Beaconsfield's public works department will launch a study to determine whether it would be economically feasible for snowploughs to take to the streets sooner after a major snowstorm, Mayor Bob Benedetti revealed yesterday.
"We're measuring out the cost of getting out (with the snowploughs) sooner than we normally do," Benedetti told The Chronicle, adding the idea would be to hit the ground running after it is covered with four centimetres of the white stuff, rather than seven.
The announcement came on the heels of some Beaconsfield residents, including a former city mayor, complaining about lousy snow removal service.
"(The city) did a very poor job," said ex-mayor Edwin Briggs, who resides on White Pine off of Beaconsfield Boulevard, adding snow removal has not been up to snuff for the last few winters.
Tuesday afternoon, Whitepine and some adjacent streets still presented a bumpy, slow drive for cars due to a surplus of accumulated snow.
"They rarely clean the snow," said Maxime Loutfi, who lives on Acorn Ridge nearby. However, he added he had stopped short of officially complaining to city hall. "It's annoying, but far from a priority," he said.
At a town council meeting Monday night, a Whitepine resident who did not wish to have her name revealed complained to council about bad snow service, adding she had even damaged her car.
"It is bad on her street," admit Benedetti. "I don't know why," he said, but added both public works director and District 2 councillor Karen Messier had visited the area in question and admit the situation was far from ideal.
However, Benedetti said Beaconsfield residents were generally satisfied with snow removal around the town. "I get very few complaints," he said. He admit secondary streets are not salted by the city due to environmental concerns.
One resident on Highridge, another street adjacent to Whitepine, said she had never had any trouble in her eight years living in Beaconsfield. "I actually love our snow removal. Can't complain," said Donna Pursey.
Beaconsfield currently has six snowploughs, three sand/salt spreader trucks, two backhoes, a snowblower, two graders on contract, one Bombardier and one tractor for sidewalks, according to Benedetti.
The city's budget this year for snow removal is $230,000.
Some Beaconsfield residents upset over snow removal
Some Beaconsfield residents upset over snow removal
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- Nancy Dubuc
- - February 8th, 2010 at 11:15:17
Snow removal is disasterous, and has been for years. I live on Prince Street, and got stuck in the snow as it hadn't been cleared the evening of a 20+ cm snowfall. This fact is further compounded by the private contractors who lift their snow blowers on the street, leaving a huge ridge of snow in the middle of the road. As one of the few residents on my street that enjoy shoveling my own snow with my husband, I get even more snow plowed into my driveway due to the contractors. They should be reprimanded by the city for this. Our snow removal is so bad, that when I have visitors from Pointe Claire over, they laugh about the amount of taxes we pay - they pay less and have far better snow removal. So, in general, after living here 22.5 years, we have seen a rapid deterioration in snow removal, with it being especially bad the last few years. And the ice build up on the secondary roads has been so bad this year, that we cannot even take the dogs out for a walk because of the danger. I have visited the public works twice this year to ask for sand to be put on the roads - and would have gone more if I had had the time. Once they responded to my plea after about 10 hours, the other time, no response. Let's fix this situation NOW before someone gets really hurt!
