Caltrans Meyers’ enclave becomes a village of seasonal workers sleeping and eating onsite
By Kathryn Reed
MEYERS – Aromas of freshly made food waft from a nondescript building tucked off Highway 89. Three hot meals a day are served here. Boarders are upstairs sleeping – in the middle of day.
Today starts week four of winter at the Meyers’ Caltrans depot.
When it’s storming out – and it doesn’t have to be white stuff that is falling from the sky – the heavy equipment operators are working 12-hour shifts. There may be no time for breaks.
“Anything dealing with our highways we take care of,” Mark Wagener explains during lunch Dec. 5. “There’s so much sand on the road we have to clean the catch basins regularly.”
Twelve-hour shifts at the Caltrans kitchen in Meyers are routine for Claire Neville. Photos/Kathryn Reed
Rocks are sliding on the road and storm drains are backed up. Most of the mop up is done by hand.
When it’s snowing, Wagener is in a plow truck or grader.
This seasonal facility usually operates from sometime in November through April. Though there was the year it opened in October.
Any city, county, state or federal employee can eat here. Lake Valley personnel and California Highway Patrol officers are dining on Dec. 5. Each meal is $4.
The lunch crew can put sack lunches together so workers stay nourished throughout their shift.
On Wednesday, heavy equipment mechanic Walt Wimsett and Wagener are relishing the meal in front of them as they sit in the dining area that seems a bit like a cafeteria. The difference is the quality of food.
“This is the best meatloaf I’ve ever had,” Wimsett says. “This reminds me of the cooking I grew up with.”
Real mashed potatoes and green beans are also on his plate. Pudding is available for dessert.
Wagener enjoys fish Fridays the most. He said the choice of a half dozen items from shrimp to salmon to chowder keeps him filled up.
Keeping workers fed
Dennis Russo has been cooking here since 1996 – having been a cook for nearly 50 years. Caltrans has 15 cooks in the state – mostly in snow country. The closest facilities like this to Tahoe are the one at Caples Lake and the two on Interstate 80.
Russo has three people helping him make sure there is plenty of food for the crew. And like any restaurant, it’s a bit of a guessing game to know how many mouths there will be to feed on any given day.
Russo said after a while he’s gotten good at knowing the forecast and figuring out how many workers will be on duty.
It’s a full commercial kitchen that is capable of producing meals for the masses.
Beef ribs with an Asian rub are on the counter. That’s what was served for dinner last night.
Soup is always available. So are fresh fruit and a salad bar.
“We do cookies, cakes, pies. They are spoiled,” Claire Neville, one of the cooks, says with a smile.
She said newbies to the Meyers’ family – and a family is what they consider themselves – can gain 20 pounds in a season. Healthy and not so healthy items abound. For instance, on Wednesday homemade cinnamon rolls with frosting were whipped up for breakfast. But fresh fruit and yogurt are also available.
The breakfast sandwiches are one of the more popular items first thing in the morning.
Dinners run the gamut from pork, fish, beef – to steak about every 10 days. Burger bars, fresh chili over a hotdog, chicken Monterey and seven-spice chicken are some of the favorites.
Home away from home
Some of Caltrans’ employees live nearby and go home at the end of their shift. More than a dozen are in town for the next six months.
Russo is one of them. He has a room upstairs. He calls Oakdale home the rest of the year.
Their quarters are sparse. Rooms are on the second and third floors, off hallways that look like a rundown hotel, or maybe an old college dorm. The worn brown carpet has seen better days. Rooms have twin beds, a sink, closet, dresser and old TV. Down the hall are the communal bathroom and laundry facility.
Towels and sheets are cleaned by a service, but clothing must be laundered by the individual.
On the first floor near the entrance is a break room of sorts. It doubles as a family room. A pool table, foosball, television and comfy couches fill the room.
“If it snows, there are no days off until the sun shines,” Russo says.
I am comforted to know that public employees are being so well taken care of by the taxpayers. Sleeping, eating, lounging at work is what made this country great, right?
Maybe dumbfounded should drive the hogsback during a white out!
Definition of dumbfound:
To fill with astonishment and perplexity; confound.
Indeed.
I find this really interesting. It’s something I never thought about and had no idea existed. It’s nice to be informed about how things are done. These workers put in extraordinary hours doing physically demanding work. I wonder what dumbfounded would do to get people to work these long hours under very difficult circumstances. Hmmm? Give us your ideas, Dumbfounded…….Maybe you have a better plan?
Found dumb years ago…. and has stuck with it as a lifestyle choice apparently.
these workers ARE PAID TO DO WHAT THEY DO. they are in public unions, so they also extort from taxpayers extras such as the above…
Well, at least the taxpayers aren’t footing a bill for luxurious accommodations such as the Ritz Carlton.
The seasonal workers that stay at the Meyers facility probably pay a small room and board fee too. Some of these facilities, like the Whitmore Caltrans Station on I-80 are literally in the middle of nowhere, and in order to keep these workers happy and feed during their long 12 hour shifts we need facilities for them to get food and rest in.
Let’s see..The people live away from home, in dorm like rundown facilities, work everyday it snows to keep me safe on the road and on the worst days, work 12 hours shifts without breaks to keep the roads open for me and for businesses. Oh yeah, I really see them as freeloaders “lounging around” on my dime. Now I am dumfounded at your attitude.
Great story! I’m glad I’m a subscriber.
I really try not to read the comments, though. Extreme voices used to be ostracized and ignored, but in anonymous media comments they lose civility further and take center stage as if they are legitimate and widely held. Maybe if anonymity was removed….
Jeffy,
Maybe you should practice what you preach with that anonymity bit!
And, as I’ve said many times, people like you benefit from anonymity on some stories based on where you work.
Also, you could say you are Jeffy Smith and how would LTN know you are? Using Facebook as a platform is not the answer. It’s easy to create multiple email accounts and be whomever you want to be on FB.
People’s opinions won’t change because they use a name. Nor will people become more tolerant, understanding, rationale or reasonable.
Yes, there are lots of jerks in the world — just read comments on any publication.
Kathryn Reed, LTN publisher
Apparently, my point was ill-received by many. I spent an entire career outside, working in the weather, taking care of people’s needs. I often worked 12 hour shifts. No one bought me warm food or a provided me a place to sleep. I had to provide those things myself. My comment simply points out that public employees have benefits that others do not. And I pay for them. And, I am not necessarily happy about that.
Angi, I have been in places that make Hog’s Back seem like child’s play, in white-outs and worse. You have no idea.
Hire locals!
Dumbfounded. I don’t doubt that you worked many 12 hour shifts and worked outside. For that reason you should realize what that is like and not begrudge a good meal (which they pay for by the way)and a ramshackle place to stay. You probably didn’t work all those hours and then go to a dorm facility with roomies to sleep for 4-6 months non-stop. I am sorry you didn’t have those benefits( I assume you were self employed), but don’t begrudge them for people who are keeping our roads open.
Thank you to all the caltrans workers that spend weeks to months away from their homes and families to make sure that I can get to work and around town to get errands done!!!! Also thanks to those workers who decide to occasionally get away from the dorm and spend money at some of the other restaurants and businesses in town! They are appreciated by this local :)
I begrudge no one. And I very much appreciate the work that these fine folks do. Further, I definitely know what it is like to work incredibly long hours in bad weather (and not in the cab of a truck or piece of equipment). And I did it year-round for over 30 years. That does not change the fact that the only people who get these types of benefits are public employees. Good to see at least one local with work, Walt. Best of luck this season to all of you out in the weather. Thanks for all that you do.
One wonders if members of the public can partake in those $4 steak, shrimp, or salmon dinners.
I must admit Caltrans does an excellent job on the area highways. And with that dedicated huge revenue stream from gasoline taxes, indeed they should.
Admin,
YOU NAILED IT!
Thank you!
Too bad you have to be a government worker. That food looks delicious. I’d pay $6 for a meal!
First and foremost, those rooms, cost the guy that has to stay in them. Secondly, those meals aren’t free to the guys eating them. Thirdly, those 12 hour shifts you seem to put little emphasis on? Can last from a week to months, without a day off. Ever done that Dumbfounded? Do you realize how that truck or piece of equipment beats your body up? Any idea? I didn’t think so. From where I sit, you should be complaining about gas prices or the cost of a gallon of milk and enjoy the open roads you are driving, the ones that the guys are keeping open AND safe, just for you.
again, these workers, good people and competent workers for the most part, i am sure, have chosen this work and are paid for it. subsidies for room and board are extorted from the taxpayers by public unions.
Let’s see, cruise ship employees, National Park concession employees, summer camp employees, private boarding school employees, oil field and off shore drilling rig employees, airline pilots and flight attendants, mining industry employees…the list goes on and on. And they’re all private sector jobs where it’s not uncommon for the employer to have some sort of provision to provide or subsidize room and board for their employees. This is not unique to the public sector or unions. It’s usually driven by geography or the need to have employees available on short notice.