SIDE STREETS: Fall River’s DPW doesn’t go home until the snow’s over

The approach to the citys department of public works headquarters takes you up a gentle hill, on a frequently patched asphalt road, and into a landscape out of 1970s Soviet Russia.

A nonworking municipal incinerator rises up in front of you. Piles of broken concrete are everywhere.

A bright spot: a big stack of new brown-and-yellow yard waste bins that have yet to be distributed throughout the city.

Diesel engines idle everywhere. A shiny purple Christmas tree is wired to the grill of an idling, growling trash truck. There are shiny green balls on the tree.

Its snowing on Thursday, a little past 11 a.m., and its supposed to keep snowing until sometime Friday.

You can hear cars going by down on the highway. A wet American flag is wrapped around the top of a flagpole. The wind isnt hard but its steady.

Inside the headquarters, badly lit, dark hallways lead to offices and a break room full of dented gray metal lockers and a swaybacked green-and-black armchair, no doubt brought in by some employee cleaning out his or her basement.

John Perry is the DPWs director of operations. The title comes with a very dark office. He sits with his back to the window.

Maybe another inch, inch-and-a-half before it turns dark, he says.

Thats when the fun starts.

See the rest here:
SIDE STREETS: Fall River's DPW doesn't go home until the snow's over