Local businesses and towns work to remove heavy snow following storms

Recent snowstorms have made driving and getting around difficult in North Big Horn County, but when it snows, a variety of companies and individuals turn out to tackle the heavy white stuff, working on roads, residential areas and private property. The demand for snow removal has kept local businesses and public works departments busy.

“I have removed snow in six private businesses and probably 25 residential areas in Lovell,” said Barry Wilske, owner of Wilske’s Yard Services. “I also removed snow at an apartment complex over in Powell. Snow removal can be anywhere between two inches and up to 14 inches.”

Wilske said he has no trouble removing snow and has the right equipment to do the work. He said shoveling snow with a shovel can be difficult.

   “The snow has not been wet and heavy,” Wilske said. “It is easy to remove, and using equipment helps a lot. However, shoveling the snow is never fun, especially when it is 14 inches.”

Steven Hiser, owner of Ike’s Lawn Care, said the snowfall has been challenging and had some trouble removing snow. He said the tough part was a lack of space to dump the snow.

“Last snowfall what I usually had to do was plow the snow into piles,” Hiser said. “I ran out of areas to pile up the snow, so I had to find places to dump it. I also cleaned out the gutters so the water could drain.”

Hiser said the snowfall was much heavier than last year. He said he had to pick up more snow than he was used to.

“It is not often we get this much snow,” Hiser said. “It is easier when snow is at 2 or 3 inches. I think this last snowfall was about over a foot, and with the weather being cold, the snow doesn’t melt as fast, but with the weather warming up, it’s making the work easier.”

Ty Sammons, owner of Sammons Excavation, said he has been in business for 18 years. He said at first he refused to do snow removal because he did not have the right equipment before he decided to do it for side work, noting, “I had a backhoe, and finally, when I started picking up jobs, I purchased some snow pushers.”

Sammons said he did not see his snow removal services as another business opportunity but as income for the winter.

“I am doing this because it is great income for the winter when you can’t move dirt,” Sammons said. “Originally, I was doing snow pickup at the hospital for years, and that was all I did. But when Bruce Morrison retired, I started to pick up the jobs he had.”

John Barnes, public works director for Cowley, said he works on removing snow with two other employees. He said the challenging part of the snowfall was finding a place to dump the snow.

“With the cold weather and the large volume of snow that the town got this year, it has been challenging to find places to put it,” Barnes said. “When I and my guys plow off the snow from the street and sidewalk, it makes an extremely large windrow in front of people’s driveways, and we have to get a backhoe to plow up the snow so they can get in and out of their yard.”

Barnes said he and his employees are doing their best to serve the Cowley community. He said the tough part is you can’t be at two places simultaneously.

“The challenging part of our job is you cannot be everywhere at once,” Barnes said. “It is upsetting to some citizens when they get blocked in; they cannot get out of their yard, and it takes us a while to get there.”