Snow woes

Times Reporter      

 

Snow is a word and topic many are probably sick of by now, but the 

reality is it’s winter and this year it’s hitting us harder than most. One of the challenges facing the snow clearing crews is making sure the pathways around Strathmore are also being maintained and cleared of snow. 

“There’s seldom a shortage of people walking their dogs, jogging, skateboarding, bicycling or strolling with baby carriages. These paths are used 12 months a year and should always provide both a chance for people to exercise or to simply get from one location to another,” said Councillor Bob Sobol reading from a prepared statement at the Jan. 8 council meeting. 

He said all it takes is just 15 minutes of sitting near one of the pathways, like the one on Wheatland Trail in town, and you can see just how many people use them. Concerns were raised by residents about area pathways that were still snow covered by Dec. 27. Sobol stated that the town expects and has a bylaw that requires that citizens remove the snow from in front of their property within 48 hours. The town is part of that pathway system and he wanted to know why as a municipality the town is not held to the same level of responsibility.

“This year is definitely a bigger challenge. There’s a lot more snow,” said Jesse Parker, director of operations and engineering for the town. 

“A couple of years ago there was a lot less snow and a lot more busy work. The busy work consisted of going out with the broom and sweeping in those smaller events and they were maintained a lot easier.”

This year it has not just been the falling snow that has been a problem; it has been the wind and the drifting snow. The sides of the pathways get built up and then the wind dumps snow into the space between. This makes it so the removal crew has to keep going in and clearing it, which can prevent them from making it to other pathways that are some of the main ones. 

“There are more pathways every year and so that’s another thing we have got to keep in mind,” said Chief Administrative Officer Dwight Stanford. 

Councillor Denise Peterson questioned if there was a cost estimate for snow clearing on pathways. 

“The reason that I bring that up is that we have just in the time that I have been here increased pathways significantly. I just wondered if there is a cost for clearing attached pathways, if that’s not something that council needs to consider because that is going to become a significant budget item, that’s not going away its going to increase and have an impact on our bottom line,” said Peterson. 

She would like to see information being gathered and at a future date would like to discuss possibly having people or groups adopt sections of pathways, which is what happened with the TransCanada Trail.