By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
A pilot project to provide sidewalk snow clearing for a set number of seniors will be explored following a motion at Cobourg council’s meeting Wednesday.
The Towns of Oshawa, Ajax and Clarington are among other surrounding municipalities that operate snow removal programs for seniors and residents facing accessibility barriers. Meanwhile, Cobourg council and staff receive numerous complaints each winter about the limited availability and affordability of private snow-removal services.
The notice of motion from Mayor Lucas Cleveland will explore what a Snow Removal Assistance Pilot project to commence next winter might look like. Service delivery will be undertaken by Public Works, and managed and administered through the town’s customer service kiosk, including intake, co-ordination and participant communication. Recipients will have to meet criteria as identified and recommended by the town’s Accessibility Advisory Committee.
Staff are to report back to council by the June standing-committee meeting on a proposed pilot including number of spaces, details of how it will operate, level of service expectations and an estimate of cost for additional staff and equipment needs
Pilot project or not, Councillor Brian Darling warned, it’s going on the tax levy.
“We are not gong to buy a $280,000-or-so machine on pocket change. It will be a budget item,” he said.
If the town buys such a piece, the mayor pointed out, it would be an asset and, potentially, a back-up.
Councillor Randy Barber, speaking from the experience of his two terms on council in Markham, said that municipality provides the service for anyone aged 65 and older who asks for it, but the municipality does so by contracting out the service.
Councillor Miriam Mutton pointed to figures from a previous council exploring the cost of letting the town handle the sidewalks – about a half-million dollars on the tax levy and nearly $900,000 invested in equipment. She did not say, however, what year this estimate was made.
The point is to get a handle on what this proposal might cost, Director of Public Works Laurie Wills said.
Then they can figure out what would be involved in scaling the service up or down.
