Tim Musella heard about the record blizzard that blanketed New Haven — and revved up his Ford F‑150 to head up north from Baltimore.
Musella arrived in town at 11 p.m. Saturday with a partner, a snow blower in the back, and a plow attached to the front of his Ford.
They’re crashing at the home of a friend’s mom here while digging out people’s driveways and taking on whatever other plow work they can get.
“I knew that there was a blizzard coming up here,” he said during a momentary stop on Edgewood Avenue. His partner was in Westville using the snow blower at a small home while Musella headed for a bigger plow job. “We didn’t get hit by the snow down there [in Baltimore]. I decided to come up here to help some people out.”
They picked up some jobs running into people Saturday night. Sunday the jobs rolled in by appointment, from people responding to a cragislist ad placed by Musella’s fiancee.
His going rate: $200 an hour. The heavy snow, he explained, takes a toll on the equipment.
Stopped behind Musella on the one open eastbound lane on Edgewood was a man in a car offering rides for $20.
City Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts said he knows a lot of private plowers are out there cleaning up.
“We haven’t seen any systematic problems” with private plowers, he said. “Just exercise common sense about any of those contractual deals.”
Paul Bass Photo
do we have there number?