By Tuesday, the remaining ice and snow on Batesville streets was confined to clumps and piles of dirty, melting debris. Mild temperatures and rain made city streets drivable, leaving behind potholes and messy intersections where brine and gravel were spread in preparation for the storm.

Almost all retail stores and business offices had reopened by Tuesday, or announced a Wednesday opening. South Panola schools, however, remained closed through Wednesday because road conditions in the more rural parts of the county would not support school bus traffic.

Overall, Batesville weathered the cold snap well with no major infrastructure breakdowns, or damages to city equipment.

Still, the cost of the winter weather will be significant, especially in payroll. Public Works Director David Karr said almost every department racked up overtime costs as city employees struggled to keep up with emergency calls.

Another expense will be the extra fuel used during the week.

“We pushed snow for seven days and you burn a lot of diesel doing that,” Karr said.

On a bright note, Karr said, city employees responded to the emergency situation with their best effort and helped minimize the discomfort caused by the storm. 

“It was just something that we had to deal with and it was every department doing the best they could when conditions were less than ideal,” Karr said. “As soon as the ice melted enough we were right back at it.”

Ongoing projects in the city were shut down for the week, but Karr said he believes the missed days of production can be made up with good working temperatures in the coming weeks. A major sewer rehabilitation project on MLK Drive is underway and that work will be resumed this week or early next week at the latest.

“We are just starting to see some potholes and asphalt issues around town, and that is to be expected after this kind of freeze,” Karr said. “We will start concentrating on patching as soon as we get some dry weather.”

On the administrative side, City Hall was closed for two days, but was back to full staff and operation Tuesday. City Clerk Susan Berryhill said utility statements were mailed before the storm hit the area and most customers should have received theirs before the freeze set in.

Berryhill said customers who did not receive a statement can contact City Hall with any questions.

Natural gas sales, a major revenue source for the city, increased dramatically during the cold snap, although the actual numbers from the week won’t be available until later in the month.

Berryhill said she will ask the Board of Aldermen to consider extending the due date for utility payments if City Hall receives requests from customers who might have trouble paying bills due to lost wages, or other circumstances.

Residential and commercial trash collection started in Batesville on Monday. Garbage collection, a service of the county’s Solid Waste Department, was scheduled to begin outside the city limits on Tuesday, although some areas of the county could not be collected because of road conditions.

The county’s Transfer Station for garbage dumping re-opened Monday. County supervisors on Monday approved a plan to allow all residents of Panola County to dump garbage at no cost (one dump only) at the Transfer Station to make up for the lost week of home collection.