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When the snow falls, the plows come out. But while road crews work to clear county and state highways in the area, small towns and rural residents are busy digging out, too. The main difference is scale, area officials said this week - a small town is likely to have less snow-removal equipment, and for some townships, it's a job for private contractors.

The road crews are smaller, but some area small cities take care of their own plowing. The city of Ghent maintains a plow, as do the cities of Russell and Milroy.

Ghent streets and parks superintendent Gary Laleman and Russell streets superintendent Bryan Buchert said their cities maintain larger snowplows. Buchert said Russell uses an International tandem truck with a two-directional plow blade. It's enough that the city wouldn't need to ask for plowing assistance unless more than four or five inches of snow fell, Buchert said.

Milroy city clerk Betsy Snyder said the city of Milroy recently got rid of its snowplow for a smaller city truck on which a plow blade can be mounted.

The old plow needed a lot of maintenance, Snyder said, and "it was starting to nickel-and-dime us to death."

Lyon County highway superintendent Jim Thomasson said currently there are no Lyon County cities or townships that contract with the county highway department for snow removal.

Townships are responsible for snow removal on township roads, but not every township can afford to keep a plow. Westerheim Township in Lyon County contracts for snow removal services, said township clerk Richard Bot.

"It's cheaper. If we had to buy our own plow and blade, that could get quite costly," Bot said. Bot said Westerheim Township currently pays a contractor about $70 to $75 an hour for snow removal, and it's still several dollars cheaper than it would be for the township to blade the roads.

Population and resources are another reason for townships to contract for snow removal services. In the past, Amiret Township treasurer Carol Weedman said, a lot of farmers had their own snowblowers, and the township didn't need to look elsewhere to clear the roads. Now there are fewer people equipped, she said. The township has contracted for snow removal since 1995.

"So far, we've been able to handle it," she said.

It's become more important to keep township roads clear during the winter, especially for school bus routes, Weedman said. But the cost of plowing fluctuates with the weather, sometimes dramatically.

For example, Weedman said, Amiret Township spent $640 for snow removal in 2008. But heavier snow and drifts that blocked intersections in 2009 mean this year's costs total more than $12,000.

There are townships that maintain their own snowplows. Snyder said Westline Township in Redwood County, where she lives, has its own plow. If a township has the money and resources for a plow, it can have its roads cleared faster, she said.

"If you're contracting with someone, he might have other townships to do," she said.

But, area township officers said, contracted plows still get the job done.

"It's not as fast as the county (snowplows)," Bot said, but if someone wants to get out of their farmstead faster than the plow can get there, they can usually manage. "People are pretty independent."