Locals seem to be getting back to the Sequim way of life this week following historic snowfall.

Sequim schools reopened Tuesday, Feb. 19, after closing for five-and-a-half days starting with a half day on Feb. 8 and for the week of Feb. 11-15.

Sequim Schools superintendent Gary Neal said district staff continue to investigate what they may need to makeup for the end of the school year. He’s working with the Washington Association of School Administrators and Educational Service District 114 to find more information on what the district can declare with a waiver that could keep the days of the school year the same.

Sequim School District’s school year is slated to end June 13 with a designated snow day built in for June 14 if needed.

Neal said one concern is making sure teachers have met their instructional hours for the school year.

“We are looking to see if we can get a waiver for the other days,” Neal said.

He said without a waiver the district’s school year would extend into the end of June.

Mail time

Snow prevented some route carriers through the US Postal Service from safely delivering mail throughout the Sequim area.

Sequim Postmaster Rob Garfinkle said he brought in as much staff as possible to help deliver mail on routes and in the Sequim Post Office. They even opened a window on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, President’s Day, to help deliver people their mail.

“There were lines more than we could handle without advertising,” he said.

Garfinkle said despite the snow, carriers attempted to do everything they could to safely deliver mail.

He said in order to deliver packages/mail, carriers need to have access to drive up, make the delivery and safely drive away.

“We can’t have carriers jumping over piles of snow,” he said.

First response

As road conditions worsened with snow, the Sequim area was hit with a number of collisions, reports the Washington State Patrol.

From Feb. 8-11, there were 14 collisions from Whitefeather Way to Carlsborg Road, however, as the snow impact lessened, only three more collisions were reported, said Trooper Chelsea Hodgson, public information officer.

In total, Washington State Patrol responded to 47 collisions from Feb. 8-18 in Clallam County.

Dan Orr, assistant fire chief for Clallam County Fire District 3, said firefighters are seeing a normal flow for this time of year now and that non-emergency calls for snow-related help have gone down, too.

“It’s been much more of our normal, medical calls and less related to weather,” he said.

Roads

In the City of Sequim, Public Works Director David Garlington said streets are in good shape and now city crews are focusing on clearing high-use sidewalks.

They’re also shifting from 12-hour work days back to regular work hours, he said.

“I think they did great,” Garlington said. “The crews were out there doing what they needed to do.

City staff have received numerous calls to plow private streets and county roads and they are referring people to contact the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce at 360-683-6197 or info@sequimchamber.com or the North Peninsula Builders Association at 360-452-8160.

Clallam County Engineer Ross Tyler said Sequim-area road crews should be removing the last of melting slush from roads on Tuesday.

He said the most consistent calls they’ve received follow plows coming through and blocking driveways and mailboxes.

“I understand how frustrating that is and it happens at my own place but there’s nothing the guys behind the plows can do,” Tyler said.

“Fortunately this snow doesn’t happen but once every decade.”

Following snow removal, he said road crews will continue to place sand on roads to combat ice in below freezing temperatures.

Drainage and costs

Along with snow removal, city crews are beginning to locate and clear storm drains to keep snow melt water off streets.

Residents and business owners are asked to assist by clearing the storm drains and sidewalks by their homes and businesses.

Residents should contact the City at 360-683-4908 with any flooding concerns during normal business hours and at 360-683-7227 after business hours.

With crews driving consistently since Feb. 8, city staff said they don’t have an estimate cost for snow removal in the city.

Sarah VanAusdle, public works analyst, said crews continue to log time and equipment hours and invoices for supplies, such as sand and deicer.

Bush said they expect a majority of costs to the city to be reimbursable assuming the city hits federal disaster thresholds for damage and expenses, which he said is likely.

“With combined state and federal reimbursement, we can potentially recover up to 87.5 percent of our expenses,” he said.

VanAusdle said if the city qualifies for reimbursement, it can claim overtime-man hours, all equipment hours and all supplies and materials related to emergency protective measures, debris removal and damage repair.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.

Reach Erin Hawkins at ehawkins@sequimgazette.com.