(Today’s Northumberland file photo)
By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Cobourg council has voted unanimously to proceed with a pilot project offering snow-clearing services to 25 qualified residents next winter.
Recipients will be drawn by lottery from a pool of eligible recipients, who will pay a token $100 for the service.
The report from Director of Public Works and Engineering Laurie Wills described eligible recipients “will be residents over a certain age (to be determined) and/or having a disability. The Town’s Accessibility Advisory Committee will be consulted to determine an appropriate age and proof of form for eligibility.”
Councillor Brian Darling expressed misgivings about the small number of people who will be helped, saying that 3,200 homes in Cobourg are owned by seniors. By his calculations, providing this service to them all could be the equivalent of an 8% tax increase. What about people who will be paying that extra 8% and not getting the service, he wondered.
Even worse, he speculated, might be the prospect of proceeding with the pilot project, and then deciding the town can’t afford to keep going with it.
“If thousands upon thousands apply for this program, I wouldn’t be worried about the cost,” Mayor Lucas Cleveland said.
“If it’s $2.8-million and everyone wants it, we make cuts – we don’t have to have a tax increase.
“Why wouldn’t we as a council provide that service if 3,700 people want it?”
Councillor Miriam Mutton mentioned a long-ago volunteer program called Snow Angels that provided this service.
Cleveland, who made the original motion to look into such a pilot project, said he had looked into that, but the problem was the volunteer vase.
“Every organization we know across Northumberland is struggling for volunteers right now,” he stated.
Looking at equipment costs, Deputy Mayor Nicole Beatty wondered if it might make more sense to contract out the service.
“I called every single snow-removal place in town to ask if we could get my parents done, and there was no availability for this coming winter,” Cleveland noted.
“And two snow-clearing plow operators are closing up shop because of the insurance premiums that are being charged – the average plow operator, small operators, are taking only a certain amount of clients that they trust.”
In the end, councillors unanimously supported the motion directing staff to implement the pilot project as proposed.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
