SAUGUS – Snow removal efforts were hampered somewhat over the weekend by three additional water breaks.Public Works Superintendent Joseph Attubato said he had to call in contractors to take care of the repairs because his men were all on snow removal detail.The first break came in Saturday on Route 1 north near Burger King. Attubato said the second and third occurred on Staaf Road and Lily Pond Avenue respectively.Attubato said, between plowing snow and chasing down water repairs, his crew is stretched thin and worn out and so is his budget.”I think this makes 26 or 27 breaks this year,” he said referring to the fiscal year, which started in July.These last three make six water line breaks in the last week.Public Works crews battled sub-freezing temperatures last Thursday to repair three different water breaks all on Route 1 north. While the crews took care of two of the breaks over the weekend, Attubato said he was forced to call in a contractor to take care of the last break because he needed his men for snow plowing.”I needed them for checkers,” he said. “That takes our guys from being able to plow, including the guys on the water break.”The checkers are Public Works employees that check up on the snow plow operators working on contract to make sure the they are sticking to their routes.The snow and ice removal budget is already soaring to upwards of $300,000 and Attubato said last week that the water repairs will not come cheap either.Though winter is only one month old, Attubato said he is simply hoping for a break from both snow and ice so his crew can catch its breath before having to battle the elements once again.