No work for 21 board of works staffers

Blame it on an early and balmy spring.

But 21 City of Sault Ste. Marie board of works employees have been placed on temporary layoff.

"They will be back to work no later than the end of April," Chief Administrative Officer Joe Fratesi tells SooToday.com. "Because this winter has been so phenomenal from a winter maintenance point of view, there's not really a lot of work on the forecast."

There's no snow, there's not likely to be any more snow this season and it's too early to start cleaning the streets, Fratesi says.

Street cleaning involves spraying water and then sweeping.

But unless temperatures are consistently above freezing all night, it would be both dangerous and ineffective to start trying to clean streets.

If temperatures climb and stay high long enough, the workers will be called back, the CAO said.

"Up until a couple of years ago there was always a seasonal layoff for these guys and gals," Fratesi said. "This is what we used to do all the time."

This temporary layoff will have no impact on services or planned maintenance projects, he added.

"Because there is no reasonable expectation there will be snow ... it wouldn't be right for us, when we are trying to find ways in which to save money, to keep the crews on," he said.