AUBURN-

The dry winter is a boon to construction workers and city public works departments who are able to work through a normally abbreviated construction season.

In Auburn, contractors working for the city are out in force in the warm weather.

“We have several crews that are out right now that are quite busy doing various things throughout the city,” Auburn Public Works Director Bernie Schroeder said Friday.

She says a sewer maintenance project that requires trenching would probably be delayed in  weather that is a danger to workers and traffic in wet conditions. And it’s good to get to such repairs sooner than normal.

“We really want to prevent the potential for backups that could cause a problem for private property or in our storm water,” Schroeder saod.

Construction supervisor Kelly Killian normally spends time in the mountains in the winter skiing and snowmobiling during when outdoor construction slows in the winter, but he could use the extra paychecks that the dry winter is  bringing.

“It will be a very good year, the tax man will love it,” Killian told FOX40.

Caltrans and other cities are also taking advantage of the dry winter to get through any construction backlogs and get a jump on spring construction projects like paving.

“That’s always a good thing,” Schroeder said.