Month after fire, Minden cleans up significant snowfall

MINDEN, N.Y. (NEWS10) - Heavy snowfall from the latest winter storm leading to some impressive snow totals, especially in the Mohawk Valley. In Minden, the storm marked a significant cleanup effort for the community that lost nearly its entire snowplowing fleet in a fire last month.

"It’s been a struggle, but we’re gonna make it through," said Joe Hanifin, the town's highway superintendent.

The town has been able to make it through this winter with assistance from neighboring communities. During the cleanup efforts Monday, a plow from Cherry Valley could be seen clearing off a rural road, while Hanifin worked to clear a parking area with a county pickup truck.

"It’s just been unreal. We’ve found spots to keep the trucks warm, they’ve also given us jackets, flashlights, because we lost everything in the town barn," he said.

Assistance has come from several different municipalities in both Montgomery and Otsego counties, "I have six total plow drivers and maintenance employees here, and operators, and everyone’s had a truck to plow with," Hanifin explained.

That assistance was vital in a cleanup effort like this one. The town's plow operators began their days at 4 o'clock, able to quickly clear up dozens of miles of roadway by the afternoon, "We started right away, haven’t had to deal with too many problems," said Hanifin.

Hanifin says the town will be receiving some new equipment in the coming months.