The Weather is Nice But We Still Need to Talk About Snow & Ice

While it’s warming up, we still can’t forget about snow/ice. It was a hard snow and ice season between the weather and many lessons learned about services going forward. Today at committee there was a much needed conversation about snow and ice expectations and standards as well as the associated costs. 

In short, we as a city are not meeting our service standards with the current resources. Budget has decreased by 14% and yet our mobility network has grown by 21.2% since 2016. This leaves this Council with some significant decisions on service levels as well as budget. 

A motion and several amendments were put forward at committee and will come back to Council on May 9th. The direction Administration receives prepares for the next winter season and the 4 year budget. 


Items for direction include: 

  • funding amounts to improve timelines to road service and active pathway clearing

  • addressing staff shortages for complete utilization of city-owned equipment. 



Exploring additional enhancements such as: 

  • seniors residential clearing

  • assisted snow programs

  • changes to the community sandbox program

  • enforcement considerations

  • windrow removal 

Budget decisions have yet to be made so please continue to let me know your thoughts on what’s important for you. 

Snow and ice clearing is a core service that is vital to how we move around our City. I’m committed to finding a way forward that balances services, accessibility, climate change adaptability and budget increases.

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