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By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

$986,000 EXCESS REMAINING

City council votes to return to pre-pilot snow and ice removal service levels

Jun 11, 2024 | 10:14 AM

After reviewing a snow and ice removal pilot that ran last season, Red Deer city council has voted to return to pre-pilot levels of service while implementing any changes possible to Q1 of 2025 without impacting the budget.

Priorities of the pilot included improving resident mobility and safety by increasing traction control efforts, enhancing the clearing of bus stops, sidewalks, and trail systems, and providing 24/7 clearing on residential routes.

“The responsiveness for that program was probably one of the highlights. The communications dovetailed into that, definitely shines, and it’s well worth the investment. The inclusion of second-side sidewalks, trails, and staircases: I hear nothing but grace from many different people, so that mobility enhancement definitely had a great point,” shared Greg Sikora, manager of parks and public works, on some of the program’s more successful features.

The pilot resulted in an additional operating expense of just under $1.3 million, on top of the base $5.88 million snow and ice removal budget. A portion of the added expense was absorbed by the 2023 budget, leaving $986,000 to be dealt with this year. Increased efforts to transit stations were responsible for a significant portion of this at about $800,000.

“We are actually recommending that we go back to pre-pilot levels. And I’ll say that, again, we would love to do more and satisfy our citizens, and it’s our recommendation that we go back to pre-pilot levels because we feel that our fiscal responsibility is our number one priority right now,” said Sarah Tittemore, general manager of community services.

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Council was presented with six options that ranged from implementing the pilot program fully, to implementing it with some reduced service options, or fully returning to pre-pilot levels.

It was brought to council’s attention that, even if the pilot program was fully implemented, they would need to find a solution to the significant overtime strain it placed on plow operators and other employees as last year’s trial approach was not sustainable. Timing considerations were also acknowledged, as full implementation of the pilot would likely not be ready until Q4 of 2025.

After evaluating every option and their respective budget implications, city council voted unanimously to revert to pre-pilot levels of service, with an amendment. Councillor Victor Doerksen, with unanimous support from the rest of council, amended that when it comes time to discuss the 2025 budget, they will evaluate the impact of implementing six-day compressed green and grey routes, mobility enhancement, and traction control learnings from the pilot.

To manage the excess expense remaining from the pilot’s first run, council voted 7-1 in favour of waiting to see what the rest of 2024 holds, with the potential to resolve the year-end variance through the Operating Reserve – Tax Supported.

Councillor Kraymer Barnstable, who voted against this approach, said “You have to rank your priorities. I don’t feel comfortable rolling the dice with close to a million dollars that could come forward. I know we don’t control the weather, we don’t know what’s going to happen come wintertime, but I would be in support of option two which would impact our service levels in other areas, to make sure that we have this number shored up going into our next snow removal season.”

Option two proposed reduced seasonal work to absorb the cost into the public works’ 2024 operating budget, which cited asset degradation, impact to staff, and reputation as potential risks.

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