By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — Apparently, sand is not spread at the same speed on all roads.

In other words, different roads require different amounts of sand to be safe to drive on, according to Naples Town Manager Ephrem Paraschak.

“Less for paved roads that dry after being plowed and more for dirt roads that refreeze and get slippery,” he said.

The town manager gave the Naples Board of Selectmen an update on the town’s sand status at the request of Chairman Bob Caron II on Monday night.

Despite a winter with repeated snow, sleet or rain events, “the sand pile is in good shape,” Paraschak said.

“We are doing well,” he said. “Other towns…use a lot more than us. They have different road makeups than we do.”

In fact, the sand that was in the shed last year is still untouched, Paraschak said. He said this observation was obvious to the eye since the older sand is a different color than the more recent deliveries.

Not only is the Town of Naples using less sand, but also the town has a surplus of winter maintenance money.

“I would ask the board to use the money from last year and from this year to fill the sand shed,” Paraschak said.

Sand is a worthwhile investment that does not have a shelf life and will not go to waste.

“It doesn’t go bad,” he said.

Currently, there are “1,000 yards in the shed,” he said.

“P&K (Sand and Gravel, Inc.) has been putting it up through the winter. It was never in danger of running out,” he said.

In a related matter, the Naples Fire and Rescue Department has been offering a senior sand program this winter. NFRD personnel on duty have been helping elderly residents by providing them with pre-filled spackle (2½ gallon) buckets or by shoveling sand from the kiosk into buckets in their vehicles.

Paraschak said to his knowledge only a few people have asked for the service.

“It is a great program. It’ll get more use next year once the word gets out,” he said.

In a weather-related topic, the roads were posted on Tuesday morning.

On Monday, Paraschak notified the companies that would be impacted by the posting.

“Obviously, the weather is wreaking havoc with our roads, even those recently paved,” he said.