City Pledges Funds to Rescue Melting Snow-Removal Budget

Snow removal costs in Cambridge this winter have already exceeded city budget allocations by over $250,000, but Public Works officials foresee no problems in getting more funds, a city official said yesterday.

Equipment repairs during the December 21 snow emergency pushed expenditures $125,000 above the $175,000 budget, and Sunday's storm will cost another $125,000, according to Conrad Fagone, commissioner of the Cambridge Public Works Department.

The additional snow removal funds will come from a half-million-dollar revolving fund handled by the Cambridge City Council, Cambridge Mayor Walter J. Sullivan said yesterday.

Revolving Fund

The city council draws the revolving fund from Federal funds and real estate revenue to cover emergencies such as heavy snow removal costs, Sullivan said.

Over 31 inches of snow have already fallen in Cambridge this winter, the largest total since the winter of 1968-69 and more than the combined snowfall for the past three years.

"Right now we're running on the city's good name and credit to clear all this snow," Fagone said yesterday. "But we won't cut back on service, no matter how much snow falls."

Five Days Straight

"Some of our equipment ran 24 hours a day for four of five days straight during the December storm, and a few of our trucks have been out shoveling since two o'clock Sunday afternoon," Fagone said.

The Public Works Department has already towed more cars from "emergency no-parking zones" than ever before, Fagone added. Some 50 cars were towed from Oxford St. after Sunday's snowfall, he said.

"A handful of trouble-makers are causing problems for everyone else--only a dump truck can fit between illegally parked cars on some streets, and you can't move much snow with a dump truck," Fagone said.

Reclaiming a towed car in Cambridge costs $14. The city charges another $15 in fines to cars parked in "emergency no-parking zones"--adding up to a $29 bill for violators.