AUGUSTA -- Snow that falls on the roads and sidewalks in the city this winter, especially in the middle of the night, will likely be there longer than it has in the past.

Public Works Director John Charest is warning in a memo to City Manager William Bridgeo that budget cuts will affect timely snow removal.

Charest said late-night plowing and sanding will be scaled back, less salt and more sand will be used, and it could take longer to remove snow from streets and sidewalks than it previously did.

Lengthy storms -- or one storm coming right after another -- could prove even dicier, he warned.

"We have lost three positions from the previous winter and this will affect timely service, especially if we encounter an above-average winter with respect to snowfall, or we have storms that occur back to back," Charest's recent memo to Bridgeo said.

"As we did last year, we are also scaling back our late night plowing/sanding efforts and call-ins during non-work hours. If a storm is going to last all night, we send everyone home by midnight and then bring the crew back early in the morning to clean everything up with the goal of being ready when the majority of people are ready to travel."

Public Works staff was cut as part of several city budget cuts made last year and this year.

Charest noted there could also be a high rate of absenteeism with the flu this winter.

Meanwhile, consolidated school bus stops that have some Augusta students walking longer distances to schools and bus stops will present snow removers with another new challenge this year.

Charest said they have identified critical school walking routes and said that, if workers cannot get all 34 miles of sidewalks open, they will focus on the school routes first.

The city will also switch from a 3/4-salt, 1/4-sand mix for winter roads to a 1/2-salt, 1/2-sand mix -- a move expected to save about $27,000 but which could also make it take longer, perhaps a few days, for snow and ice to melt off roads.

Charest is scheduled to give an update on winter road maintenance Thursday to the City Council at a meeting beginning at 7 p.m. at Augusta City Center.

Councilors are also to:

* Discuss changes to the Mineral Extraction Ordinance to add asphalt and ready-mix-concrete plants to the uses regulated by the ordinance.

The changes were proposed by Councilor Cecil Munson in response to residents' complaints about odors coming from a portable asphalt plant in a gravel pit off West River Road this summer.

The proposed changes, according to Matt Nazar, deputy director of development services, would not affect Dragon Cement, the only other known such plant in the city, which occupies a site off Bond Brook Road and has been used as a concrete batch plant for more than 30 years. That site is grandfathered and is also not considered a mineral extraction site.

* Hold a public hearing regarding the city's application for a $500,000 state grant to help fund a proposed $17 million Greater Augusta Utilities District sewer project in the Mount Vernon Avenue area starting next summer.

* Hear a presentation on a Kennebec River Rail Trail map by Tom Reeves.

* Consider changes to city ordinances recommended by a subcommittee to strengthen and clarify city rules regulating the storage of recycling, rubbish, waste and unregistered vehicles on private property.

Keith Edwards -- 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com