The selectboard adopted modifications to Roxbury's winter road maintenance procedures that include getting an earlier start with plowing.

Snow plowing will begin at 4 a.m. instead of 5 a.m. in order to get the steeper roads cleared before "the going to work and dropping kids off at school traffic really gets going" according to Road Commissioner David McShane who proposed the changes to the board.

He said that Road Foreman Loren Bent and road crew employees have been consulted about the changes and agreed with the need. He added that the three members of the road crew have separate plow routes and that it usually takes about 5 hours to cover a route, first plowing off the snow and than a follow up sanding trip.

In other procedural changes the board agreed to have the road foreman, or his designee, monitor road conditions on weekends and holidays by 5 am to determine whether to call in the rest of the crew for plowing duties.

If plowing is needed the crew is to be at work by 6 a.m. on weekends and holidays.

The employee monitoring road conditions will be paid 2 hours overtime for that function and must use a Town truck for the work to minimize paying mileage costs on privately owned vehicles.

Mr. McShane said that last winter the road crew rotated the road monitoring duty and he thought they would do the same this year.

The board also agreed to purchase 500 yards of sand from Gross's Pit to add to the current sand stockpile. The cost will be transferred from the Town's summer gravel budget account.