When snow piles up in parking lots at Denver International Airport this winter, a new team will be working the plows, and Denver taxpayers will benefit.
DIA is ending its pricey contract with the private Snow-Go snow removal company in a move that makes good economic sense and helps ease Denver’s budget problems.
Instead of paying Snow-Go about $2.7 million to clear the 300 acres of parking lots used by air travelers and airport employees, DIA will use its own maintenance staff and pay 25 Denver Parks and Recreation Department employees to clear the decks.
After a break-even start-up year, the switch will cut DIA’s removal costs in half, and send about $700,000 to Parks and Rec each winter, says Dan Brown, the airport’s acting interim maintenance manager.
The plan also might prevent layoffs at Parks and Rec, as winter is a slow time for the department.
The new arrangement calls for a start-up expense of $2 million to buy plows and loaders from Snow-Go, so savings in the first year will be minimal.
But if the snows exceed 30 inches, the airport saves more, as Snow-Go charged more than $80,000 per inch of snow that fell beyond that level — a cost far beyond what doing it in-house should run.
Obviously, we don’t enjoy economic contractions, but economists say recessions often stimulate companies and other organizations — as well as individuals — to spend their resources more efficiently.
DIA’s answer to its snow removal seems to be just such an arrangement.
