Prince George, B.C. – The City of Prince George continues to prepare for the  snow clearing season with the call out for 8 people  to fill  seasonal positions.

The 8 postings are made up of:

• 3 wing truck drivers
• 1 truck driver
• 1 truck driver (floater)
• 1 equipment operator (sidewalk machine)
• 1 grader operator
• 1 loader operator

The eight positions are not additional snow clearing staff as this is the normal amount of hirings for the season. That also means there are no budget implications for the hirings.

The seasonal workers who are hired for the summer positions are able to apply for the seasonal winter operations, so there is also  no  net increase in the number of seasonal workers.

What is different this year, is a change in full time  posts.  There are three different posts at the City’s Public Works Department this year, as three employees who had been with the City for some time, parted ways with the City not long after the Mercury Consultants report on fleet and snow removal was completed.

The new posts are a shop supervisor who is a heavy duty mechanic, a fleet analyst, and the yet to be filled heavy duty mechanic foreman position. “It was a restructuring of the area, getting people into positions with the skills” says Public Works Associate Director Gina Layte- Liston.

Meantime, the checklist to prepare for the first snowfall is being reviewed and item by item is being ticked as the Public works department works through the immediate items on the workplan approved by City Council, a workplan aimed at ensuring there is no repeat performance of last year’s dismal snow clearing   efforts.

Each year, the City puts together a list of equipment operators who have  items like graders and loaders that may be called in if need be,  but  this year,  there will be a tender issued to  ensure such equipment is actually available.  The  City is returning  to the retainer system,  which  it had abandoned about 7 years ago.  It means equipment operators will be guaranteed a certain amount to keep their equipment on standby.  Over the past  7 years or so,  it  has been difficult to find   the necessary equipment as operators  either had their machinery  fully  occupied elsewhere, or,  the operators were no longer buying  or upgrading their equipment.  There is no word yet on how much that retainer system will cost the City.

For now, the City is still working through those eight postings ( which close on the 30^th) but Layte-Liston says the training is being  done earlier than has  happened in the past “It usually occurs  in early November,  and this year  we’re doing it  a little bit earlier so we can get some of that training done that we want to get done.”