfect but they did a very good job under these very trying circumstances," he said.

Less than 100 cars were towed in Medford during the storm, which McGlynn attributed to a good job by the city of getting the word out on parking bans.