At two in the morning the lots along North Belt are empty and blue-lit and altogether silent, and that is exactly when the real work happens. Minton Outdoor Services takes the hours nobody else wants, pushing snow into the corners and laying salt ahead of the refreeze that follows every Belleville storm. By the time the first headlights turn in, the drive lanes are open and the walk from the far space asks nothing of anybody. Winter in this county is short on mercy and long on ice, so the job is never one pass and gone. Nights and storms covered in Belleville, Swansea, Shiloh, Fairview Heights and Millstadt.