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Long-time operator keeps roads open
Joe Tartak works heavy equipment for 30 years

Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, February 25, 2015

RANKIN INLET
Joe knows snow! And he should. Joe Tartak, 56, has been a heavy-equipment operator with the Hamlet of Rankin Inlet for the past 30 years.

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Joe Tartak is the man the community counts on to stay out as long as he can when blizzards hit to keep the main roads open in Rankin Inlet. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

When most people are home safe and warm when a blizzard strikes, Tartak is out battling the storm to keep the community's main roads open.

And when it comes to bad weather there isn't much Tartak hasn't seen during the past three decades.

"I worked through the worst of the storms, and I have no idea how many tons of snow I've moved over the years," said Tartak.

"I do my best to keep the main roads open and, sometimes, it can be pretty hard, if not impossible.

"We have to concentrate on the main roads in case there's an emergency.

"I've been grounded to a stop a few times, but the front-end loader will keep going when the grader can't."

Tartak said there's been many times he wasn't sure if he was still on the road.

And, he said, more than a few times he found himself off the road when a really bad blizzard hit.

"Not everybody makes it home OK when the storms come in really fast.

"I've pulled many people free over the years.

"I'd be rich if I had a few dollars for every vehicle I've pulled off the road, but I can't do it now, though.

"The hamlet's responsible if I damage a vehicle while trying to pull it out, so I'm not allowed to do it under a hamlet directive."

Tartak said the worst blizzards of his 30-year career hit Rankin in the early '90s.

He said he couldn't see more than a foot in front of him during some storms.

"In those storms, I'd move a few feet, then stop, then move a few more.

"The worst part of trying to keep the roads clear during a storm are the people who insist on driving around just for the sake of it.

"They're driving around in their warm vehicle, but bad things can happen.

"We've had a few very close calls over the years, but we've been really lucky."

Tartak said today's storms don't seem to be quite as bad as 20 or 30 years ago.

But he said the job is still tough with Rankin continuing to grow and more traffic being on the roads.

"It's strange now because, in the past, we didn't get a lot of snow until March, but now we get it in February.

"And it always used to warm up before a storm but now it seems to stay cold.

"This is the easiest my job's ever been because of the better equipment we have, and young guns Troy Aksalnik and Savik Kowmuk make things easier for me.

"I don't miss the days in an old two-wheel-drive backhoe with no heat - that was a real bummer."

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