Town comes clean about snow removal problems

By Miriam Ostermann, Associate Editor

Following an outcry from frustrated residents about snow removal in Strathmore, town administration has responded by saying they are focusing on gaps in the service model and below par communication.
The beginning of November was greeted with the “perfect storm:” back-to-back snowfall events, lack of preparation and a shortage of essential staff members. As a result, residential streets and school bus routes were left unplowed for days. Without a current active website, and no messages posted on social media regarding the town’s struggles surrounding snow removal, the situation provoked vexation among the public, resulting in complaints online and angry phone calls to the town office.
More staff was hired, snow removal signs popped up early last week and snowplows were spotted throughout the town. Administration addressed the Strathmore town council at their regular meeting on Nov. 15 regarding issues with Strathmore’s snow management program, and to urge council to direct administration to review and update the Winter Street Maintenance Service Delivery Model.
According to administration, three pivotal policy documents – Winter Streets Management Policy 3201, Traffic Bylaw 06-18, and Community Standards Bylaw 13-05 – provide standards for control of ice and snow.
“It is my professional view there are a number of changes to the policy necessary to provide a more responsive service delivery model and communication plan for sustainable snow management operations,” said Mark Ruault, director of infrastructure and development services for the Town of Strathmore, regarding Policy 3201.
“My operation staff has really stepped up, and although we were short-staffed and we had some senior people gone, our next senior people really did an amazing job. Was there some faults, little errors here and there, (and) have we identified and will we do better next time? Absolutely. But this goes to the policy issue that we really want to get to.”
In the meantime, staff implemented several changes to make improvements. These include: internal communications with changes in protocols between departments, additional contract resources, split shifts for longer storm durations, extra weekend coverage by employees, and downtown cleaning of bump-outs and islands.
Yet some councillors took issue with blaming the snow events and errors in policy for the lack of snow removal this month. Councillor Bob Sobol emphasized the work that had been done over the previous three days and stated that updating and reviewing the policy isn’t necessary in regard to removing the snow, where staff have proven capable in playing catch-up. Furthermore, Sobol was adamant about communicating with the public.
“There was a comment made a few moments ago in regards that we had staff down and I think that’s very important, and I wish we had started this memorandum with those comments,” said Councillor Sobol.
“We made a mistake. Apparently, I’m the only one who thinks that we didn’t provide the service that we should have in the first few days. I know there were a lot of angry people, I heard a lot of angry people, and I know that some of our staff had to listen to some pretty angry individuals in regards to the roads.
“We’ve cleaned this up and I think that people are appreciating that, but I think that we have to be very honest with our constituents about what happened. I mean, to blame this on snow events I don’t think is fair.”
Yet Councillor Denise Peterson disagreed with Councillor Sobol, stating that she was appreciative of the initiative from administration, while adding that the situation didn’t seem as distressing as was conveyed by some members of the community.
“I’ve been in Chestermere, Airdrie, Brooks and Calgary in the last week; we still look better than those places and I live on a prairie road and the plows hadn’t gotten there because they were on other roads and I did see plows … I didn’t see it as a traumatic experience that was reflected to me through the screenshots I received through social media,” said Councillor Peterson.
“I think there was a compilation of people confirming their frustration, but I don’t think that that necessarily means that what we did was wrong. In spite of being short workers and having people on leave, they have risen to the task and I’m really grateful. I think that it is incumbent on this council to work with our staff to build a stronger corporate structure.”
Councillor Tari Cockx also commended administration on their efforts, while Councillor Jason Montgomery acknowledged the steps taken to address the situation, the seriousness with which administration is approaching the issues with the policies and snow removal, and felt confident in coming up with a strategy to deal with the problems and keep the constituents happy. Councillor Lorraine Bauer also appreciated the changes brought forth by administration, especially in regards to handling snow removal on the downtown bump-outs.
“It’s really not about your mistakes, it’s how you recover from your mistakes; and in this instance if we use this as a learning opportunity, which it is, we can see that yes we did have the perfect storm,” she said. “The downtown clearing of the bump-outs, I heard specifically from business owners in the downtown area who came to me and asked me about that. You’ve identified it, you said that the town would pick up that and I’m very appreciative. I think that the combination of feedback on social media definitely did spur this into action, but I think that the town was already going in that regard.”
On Nov. 15, council voted unanimously to make it a priority to review the program policies and direct administration to review and update the Winter Street Maintenance Service Delivery Model, and for council to review the proposed draft policy changes that the Committee-of-the-Whole meeting on Dec. 13.