City council expressed opposition to suggested tweaks to its snow and ice removal policy at Monday’s public meeting that could have shaved as much as $1.275 million off the annual $10.3 million snow removal budget.
Since the proposal was made public late last week several counsellors said they have received calls from concerned residents, especially seniors, who were outraged the city would consider not clearing residential driveways left with snow pile barriers to achieve a cost savings of $225,000.
Count. Trudi Klassen said the cost of that driveway-entrance plowing service works out to $3 per person and she considers that money well spent. Count. Garth Frizzell said the city’s median population is aging upwards and seniors should not be tasked with having to open packed piles of snow on their own driveways after the graders have plowed the street.
The city also showed council how increasing the minimum snowfall thresholds to trigger plowing crews by 2.5 centimetres could potentially save money. That would raise the 24-hour minimum snow accumulation deployment point to 10 cm from the current 7.5 cm for Priority 1 and 2 roads and from 12 cm to 14.5 cm for Priority 3 roads.
In 2023, which had five snow events, the increased thresholds would have reduced that to three snow events for an estimated cost savings of $240,507. In 2024 so far there have been four snow events and the new thresholds would have reduced that number to two, resulting a $371,495 budget saving. There were four major snow events in 2022 and all four would have exceeded the new threshold, so there would have been no savings that year. From 2022-24, nine of the snow events fell short of the threshold, resulting in a projected three-year savings total of $612,002.
Council also considered reducing snow clearing service on statutory holidays, which require 24-hour operations with crews working three shifts per day. There are four stat holidays during winter. Administrative staff estimates that for each day in which snow and ice control operations are paused for a stat holiday the city would save $211,501. If paused on all four days the cost savings would total $846,004.
Blake McIntosh, the city’s director of civic operations, reported there is about $4 million left in the 2024 snow and ice removal budget.
