The Village of Lake Placid is responsible for highway, water, sewer, police, fire and electric. It always amazes me that the work that gets done is done by only 72 full-time employees, a few part-timers and our volunteer fire department. When you consider that we live in an area that has six-plus months of winter and more than our share of lake effect snow, it is amazing how good a job they do. A professional is someone who makes a hard or complex job look simple. In Lake Placid, we are very fortunate to have a lot of professional employees.

It takes a special person to work for the village. The services we offer are essential services and our employees are expected to maintain and go the extra mile 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.

The head of the Department of Public Works often tells me his dream would be to have it snow 2 feet, twice a month and then be sunny the rest of the time. Unfortunately, that is not the case. More times than not, we will go weeks on end without seeing the sun and light snow falling constantly that has to be shoveled, plowed and cleared to keep people safe.

This has been an exceptionally hard year — in addition to keeping up with winter we are also dealing with various illnesses. In addition to the DPW employees working long hours, a lot of them have been sick and in fact, two have been hospitalized. We are very fortunate that our departments work well together, and that the electric department has been filling in and helping to plow our roads. They are able to fill in as they have their CDL licenses which are required to drive the heavy snow plows.

This winter has been hard on all of our equipment. The brushes on our sidewalk sweepers will sometimes last up to three weeks. This year it is not uncommon to change them twice, if not three times a week as they are wearing out from all the use they are getting. Also, with our trucks and plows running more than usual, it’s been challenging to keep up with the extra maintenance.

Keep in mind that what most people call Lake Placid actually encompasses village, town, county and state roads. Although we all work together and make things work, it is not as easy as if one entity were controlling everything.

I would also like to mention and thank the fire department, the volunteer fire department, village and town employees, and all of the area fire departments that provided mutual aid for the latest fire. It is my understanding that three-quarters of a million gallons of water were put on the blaze and many were there from 6:30 p.m. until close to midnight and then again returning, some not getting done until 11 a.m. Thank you one and all for the work that you do.

Because our workers make the work they do look easy, people become accustomed to everything being perfect, and when it’s not some are quick to complain. Keep in mind that the jobs they are doing during a long and challenging winter are extremely difficult and they are doing their best to keep up. It would go a long way to help morale if people would let the workers know how much they’re appreciated, whether in person or on social media.

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Art Devlin is the mayor of Lake Placid.