My et peeves came up and that is fire trucks chasing ambulances and the clearing of driveways. Not only is it costly but the winters gravel is dumped on my lawn. And who dosent own a snow blower to clear their driveway.
cheers

I attempted to do the survey on line and I can see why most people would give up because you have to do a lot of reading and research before answering the three very basic questions: increase service levels, decrease service levels or no change. The reference material AKA program service area profiles do not have the # of FTE staffing attached to each department so we do not know how many people are being paid to deliver each service…at a fee of $350 thousand dollars for the Core Service Review at minimum KPMG and City Staff involved in compiling service level information should have included this key point in the program area profiles, without it we don’t have a clue whether staffing is too little or too much to get the job done and how can the public suggest more efficiency or a reorganization of operations when we have to guess the # of employees in all of the 7 service program areas included in the CSR.

retired: “And who dosent own a snow blower to clear their driveway.”

Most people don’t own a snow blower. Are you suggesting that people go out and buy one so they don’t have a clear a little gravel off of their lawn in the spring? Get real.

There are quite a few people around town going from house to house offering to shovel driveways after snowfalls. Five or ten bucks a pop though is quite a lot for a senior to pay everytime it snows. And Johnnybelt is right, not everyone owns or can operate a snowblower. I have one and I do three or four driveways for my neighbours for free when it snows heavily.

One thing that really bugs me though, is that if I clear for parking along the curb, the city comes along, plows and leaves two or three feet of snow out on the street. They won’t go near the curbs. That’s why the streets get so narrow. Everytime they plow, they stay farther and farther from the curbs.

The so calle survey is plain unprofessional.

One is asked to read thugh a ton of information which is impressive only because there is a lot there. Without additional information as was asked for at the session by quite a number of people, the information provided is virtually meaningless.

Simple information such as a good summary. The title “summary” is on the web site, but there is no summary. All they present is another opportunity to provide a free-form comment.

A summary would include, for instance, the percentage that the cost of the service is to the total expense budget. That would be a good figure to have to look at priorities for potential cost savings. The larger the percetnage of the total budget, the more likely it is that savings can be found without impacting some “essential” or “expected” service which has a very low cost.

Prince George B.C has the biggest bunch of whiny a**holes in British Columbia! You all want low taxes but at the same time Increased services AND spotless roads and driveways etc The city does a dam fine job, you want to complain then move to Williams Lake!!

Very few cities plow homeowner’s driveway openings. In fact, some cities do not plow the subdivisions (Regina is one). I’ve lived all over the country and in cities that get a lot more snow. This is the very first city I have lived in where the driveways are cleared when the streets are plowed. Don’t tell me seniors can’t do it because they do manage in other cities. It is a waste of mine & your tax dollars and I hope that’s the first thing that goes. I have a large driveway and do not own a plow, just a shovel and enjoy the exercise every winter.

Zues, if the Citizens had confidence that the City was handling the tax money properly, there wouldn’t be so many whiners. There is so much waste, and money spent on feel good projects… people are fed up. I guess that’s the point of this core review!

Retired 02….. Fire trucks don’t chase ambulances, pull your head out if the sand!!!!!!! I wait for the day you are in dire need of emergency medical service and have to wait 10, 20, 40 minutes for an ambulance…..wonder what your thoughts will be then on having the fire dept show up to help…. Then again all you do is complain…..

I don’t have a problem with the city opening the driveways, in my area it is only done when the grader comes to widen the road. It is not done when the plow truck comes by and that’s fine.

Where I do see an issue is the long stretches when there is no snow and still see a full compliment of city equipment around town wasting fuel and beating that last snowflake into submission.

With the no layoff clause in the contract surely there is some meaningful work these people can do other than wearing out cutting edges and wasting the snow clearing budget.

An example……on the city’s books there is $40k set aside to paint the doors at the Ospika shops….no snow for a couple of weeks-give the boys a paint brush.

BTW zues88 after looking at some of your previous posts just look in the mirror to see a whiny asshat:D Not long ago you were calling for the city to fire Mick Jones now they are doing a dam fine job….what changed?

Number 4, get your head out of the sand. Ambulance services are a provincial jurisdiction and there is no way that one would have to waite 10,20 or 40 minutes for an amblance..

we hnad an emergency at our house. The ambulance arrived ahead of the fire truck and we had eight emergency personnell in a bedroom. It was unbelievable these people were falling over each other.

I saw two ambulances and a fire truck that respoinded to a friends house who was seriously ill. A fireman was standing on the street directing traffic past all these vehicles.

Makes me wonder whos head is in the sand. So keep your smart ass remaks to yourself
Cheers

Hey, JB …. every now and then you put more than just you thougts out there and back it up with some rationale ….. congrats!!! ^5

Hey lonesome dodo bird, whats with the personal attacks?

Dont forget folks we pay for the service of clearing the driveway openings. There was a tax increase for this. If they take this away. Then i want that increase taken off my taxes. They people that are Saying to take this service away dont remember what it was like when the graders pile up 3 ft of frozen hard compact snow infront of the driveway.

Well Retired02 , I’m glad you received such a rapid response from the Ambulance.
When I had a nasty accident 2 years ago the Fire Dept arrived within about 5 minutes, checked me over and had a neck brace on me by the time the Ambulance arrived 10 to 15 minutes later.

I’m not bashing the Ambulance service as the two closest to me were on other calls at the time ( as i was told by the paramedic ) but it was sure nice to have the Fire dept there quickly when the Paramedics couldn’t be.

I say don’t change a thing in how they respond to calls, cause it sure worked for me when I needed them.

I find it amazing that in today’s age of technology and communications linkages it seems impossible to determine within a matter of a few seconds which service is available, what the time is that it takes to mobilize for each service (they likely vary) how long it takes to travel to the scene, and who is projected to arrive there the soonest.

Based on that, 911 is supposed to be the gateway for dispatching even though they are located on the moon (or might as well be) and they can just click on an icon on their computer to accept the computerized “recommendation”.

The only reason I can see why a second and even a third service would go to a scene is first because redundancy provides a failsafe system and because the nature of the incident requires multiple services.

Retired 02, reminds me of a story I heard about a guy pushing his wife in wheelchair down their ramp and falling on his arse……..karma is a wonderful thing. Best service possible is what I want, regardless.

Johnny Belt “… There is so much waste, and money spent on feel good projects… people are fed up…”.

Nailed it, only switch the words “feel good projects” for “pipe dream, patronage and pay back projects”

There is enough money coming in to keep the roads in repair, the water works running, power on, buildings maintained, parks and city lookn’ half decent….it is the massive waste and half arsed planning that goes on coupled with pie in the sky projects and a badly needed overall on budget practices at city hall, that have run us into the ground.

Patronage and payback projects? Wow, serious allegations. Examples please.

gus: “Hey, JB …. every now and then you put more than just you thougts out there and back it up with some rationale ….. congrats!!! “

Well, I’m here to please you after all.

For $2600 a year I want my driveway cleared when it snows. Comparable cities in Ontario don’t have nearly as much snow days with as much snow with as great a period in between melt days. The comparisons are not valid.

I don’t care what they do elsewhere, here in PG we get funny weather and if the city needs to block a driveway with snow as hard as cement to clear the road, then the driveway should be cleared and not left blocked. I work hard to pay my city taxes and its enough to shovel my driveway, but to come home to a blocked driveway that I have to use an axe pick to get through is to much to ask. I will never vote for any politician that approved of that scheme to save costs for probable condo owners.

What is valid IMO is the argument against waste of time and equipment between marginal snow events that could be better used filling pot holes, painting, or other make work projects. That takes management worth half its pay.