Snow Removal Plan Improved But It Comes at a Cost
Prince George, B.C.- The implementation of the Mercury Report’s recommendations to improve snow removal in the City of Prince George continues, but there will be an impact on the City’s capital and operational budgets.
Staff led the Committee of the Whole through a detailed presentation on the impact the recommendations had on the 2014/15 snow season, and what can be expected financially from further recommendations that are to be implemented.
In order to achieve the timelines set out in the snow clearing policy, which calls for priority one and two routes to be completed within 48 hours, staff say the City has to boost its grader numbers by five. In order to achieve that, it will put three graders on retainer to ensure they are available when needed, and will lease two others. That will ensure there are ten graders available for a snow event.
According to the report, the changes will have a $658 thousand dollar impact on the annual operating budget to cover:
|
Item |
Cost |
|
Grader retainers: need to have three on retainer |
$153,000 |
|
Grader Lease and operators : will lease two graders and cost of operators to run them |
$409,000 |
|
Training |
$10,000 |
|
Two weather stations : to get details of weather activity in the southwest and bowl areas of the City which may differ from current info gathered at the Airport |
$20,000 |
|
Weather forecasting service : for analysis of data gathered at the weather stations |
$6,500 |
|
Telematics: Having a GPS system installed in equipment to better plan plow routes, gauge fuel use and salt distribution |
$60,000 |
|
Salt Management Plan: |
To be determined |
|
TOTAL |
$658,000+ |
On the matter of capital costs:
|
Item |
Cost |
|
Snow Route Signage |
$25,000 (in capital plan for 2015) |
|
Install two Weather Stations |
|
|
Southwest sector |
$75,000 (in capital plan for 2015) |
|
Bowl sector |
$75,000 ( capital plan for 2016) |
|
Telematics |
$119,000 (capital plan for 2015) |
|
Salt Management Plan |
$75,000 ( capital plan 2016) |
|
TOTAL |
$400,000+ |
The matter of the City’s aging snow removal fleet will be dealt with at a future meeting.
Staff told the Committee of the Whole, it’s important for the City to have graders on retainer as in the past, when there was plenty of resource work outside the City, finding an extra grader to help out during a snow event was next to impossible. The retainer system had been used prior to 2007.
The weather station installations will give the weather forecasting service information that will assist in making a more accurate forecast. Manager Frank Blues says with a 500 ft elevation difference between the bowl and other areas of the City, that’s enough to have rain in one part of the City and snow in another, “So is the crew going out to plow or are they going out to put down salt.”
The City has also increased the number of mechanics on staff, but Assistant Director of Public Works, Gina Layte Liston says there have been challenges in finding heavy duty mechanics and keeping them, as the draw from the resource industry is strong. The City has brought several apprentices on board, which it hopes will be a plus for succession planning.
Issues that remain include the discrepancy between the highway maintenance crews standards, and those being practiced by the City. The intersection of 5th Avenue and Highway 97 was used as an example. The Highway maintenance crews only concern is to keep the highway clear. That means, their plows leave windrows across the intersecting roadway, and dump large amounts of snow on the sidewalks where people need to cross. It is an issue that has been discussed with the Province in the past, and will be on the agenda again for future discussions with the Ministry of Transportation.
Although staff have developed a model to predict the budget needs snow clearing during a fiscal year, based on 30 years of weather data, current costs and levels of service, there are still variables that can a throw that budget off the mark. Budgets can be impacted by:
- variable winter weather conditions
- ambient temperatures that can swing from well above freezing to well below
- the amount of melting
- availability and reliability of equipment
- adjustments in levels of service
- timing of snow events, for example labour is cheaper on a Monday to Friday, than it is on the weekend
The report was received for information by the Committee of the Whole.
Comments
All I am reading is a waste of time and money and just another reason to increase my already high taxes.
Why do they need weather stations? There are so many forecast etc available online it’s just a waste. Also there is a thing called a window, if you look outside you can actually see the weather.
City doesn’t clean the streets quick enough – people complain
City has strategy to be more efficient – people complain.
You can never win.
Why do we need plows? The cars will pack the snow down.
Of course, we could find out which employees live where and ask them to report on the weather conditions. The weather stations report on amount of rain and snowfall. So can someone driving in from there to City Hall. Of course, the training will still be required so that they can calculate the depth of snow and learn how to differentiate between rain, snow and ice.
Okay, my complaint is not about improvement, but that I fail to see that more graders will be an improvement. They need plows, not graders. That is what is used in eastern cities of both Canada and the USA. They also need to address driveway clearance. I do not think it is necessary. If they plow ALL streets immediately after a snowfall they will not be putting sheets of packed snow and ice into the driveways, but snow that is relatively easy to clear. Then they provide service for those who are to old or handicapped to clear the driveways. That is how it is done elsewhere back east as well.
They are fixated on graders. They are not grading roads, they are moving snow off the roads. They also need blowers to blow the windrows into trucks and carry it away with a day after the windrow has been placed.
They probably would not need any more operating dollars if they went about it properly. They will likely need some capital funds to buy the right equipment,
That is why I am complaining.
Plows need speed to throw the snow to the side. They don’t work well in close quarters. They don’t have a side blade to clear driveways or intersections. They don’t scrape as effectively. They can’t work around parked cars – which shouldn’t be there but fact is they are, and they can’t wait for a tow truck all the time.
One bad accident due to uncleared snow can easily cost ICBC $600,000. I for one am glad to see them planning for a change. I don’t have a problem with taxes for services we need.
Eastern Cities use plows and graders as well.
Simple to solve problems like 5th avenue and bypass. push it back on to the highway. than they will push it back. than we push it back, eventually the two loggerheads will find a solution.
There’s a solution to the problem, but it just costs money!
And then there is a solution to the solution to the problem, but it just costs some more money!
But then there is yet again another solution to the solution to the solution to the problem, and without a doubt it will cost even more money!
Without a doubt, there will be more solutions to the solutions to the solutions to the solutions to the solutions to the solutions to the solutions! Whoops, got out of control for a moment there! Kinda like our municipal spending!
What we need is the Manager’s to get out of their offices and actually drive the roads and then go from there. Don’t need all the fancy weather stations and services to understand what a 20 minute drive in one of the many city vehicles would tell ya. Oh, and don’t take a 4 x 4 truck but one of the small cars and see how the roads feel.
Comment:”They also need to address driveway clearance. I do not think it is necessary.”
Anyone who wants the city to save money can simply put a sign at the end of the driveway which reads: “Please Do Not Ckear This Driveway Entrance!” I am sure the equipment operator will comply and leave the packed ice and snow where it has been pushed into the driveway and move on to the next one! Money saved, problem solved!
“Eastern Cities use plows and graders as well.”
I have lived in both Ottawa and Toronto. They used plows in residential areas as well as collectors, arterials and highways.
The do not clear driveways, but they have programs for those who cannot clear them themselves. More cost effective than clearing them all.
Cars are not allowed to park on the road during snow events. Once people get used to it, they will comply to a very high degree. That is what they are moving to in PG with the budget for signs.
During snow events a plow will come down a residential street at least once a day if it continues to a second day. They start with around 5 cm and come around for a final cleanup when it stops, and as often as they can during a major event such as 15, 20, 25 cm and more. 24 hours or less after the snow stops, ALL roads are clear.
Montreal is the same.
I have experienced it for decades and still do whenever I am there in the winter.
First hand experience is a great teacher.
I am sorry Prince George, that will not save a cent. The equipment is still out there.
Go visit someone in Ottawa in the winter or another city in Ontario and east of there and wait for a 20 cm snowfall. It will not take too long to wait for that. Then watch them clear the roads.
I have a snow blower, so do lots of people around me. I cannot clear the chunks of ice/packed snow, but I could clear the slightly compacted snow left by a plow during a storm, not 3 days after a storm.
“They also need to address driveway clearance. I do not think it is necessary.”
The citizens of P.G. voted to have the driveways opened many years ago. It is my understanding that they would have to vote to undo it also. I live on the sidewalk side of the street, so it wouldn’t really affect me if they stopped, but I would not be in favour of not opening the driveways. It is one of the very nice things about living here.
It would be nice if they started towing the cars parked on streets during plowing. Might raise some revenue too. Have the tow truck go out just ahead of the plows. People would learn mighty quick, I think. ;)
Oh my such a waste with the weather stations. Look online at crowd source stations for PG using Weather Underground, they’re just as good a source as any $26,000 weather station and it’ll cost the citizens nothing. OK I admit they don’t tell you how much snow fell but that’s why we pay city staff to go out and check..the amounts can always be gathered using the airport station we already pay for. I get more precipitation falls at the airport than in town but it’s not hard to do the math.
Where did we so badly come off the rails with snow removal that after 100 years of the stuff we finally had to call in an “expert” to look at it for us?
“The (Ottawa and Toronto) do not clear driveways, but they have programs for those who cannot clear them themselves. More cost effective than clearing them all.”
PG does not yet have such a program so just keep clearing them the way it is done now until some day the Ottawa/Toronto program is in place. I would like to know how their program copes with several hundred people calling at 7 a.m. because they can’t get out of their driveways because of a wall of packed solid ice chunks, snow, sand and rocks!
“The citizens of P.G. voted to have the driveways opened many years ago.”
Well, exactly! That also included accepting the fact that taxes went up to fund this effort! Does anybody anticipate that taxes would go down again once the City would abandon that effort? No, I don’t think so!
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