Snow Removal in '07 Melts Reserve

Wednesday, February 13, 2008 04:58 PM

Prince George, B.C. - As Prince George City Council began the deliberations of the snow removal budget, there was talk the amount collected for that service may have to be boosted.

The snow removal budget for the City of Prince George has been approved for 2008, but the costs for snow removal in 2007 nearly ate up all the reserve. “We squeaked through” says City Finance Services Manager, Sandy Stibrany. (See previous story)

Here are the figures for 2007

	2007 Budget	2007 Actual
Snow Control Operations	$4,017,736.00	$4,414,855.00

Snow Control Reserve
Balance Dec 31,2006		154,799.98
Interest Earnings		26,470.00
Levy Transfer In		4,276,813.89
Fund Actual Expenditures		4,414,855.00
Balance Dec. 31,2007		$43,228.87

The budget for 2008 is set for $4,071,352 and has been approved as presented.

There may be new rates for the snow removal reserve next year. Development Services Manager Bob Radloff says the amount collected for the reserve may have to be increased. A full review will be presented by the end of the summer.

Mayor Colin Kinsley says in ’06 about $5 million was spent on snow removal, so that meant another $1 million had tobe taken from the reserve, so " It may be time to lok at increasing the amount going into that reserve."

Manager Bill Gaal says as of last Friday the department had already spent $1,523,000 in 2008.

Councillor Brian Skakun asked if there had been a decrease in the occurance of sanding at intersections, but Gaal says the sanding is being done. Gaal says the problem is the sand isn’t adhering because of colder temperatures. "The amount of sand we have put on the roads will be evident when the snow clears" says Gaal.

The streets division receives about 1300 calls to the snow line every year. Gaal says the department’s goal is to have the call returned and action taken within two days.

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Posted on Wednesday, February 13, 2008 04:58 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: opion1 on February 13 2008 6:48 PM

I dont get it...where i live , snow removal frequence is down 50%

Posted by: Chester on February 13 2008 7:41 PM

The reality is that we really have no idea what we will require when we have a year like this one. We don't experience them on a regular basis, so we shouldn't budget for excessive snow clearing every year either.

There are going to be times when we need to find alternative sources of funding for those years that require more. It's part of the challenges of living in the north. The flooding we experienced isn't a regular occurance either. But there were costs incurred to our community none the less. Maybe the provincial government has a slush fund for such supernumerary (in excess of the norm) expenses. Chester

Posted by: lostfaith on February 14 2008 9:13 AM

Why do I often see them grading streets that don't need to be done. Money wasters! On the other hand I also see alot of streets that are forgotten.