GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Even though West Michigan has seen days in the 60s and 70s in the last month, the Kent County Road Commission has been preparing for those one-off snowstorms that seem to hit when spring is in sight.
"Once we go into winter mode, those trucks are prepped and ready to go," said Jerry Byrne with the Kent County Road Commission. "The forecast is going a little bit more snow, maybe a little bit more for the entire county. Originally it talked about 96 South, now they're really talking the entire county, somewhere between four to six inches. So as we've talked before in the past, winter is not over yet."
A major winter storm can cost the county around a quarter million dollars per day. Although the county has currently saved money throughout the winter due to the low amounts of snowfall, Byrne said they're still waiting for winter before they start reallocating funds.
"We just pivot based on that weather," said Byrne. "We rely on the forecast."
And while the county is getting ready for this next blast of winter weather, the national app, "Uber for Snowplows ", or Plowz and Mowz, has already had orders in from hundreds of West Michigan customers looking for snow services this weekend.
Will Mahoney is the companies co-founder.
"It definitely has been a dismal winter, you know, waiting for snow. And of course, now spring comes along, and there's, and there's a snowstorm," said Mahoney.
The app connects customers with on-demand snow removal services and yard work companies.
In recent weeks, the app has helped users connect with companies for early spring cleaning, and now they're pivoting to winter once again.
"We reach out to the all the snow professionals beforehand, make sure their gears on make sure they're ready to go," said Mahoney. "You know, we have our operations teams at standby. So there's always customer support during the snow event too, as well. We gear up for it, and we're pretty much prepared for it for this upcoming snowstorm."
And for Byrne, they're also ready to shift from spring work to winter work.
"The blades are on them, the wings are on them, the Sanders in the back," said Byrne. "So it's just a matter of okay, it's going to start snowing or it's snowing. Come in, check the truck, check the oil, check the fuel, and it's ready for winter maintenance."
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