HAMBURG, N.Y. — There is indeed a snow dumping ground for the Southtowns at the ECC South campus on Southwestern Boulevard.
A mountain of snow is growing on a parking lot of the campus as high lift or payloader construction vehicles load it up into huge dump trucks to get it off roads and get out of residential areas
That is tedious work in the words of Hamburg town officials as powerful high lifts have to break it up because plows can't really move the heavy, deep. very wet snow.
Folks have tried to dig out of their own neighborhoods. But it's a Herculean task and some like retired Channel 2 photojournalist Bob Mancuso says they just want some indication that the town is going to get to them as they feel stranded on an unplowed street.
That's even as crews have been working around the clock with up to 27 payloaders in the town of Hamburg to clear the streets.
Mancuso spoke of his frustration as a resident of Harbor Run Lane off Route 5.
"I know everybody is trying to do the best they can to help everybody out but I think this is borderline ridiculous. I don't think for going out of the realm of possibility - I don't think I'm asking too much to get people here to get us dug out here. Because this is an entire culdesac that is paralyzed right now."
Sean Crotty, the Emergency Services Director for the Town of Hamburg says it has been a very tedious task as the regular town plows cannot really get the momentum to move the snow. They must work with operators in the heavy-duty payloaders to break up the snow drifts before the plows can push the loosened snow to the side.
"We understand their frustration. We sense it and we - believe we are not ignoring you. We know where you are. We know that you haven't seen a snow plow. We know that we haven't cleared the roads. Some of the roads that we've been able to get into with our highway department have been a matter of just getting one-lane access so that we can get down there if there's an emergency.
Crotty says they have hired construction contractors like Union Concrete which has the heavy payloaders with 27 of the machines in use. They tried to mount an all-night removal plan Sunday night but fell short of their goal. He says they will keep working at it until all streets are cleared.
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