TOWN OF HARRISON, Wis. — The snowplow on the front of Jeff Feistel’s truck looks new.
Months into this winter, it essentially still is.
“Normally we anticipate six to eight events a month. We’re at six to eight events for the year,” said Feistel, the owner of Fairways Lawn Care & Snow Removal near Appleton. “It’s been pretty rough.”
Prior to this season, Fairways added more accounts and invested in additional removal equipment. It’s also constructing a new shop.
“This is probably our worst year since I’ve been in business. I’ve been doing these 17 years,” Feistel said. “We rely on snow as a big boost to get into spring and summer and carry us through. We’re definitely down on numbers.”
A milder than usual winter has hurt business for those in snow removal to ice fishing bait sales and tourism.
Appleton Director of Public Works Danielle Block said at the municipal level she expects there will be some savings on things like equipment upkeep and labor hours from the first part of the year.
“Of course, there’s winter at the end of 2024,” she said. “That saving could all come out in the wash at the end if we get an early and fierce winter.”
The mild winter this season has also allowed public works crews to get a jump on spring work.
“Our street department is out there earlier in terms of any patchwork or roadway maintenance work, we’re able to focus on that,” Block said. “Our water utility can start doing more of that maintenance earlier on water mains and valves.”
With spring approaching, Fairways has lawn season ahead, but that won’t fully make up for the losses incurred over the winter.
“Everybody that knows me that I run into they say, ‘You’re having a really rough year.’ I say, ‘yeah,’” Feistel said. “We’ll just roll through the punches and try to make up a little bit of it in the summer and hope for a good winter next year.”
