Town to explore future snow removal options for Parklane Way
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Town of Strathmore will consider the addition of Parklane Way to its snow removal plans prior to the upcoming election.
During the special council meeting, March 12, a recommendation was brought before council to accept a petition regarding the priority of snow removal for Parklane Way as information.
Town administration received a petition containing 80 signatures, Feb. 12, requesting Parklane Way be added as a priority roadway to the Town of Strathmore’s snow removal policy.
The petition submitted to the town was considered insufficient under the requirements dictated by the Municipal Government Act, as signatures throughout the petition were not witnessed, the petition did not have each page containing an identical statement of the purpose of the petition, not all signatures present were from local electors, and the petition was not signed by 10 per cent of the local population.
A delegation was heard during the March 12 meeting of council regarding the issue suggested by the petition. Subsequently, Coun. Jason Montgomery motioned for the topic to appear again before council prior to the end of their term.
Marilyn Galvin, president of Lambert Village, addressed council, speaking to the difficulties the seniors’ community has faced regarding snow removal.
“When it snows, these people can’t drive in there. Myself alone, I got stuck twice and it is 100 feet. You watch the graders go by the road all the time and all it would take is one swipe because all they would have to do is push it all to the side,” she said. “This is the only entrance to this building, not like the other senior homes in Strathmore; they have at least two in all of them. If we had another entrance, it might be a little different.”
Despite hiring a landscaping company to clear the snow, Galvin said the company would not complete the snow removal, citing they were not allowed to for that particular stretch.
Being a seniors’ community, she added proper snow removal is critical not simply for ease of access for residents, but also in times of emergency when an ambulance is required to be in and out of the community with haste.
“It is very important to me that the Town of Strathmore (does) its utmost – we do strive to provide good customer service and that is the top priority for me a lot of the time,” said Montgomery. “At the very least, what we can do is look at this idea and figure out the details and figure out what it is going to take.”
More information will be provided to and discussed by council by or before the Sept. 17, regular meeting. The motion for information about the issue to be brought before council was voted in favour unanimously.