One Worcester city councilor is looking to stay ahead of the curve before winter approaches.

Councilor At-Large Moe Bergman is requesting information about snow removal equipment and hiring from the Department of Public Works at the next council meeting.

Bergman says though the winter will be different this year with COVID-19, the city needs to be prepared. The DPW spent just $3.7 million of their $6 million snow removal budget last winter after seeing less than 35 inches of snow fall -- which is about 20 inches less than average.

Bergman says if this coming winter is a difficult one, we'll be in a tougher spot since last winter was so mild.

Bergman says, "With COVID-19, if we're not out from under it during the winter season, which in all likelihood we won't be, now you're going to have a lot more people working from home. Even though there are people going back to work there's still a significant amount of people working from home, which always makes snow removal more complicated because there's cars on the streets. There's a lot more people that aren't leaving during the day. And we do need to address that because we've got so many other things on our agenda."

Bergman says it's important to know how many pieces of equipment and people are needed so the city can hire enough subcontractors.​