(Le Mars) — The city of Le Mars held an open house for the new public works facility yesterday afternoon. The two new combined 39,700 square foot buildings now houses the equipment for both the streets department and the public facilities department, as well as the salt needed for the maintenance of the city streets during the winter. Scott Kneip, the superintendent for the streets department believes the new building will end up saving the city money.
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Brad Eppling, the superintendent for the public facilities department echoed Kniep.
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Residences of Le Mars may not fully understand how much territory is maintained by city employees. Eppling explains the vast number of acres of green space from the parks, cemeteries, and recreational trails.
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As for the city streets, Kneip says there are more than 73 miles of streets that need maintaining.
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Kneip says after a three to six inch snow storm, it takes the city crew nearly six hours to clean all of the Le Mars streets. Eppling says his staff takes a week to mow all the cemeteries, parks, and recreational trails.
