OGEMAW COUNTY — Less salt usage, fewer overtime hours, minimal truck repairs and fuel savings this winter has the Ogemaw County Road Commission feeling that it can stay under it’s projected budget for the first time in three years.

“The last couple of years we overspent our winter maintenance budget by about $250,000,” said Road Commission Engineer-Manager Mike Schultz. He added that the commission usually budgets between $500,000 and $600,000. “We don’t anticipate going over.”

According to Schultz, Ogemaw County only had 21 inches of snowfall as of Jan. 1, compared to 62 inches at the same time last year.

“Ogemaw Count averages about 65 inches of snowfall per year,” he said. “It’s been a mild to average winter this year. … It’s saving repair times on the trucks.

“We haven’t put in much overtime,” Schultz added.

If winter, which is only about halfway through, continues to be mild, Schultz said salt, which cost $57 a ton (up 30 percent from last winter), could be preserved.

“What we don’t use this year stays in the barn,” he said.

The savings may benefit the county beyond winter, as well. Schultz said that if the road commission is able to stay within its budget projections, there would be more money available for summer resurfacing projects.

There are some roads, however, that Schultz said are still getting quite a bit of attention from the road commission.

Some gravel roads, even after the warm weekend Jan. 23-24, have not yet had all the snow and ice melt off of them, Schultz said.

“It’s mainly the gravel roads that are shaded,” he said. “Those are the ones we’re still babysitting a little bit.”