Scrapin’ it bare
Posted by editor on December 21, 2011 · 27 Comments
The high cost of snow removal is a hot-button topic for many residents and with so little snow on the ground right now Arrow Heights resident Mike Vopni wonders what the heck snow removal crews are doing scraping what little snow there is off the roads in his neighbourhood on Wednesday morning. Mike Vopni photo
They were doing same at the other end of town yesterday…..and last week moving the 10 inch snowbanks with loader and dump trucks. Then if we do get significant snow in the new year we will be hearing how ” the budget has been used up for the year for snow removal” Last year in about Feb they were threatening to quit cleaning the ends of driveways due to budget costs. Seems like a “make work” project…..a very expensive and needless one at this point. Let’s save the snow removal budget for when we have something worth removing !!
Right on Shelly and everyone else in town who sees this sham taking place. Put those loaders away and save the taxpayers money. Totally ridiculous to be pushing snow from one place to another. Shame on The City for this waste of money.
YES ! A mindless waste.
Just one more way to waste our tax dollars… Honestly! Does anyone at the city know what they’re doing???
I am not sure what streets have been scraped bare…but I can see that this one is very close to the hospital. I agree that not all streets need to be scraped down to the pavement, but routes that are commonly used by emergency vehicals should always have this treatment no matter what the budget says. It makes it safer for when the ambulances need to get out to the highway to save peoples’ lives.
they did all of columbia park, and they went by tonight and put the anti icing stuff down on the road that already has ice on it.. big time waste
While I am not in Revelstoke at this time, I do wonder at the harshness of some comments. Did I not read a short time ago that people in Arrow Heights were upset that the roads were not plowed wide enough to protect pedestrians? There was concern that pedestrians were either being splashed with slush or having to jump into the snow to get out of the way of drivers. Remember there are no sidewalks in Arrow Heights. Last year the snow piled so high after Christmas that some roads could barely accommodate two lanes of traffic. Seems that city hall cannot win when it comes to snow removal. Whatever they do someone is bound to complain.
Keep in mind that this work is being done during regular work hours. What would your comments be if you drove by the city yard only to find all equipment parked and workers standing around? (and getting paid)
Actualy Courtney alot of it is being done inthe middle of the night, it was 10pm last night when the deicing truck went by my house
I guess if I drove by the city yard and saw equipment parked and workers standing around ( getting paid ) I would suggest that like every business in town and elsewhere there be a skeleton staff kept on full time and others on call at a lesser rate of pay. In these tough economic times no business will survive if it doesn’t manage it’s staffing hours . I’m sure the equipment is extremely expensive to run and maintain and should be used when it makes sense not just to keep idle hands busy.
The budget has to be spent completely every year, in order to ask for the same amount for the next year. Or even ask for more. There is no such thing as roll-over dollars like some cell phone plans. I think the city is doing a good job keeping access for all residents open. If you want to complain about the services of such and think you all can change it…….Why didn’t I see your name on the voters list. The million dollars ( or so ) that is spent each year on snow removal is really not that much. We live in the mountains…. it snows a lot in the mountains…… We are all quite fortunate to have the services provided as they are. It is the price we pay……
Sure , some of the decisions and when and where to push the snow may seem odd to the common folk. But there are good reasons for all actions being taken. If we lived in the desert……..and a bunch of sand was always blowing around and causing drifts on the road etc……. I am sure the city would devise a plan to make sure we can get to school, churches, gas stations, coffee shops, and the hospital…….and I am sure there would be an up-roar amongst the same people regarding the city budget. The city workers are there for us. Quit ‘yer complaining and realize that they are working hard for you. Think Positive ……React Positive….
To Matt Fish – balderdash to ‘the money HAS to be spent completely every year’. There is always a slush fund for snow removal. And we, the people, are NOT just common folk as you would suggest. The citizens of Revelstoke want their tax dollars spent appropriately and not wasted by idle, dilly dallying, make work projects.
so if we spend…….$600,000 each year for the next two years on snow removal and the year after that we need $1,300 000….and our snow removal budget gets cut back down because we didn’t seem to need $1,000 000 a year………..for the last couple years……. how is the city to come up with $700 000 extra for that year? Slush fund…..I think that is money coming from tax-payers non-the-less. and probably a cut from something else. Sorry about the common folk comment and meant no harm by that term. I think running a municipal operation like ours in a climate like ours needs additional funding ….not cut-backs. A new neighbourhood….needs more money. A new road…..needs more money. A new trail….needs more money. A new bridge ….needs more money. See the growth pattern evolving here. All of these things that are growing in town need more staff as well……..MORE MONEY! We all want this town to prosper and not flounder. We need to care for the town better and better. Growing pains are painful. So are wasteful spending decisions.
Keep in mind that half the crew has been layed off, there is a skeleton crew working, and as for the picture and comments I do believe your wife Mr. Vopni is the one in charge of the AHE Pac and lobbying for safer routes and access for the kids to be able to walk to and from school and that the roads be plowed out as wide as possible, this work is being done with minimal crews and the widening is being done in preparation for the snow that is to come accordingly to Environment Canada, Maybe those of you who make all the negative comments could go to Public Works and walk a mile in their shoes for a day and then see what you think, do not criticize others until you have actually been there and understand the whole situation. Looking from the outside perhaps it does seem a waste, but do you understand the concept of the deicing? and are you sure thats what it was? Get your facts as I have, there are 4 people working at night to cover the community, and one individual working to cover from noon to 8pm, and 8 people covering the day shift,( so I believe that is a skeleton crew and there is no one on call at a lesser rate of pay you must remember that there are rules in place for that, and then you really are paying individuals for doing nothing) Keep in mind that if does snow you need to be able to get those people back that have been layed off which is not always possible as now they have found other jobs and then you need to hire new qualified workers, then you ought to hear the residents complain about how their windrow was missed, the streets not wide enough, and it goes on and on, give me a break people they are doing the best they can and have cut crews substantially any more and then there will be no one to remove the snow when it does come, so perhaps you should all get out your shovels and shovel the streets and your own windrows and spend your energy doing something useful. Perhaps everyone should be layed off at Public Works and then we will see how long it takes for you to get your street plowed when there is no one available, how frustrated do you get waiting in line at Coopers because there are not enough cashiers on and they know it is a busy time but you just have to wait becuase that is the way it is, or go to the self serve help yourselves people, are your groceries cheaper because you use the self serve line don’t think so…so maybe residents will just have to wait to get their streets plowed and windrows, too bad if you miss your appointment, or couldn’t get to work because your street wasn’t plowed, Sheesh people!! Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!!
You can fool ALL of the people SOME of the time. SOME of the people ALL of the time………but you can’t fool ALL of the people ALL of the time.
For the record there were lots of times last year that many people couldn’t get out of their streets for days…..had to cancel appointments etc. When I asked someone in the know why ………” the snow removal budget has been used up for the year” We want and appreciate good snow removal when it’s snowed…..not when the sun is shining and it hasn’t snowed for weeks. I don’t think anyone mentioned laying anyone off as we never know when it might snow…..but putting people “on call” at a lesser rate….so the city doesn’t go bankrupt and everyone is out of a job. Common sense just isn’t common enough any more.
Three stars for common sense and brilliant observations, Shelly. You go girl!
Shelley and Jane if you think you have all the answers perhaps you should run the Public Works Department or run for City Council. We do live in snow country and we should therefore expect that there will be times when snow removal does not happen as fast as we would like or that it will appear the snow removal crew is doing unnecessary work (notice I said appear, I suspect they were moving snow back to widen roads for safety purposes or clear drains in anticipation of the snow/thaw/rain that will come). I for one am very thankful that we have snow removal crews in place ready to make my life easier. Thank you to everyone in the Public Works Department for helping make Revelstoke a great place to live!
Yes Jane and Shelly maybe you should go and run Public Works so that you understand and get the whole picture of what goes on, and you will see that it is not that easy many more factors involved than just being able to put people on call at a lesser rate of pay if it was tht easy I am sure they would do it, you forget there is a Union involved and a Collective Agreement in place, so maybe you should put forth your name next time and your ideas and run for Council or Mayor for that fact, and see what its really all about, it’s always easy to be an onlooker and make comments when you don’t know the all the factors involved. I agree with Sue 100%.
I gather Sue and Heidi that you either work for public works or are related to someone who does. I don’t believe we need to run for council to have a say.. we still have a democracy do we not ? It seems as though you are suggesting that we should just pay our ever increasing taxes and keep our mouths shut ? There’s not room on council for everyone who has ideas or constructive criticism. And sure I’ll go run Public works….are you up for it Jane ?…we can do it together. LOL. Many of us are concerned about the overspending that is permeating many City departments. I speak to people on council and most of them are very concerned also. Anyway considering the season shall we all call a truce and agree to disagree ? Merry Christmas to all who agree with me and all who do not : )
Sorry Shelly, I don’t work for Public Works or the City of Revelstoke, nor do I have relatives that do. Merry Christmas to as well.
Ladies, We are all entitled to our own opinions, even if we do not agree with each other. My husband works for HMC and they work on the same principle as the City when it comes to snow removal. The city had to scrape back the roads while it was clear as they were expecting a “significant” snow fall over the next day or two. If they had left it the roads would have gotten narrower (if thats a word?) and narrower. Yes, Matt, you are correct thats how it is with any public company/business/authority trying to get funding. If you dont use up your budget , you cant ask for more next years budget. Its never easy and never simple. As an Arrow Heights resident, i do understand the frustrations though. Merry Christmas everybody. Lets hope the new identifying system in the new year does not put too many people off saying what they really want to say?!!
Well, correct me if I am wrong, but, the budget goes from March 2011x to March 2012?
I am also a bit confused because the plows were actually out tonite (Xmas eve), but were not out last Sunday when it was all melted and would have been a nice plow on all the roads. Hopefully they will get all they can done tonite before midnite and double time and a half kicks in!
Sorry Shelly, I don’t work for The City of Revelstoke nor do I have relatives that work there. Just called someone who answered my questions.
i plowed snow for a different city for ten years and we used a rubber plow as opposed to metal and worked like a squeegie this is excellent for slushy roads you know what its like to drive on these roads after they are frozen very tough on the cars
I for one don’t like overspending and higher taxes.
Amen to that!
January 14, 2012 – well here we are with about 9 inches of snow on the ground. They sure scraped it bare a month ago … but where are those plows and loaders now that we Really Need to have out and clearing the streets now?!? Do they take the weekends off and wait until it gets at least a foot high?!?