City Council can’t agree about proper budgeting and actions for snow removal
Tempers have flared as city council, the City of Calgary and its residents look for solutions to what some say are inadequate snow removal procedures.
In a recent city council meeting, Ald. Ric McIver disagreed against all other city council members for the city to conduct a new snow and ice audit this year.
“People deserve to come home and leave from their home,” McIver said.
He said he doesn’t feel that city council is working to make this happen.
Although the public is being told they’re getting a report that will reveal new information, McIver believes this is just a stalling technique. He said council is wasting time and tax payers’ money by ignoring the snow removal audit report that was already brought out in 2009.
With large snow piles lining many of Calgary's streets, it can be difficult to get moving in the morning.
Photo: Cara Casey/ Calgary Journal
The original report examined all areas of snow removal and provided information regarding snow removal procedures in other western Canadian cities such as Edmonton, Saskatoon and Winnipeg. This report currently shows that Calgary has approximately half the budget designated for snow removal procedures than Edmonton.
“Given the large amount of increase in snow the last couple years, we’ve done a pretty good job providing snow removal services,” Sean Somers, a spokesperson for transportation, said.
This just isn’t good enough for McIver as he made a motion in council at the beginning of January detailing his solution to what some see as slow time between snow fall and bare pavement conditions on residential roads.
Part of this would include allowing citizens with snow removal equipment to remove snow in their communities, McIver said.
However, the city is not on board with this idea.
“From our prospective, it’s a huge liability risk,” Somers said. “For example, if you hire a contractor and he rips up the side of someone’s house or a sidewalk...who is then responsible for the damage?”
“I don’t think that the snow removal is that great," Calgary resident, Travis Carle, said. "Residential roads are terrible.”
There is a serious disagreement between McIver and the rest of City Council as to whether tax payers should pay the undisclosed amount for a third-party investigation to perform yet another audit.
Berry’s solution: “Move somewhere warmer.” |
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