Snow belongs in designated dumps, not streets

EAGLE STAFF

It’s against a town bylaw for residents, other than those with downtown businesses, to push snow into the streets, councillors were reminded during their regular meeting on Jan. 5.

Councillor Art Garrett wondered if it was illegal for people to use skid-steers to move snow from their sidewalks and driveways into streets.

A grader operator nears the King Street intersection with Sixth Avenue East in late December after plowing snow from the street to the boulevard. File Photo by Ian MacKay

“We do have a snow dump on the east side of town that anyone can haul snow to,” said Amanda Bors, the town’s acting chief administrator.

Grader drivers “definitely know the driveways that get cleaned out into the street,” public works superintendent Bob Bors said. “You notice the extra volume of snow.” When that happens, grader operators plow the snow back to the curb and, possibly, the driveway entrance of “the next-door neighbour,” he said.

The new Freightliner truck the town recently acquired is working well and is easier to operate, providing drivers much better visibility than the 1976 five-ton truck it replaced, he said.

“You’re not looking over the big hood like you are in a regular truck,” he said. However, it doesn’t help remove snow faster because the truck box is the same size as that carried by the previous truck, which “had its own little issues, always,” he said.

The new truck “is more reliable and a lot more enjoyable to be in on those minus-30 days,” Bors said. “You’re not wearing a skidoo suit inside the cab.”

Staff did “a quick plow to get all the streets open,” but “there’s a layer of ice under everything,” he said.

“We haven’t switched to ice blades yet on the lead grader,” Bors said, explaining that in early winter, “ice blades are a little hard on the pavement.”