Austell's mayor has decided to close city offices at 1 p.m. Friday to given employees time to prepare for the coming snow storm.
There are 79 counties under a state of emergency ahead of a snow storm expected to drop up to 4 inches of snow on metro Atlanta.
“He wants everyone to get home safe before the snow does come in,” said Austell Clerk of Court Sandy Farmer said of Mayor Joe Jerkins. “The mayor had been watching the weather on his computer and made the decision.”
As city administrative staff leave early, road crews will ready themselves to clear ice and snow.
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Duane Demeritt, operations manager with the city’s public works department, said he expects the assistant director to make a call about treating roads about 7 or 8 p.m., maybe earlier.
The city would spread salt and sand.
As for where crews would go, Demeritt said they’d head for the first-to-ice bridges and overpasses and then to Powder Springs Road, Humphries Hill Road and Old Marietta Road, all of which usually get slick after a winter storm.
The state would handle the stretch of Veterans Memorial Highway that comes through town.
Demeritt also reminded folks to sign up for the city's CodeRED alert system that would notify residents in case of road closures of emergencies.
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