Wellesey sidewalk snow-clearing option still on hold
IF WELLESLEY DOES MAKE THE jump to removing snow from sidewalks in all or part of the township, it won’t be in the next year.
Councillors meeting last week to discuss the 2024 budget again heard calls for a sidewalk-clearing program. Concerns about the cost and impact on the tax levy saw the issue put on hold, at least for now.
Currently, residents are required by township bylaw to remove the snow from the sidewalks abutting their properties.
Addressing councillors at the December 7 session, resident Nancy Kennedy noted there are occasions were township plows push snow and ice back onto the base of people’s driveways and sidewalks. Such was the case after she shoveled her walk three times during a snowfall last month, she said.
“I went out with a car about noon and returned before 5 p.m. to a mound of snow that was impossible for me or for that matter an ambulance to cross to get onto my cleared sidewalk and driveway. Would you want your parents to be in this situation? I pay to have my driveway cleared. They also clear about three feet of the road... in front of my driveway,” Kennedy said.
She pointed to other municipalities such as Markham, which has a snow-clearing program for seniors, and Pickering, which offers a program to seniors and those with physical or cognitive impairments.
“It is time for the township to take over responsibility of the clearing of all sidewalks in the township,” she said, adding that the cost could be covered by selling the old Wellesley arena property.
Chris Cook, Wellesley’s director of public works, told council the township seems to be moving in that direction.
“It is going to happen. It’s just a matter of when,” he said.
“We as a small, little Township of Wellesley don’t necessarily want to be the guinea pig in the region.”
Cook explained that the only other municipality
only other municipality in the region that does all their sidewalks is North Dumfries, however the only community that has sidewalks there is Ayr, whereas Wellesley has several settlement areas with sidewalks that require taking a plow to each one.
In Woolwich, a contractor clears the sidewalks in Elmira, for which residents pay a special levy. All others are required to clear the sidewalks in front of their properties within 24 hours after a snowfall.
Cook also explained that he discussed with staff the possibility of having the plow trucks alternate directions as they pass along certain streets.
Coun. Derek Brick said he drove around Wellesley after snowfalls last year, finding the majority of the township residents cleared their sidewalk in a timely manner.
“I saw that within 12 hours, over 95 per cent of the sidewalks were fully clear and in really good shape. I do think that there are obviously places of issue, but the overall community, I think, is doing a really good job of looking after their own sidewalks,” he said
In a later interview, Mayor Joe Nowak said he doesn’t “think this is the year to do it,” adding the tax impact is an issue.
“I’m not saying that it will never be done. I think we’re going to probably have a closer look at it in next year’s budget. It’s a very difficult situation. People have to realize that, while we do remove snow, it benefits the entire community whether you have the sidewalk in front of you or you don’t have the sidewalk but everybody would have to pay for it…. It’s not something that we’ve written off completely at this point,” he said.
According to a staff report prepared last year, clearing the sidewalks for the entire township would be an initial cost of $200,000 for equipment and $150,000 a year. While covering just Wellesley village would require the same start-up costs, the yearly price would be cheaper at $115,000.
That would be in addition to the current budget for clearing roadways, which can fluctuate based on the weather. In 2022, for instance, the budgeted amount of $150,000 was exceeded by $54,000. The budget was increased to $190,000 this year.
Cook noted that Wellesley differs from many other municipalities in how it budgets for snow removal.
“We have a labour line and that’s separate from this winter maintenance line. So our winter maintenance line pays for our salt and pays for contractors to go salt, sand, other materials like that. But it doesn’t pay for our labour or overtime.”
According to Cook the township has spent $137,000 of its budget this year, meaning it will likely be well under the budgeted amount when December comes to an end.
While the township does take forecasts into account it generally uses the costs of the last three years to determine the budget for the year.
“If we’ve gotten significantly over budget [regularly], we should obviously be increasing that budget line. A forecast is only as good as in my opinion, a week and a half to two weeks out. Nobody can tell me now what it’s going to do in January,” he said.