Oak Creek, Wis – December 15, 2025 – Winter is off to an especially snowy start (and the season hasn’t even officially begun yet), but the Oak Creek Department of Public Works (DPW) isn’t fazed. In fact, it’s mobilized and ready to clear anything that comes our way and has the awards to prove it.

DPW won the 2025 Wisconsin Chapter Excellence in Snow and Ice Control Award (city populations over 25,000) from the American Public Works Association. This award was created to recognize excellence in the management and administration of snow and ice removal and to promote best practices while minimizing environmental impacts. 

“This award is proof the City of Oak Creek is doing a lot of things right,” said Oak Creek Director of Public Works Matt Trebatoski.  Under the guidance of Tyler Buerger, Assistant Director of Public Works, the City has transformed the way it clears snow and ice. 

“I’m incredibly honored for the recognition and proud of our public works staff for the hard work and dedication they put into our snow and ice program to make it successful,” said Buerger. 

Trebatoski echoes that sentiment, “We wouldn’t have received this award without the tireless work of our great DPW crews.” Buerger added, “Without their efforts and buy-in, it’s just words and ideas on a piece of paper.” 

Three years ago, all City plows were outfitted with computers. Then Oak Creek invested in Vaisala GroundCast sensors, which record weather conditions on the road and relay that back to the City. The sensors provide live, real-time data (temperature, wind direction, and speed), and tell Buerger the expected weather conditions on the road, including when the storm will arrive, the type of precipitation that will fall, and how long the weather will last.

“The data we get back seems fairly minimal, but once we put the whole thing together, it’s a total game-changer. I put it into a chart, and it tells me exactly how much salt we need and whether it should be dry or prewet based on the current conditions. Then we let the drivers know exactly how to set the controls on their truck and precisely what to put down. We have virtually no waste,” Buerger explained.   

Oak Creek was the first City in the state to install pavement sensors to improve winter road management. So far, only two other communities in the state, Madison and Glendale, use this innovative approach.

At the beginning of each season, Buerger said the Department of Public Works calibrates all its trucks to make sure the computer system dispenses the appropriate amounts of material. And trucks are spot checked throughout the winter. “With 316.3 lane miles in the city of Oak Creek, it’s critically important that everything is working properly,” Buerger said.  

The city also has an in-house brinemaker, so salt brine and blended liquids are readily available for winter events that often change rapidly. And with the winter we’ve had so far, this has been incredibly helpful. 

Despite getting rave reviews from Oak Creek citizens on how they’ve done so far this season, Buerger said, “The work is not done; we still have opportunities to improve upon, and I’m excited for that challenge!”  

For media inquiries, please contact:
Kelly Shoff
Marketing and Communications Manager
City of Oak Creek
kshoff@oakcreekwi.gov

 Office: 414-766-7075, Mobile: 414-865-3987