(Today’s Northumberland file photo)
By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Nothing can be done in Cobourg about the snow-shoveling situation Graham Winney brought to the attention of council’s Public Works, Planning and Development Standing Committee Wednesday.
Winney is a private snow remover with contracts at residential and business addresses throughout town.
He showed pictures of snowed-in sidewalks as they appear after his third shoveling during a lengthy storm, due to town snowploughs passing by.
“I actually had bylaw officers three times give me a warning to clear the snow which I’d already done,” he said.
Winney said he’s spoken with people at the town before, but nothing came of it.
“I think you guys need to do something about clearing this a lot quicker or more thorough than they have.
“You’re ready to fine me after I have already cleared it two and three times, and you guys come by and put it on again.”
Sometimes, after he’s cleared away the fresh show, what’s thrown onto the sidewalk becomes rock-hard and impossible to move. There have been winters where he has spent hundreds of dollars in repairs to his snow blowers after tackling that problem.
Committee member Miriam Mutton hears it from citizens, who clear their driveways before the ploughs come by and later find “four feet of snow eight feet up their driveway.”
She wondered if Cobourg might emulate other municipalities and clear away what they leave at the foot of driveways.
“Right now the level of operators we have, the ploughs we have, are what’s required to maintain provincial requirements,” committee member Lucas Cleveland responded.
“It should be as easy as dropping the blade, but the problem is, when we add that to a plough, that extends the operation of the plow and you can’t meet provincial standards. We would have to hire more plough drivers to meet the standards.”
Cleveland estimated that could mean a tax increase of 6% to 9%.
Chief Administrative Officer Tracey Vaughan added that there’s no hope of significant improvements from grants available. Operational grants could only fund staffing, and capital grants available for snow-removal equipment are minimal,
With another winter coming, Mutton said she would like to see a staff report on the issue. Committee Chair Brian Darling disagreed.
“We have had that complaint many, many times over last number of years – every snow storm, every winter, the same complaints,” Darling said.
He recalled a previous study on the costs of lowering the plow for driveways, which Darling characterized as “an exorbitant amount of money. Council decided it isn’t feasible.”
Mutton then floated the idea of some kind of fund possibly being established to help with the costs people incur dealing with the issue.
“Once there’s a fund created that you can go for compensation, everybody in town will apply for it.
Anyway, I think we have beat this subject up for the time being,” Darling said, calling a vote on the motion to accept Winney’s presentation for information purposes.
