Town looks into snow clearing

Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter

 

Councillor Bob Sobol brought forward a request on Jan. 21 for administration to look into clearing snow from sidewalks and pathways and see if the town has the manpower and equipment needed to do so in 48 hours.
“While I readily acknowledge that Public Works personnel do a remarkable and commendable job, the fact is that our town is growing, with that comes additional sidewalks and pathways,” said Sobol.
“I also believe that if we are asking our residents to clean their sidewalks within 48 hours of a snowfall then we should be prepared to comply as well.”
He said many people use the pathways as sidewalks and would like to see those done in the same time frame.
“I’m thinking this is an unfair situation from the town’s side of things to try and clear 40 odd kilometers of sidewalks and pathways in 48 hours, that makes entirely no sense to me at all, these are two different issues,” said Councillor Rocky Blokland.
Sobol reiterated that the motion just deals with preparing a report to discover if it is feasible for the town with the staff and equipment to be able to clear the paths in the same 48-hour timeframe.
Councillor Denise Peterson suggested not considering pathways in the report because there are miles of pathways. She said maintenance of the pathways was not considered or anticipated when being built, and suggest that it is a topic for another day.
Sobol’s argument is that at this point in time the town is very close to success, and if all that’s required to reach success is an additional bobcat then it’s a discussion he would like to see council have.
“This may not be a big fix is what I am saying which is why I would like to leave the pathways in there,” said Sobol.
He continued on to say that if there’s a huge cost attached to it, it is not a given that it will be paid, he would just like to see the town try and figure out how to fix things and what it would take to do so.
The request was approved.

Donating to our youth
Savanah Sandri,13, is heading to California on Feb. 13 to compete in a show jumping competition. Sandri hopes to go to the Children’s Olympics for show jumping and is busy trying to earn the points required now since her level of opportunity will be narrow.
Sandri made a presentation to council on Jan. 21, informing council of her intentions and requesting sponsorship in the amount of $2,000.
“I’m trying to raise money by selling my calendars for $10 each. I have also saved my money from babysitting and all of that kind of stuff, and so far I have about $2,169 saved my goal is to try and get $5,000,” said Sandri.
A motion was made approving the request. Council, administration and members of the public also purchased calendars from Sandri.