A year after a blizzard dumped between 1 and 2 feet of snow on the area, Arlington Heights is experiencing an unusually mild winter, which means savings in fuel, materials and public works overtime hours, officials said.

Through the end of January, the village has spent $50,000 less on employee overtime hours for snow and ice control operations, said Scott Shirley, director of public works . He predicts that if February is a normal month, the village will wind up saving $150,000 total in overtime hours.

But looking at weather predictions for February, the month will likely be even milder than normal, he said.

He could not definitively calculate yet how much money has been saved on materials, but said there is definite gas and material savings on salt and liquid deicer.

“There’s no doubt that we’re saving money,” Shirley said.

The overtime hours saved also do not include savings on water main repair work, which amount to between $50,000 and $60,000.

Freezing temperatures bring more water main breaks and more manpower spent on their repair, but with the milder temperatures this winter, public works employees have been spending their time elsewhere.

“There’s a lot of peripheral benefits where guys are doing things that are a lower priority than snow and ice control,” Shirley said. “There’s a lot of trickle down benefits. We’re getting more done in other areas.”

Public works employees have been flushing sewers and doing vehicle maintenance during the day, working hours which might otherwise be spent plowing streets or going on salt runs.

Still, Chicago area winters are often long and unpredictable.

“We’re not counting it as money in the bank yet,” Shirley said.