BEAVER BANK: The two councillors say they’re hearing a lot of positive feedback from residents with regards to snow-clearing in their respective communities.
Councillor Lisa Blackburn said they just got the stats from HRM for the recent month, and for District 14 Upper/Middle Sackville-Beaver Bank-Lucasville, they’re at the lowest level they’ve ever been at in the past three years. The comment came in a phone interview, ironically enough that occurred because of a snowstorm made it impossible to meet up for an in-person meeting on Feb. 14.
“I think that speaks to a certain level of satisfaction with the service that’s out there this year,” she said. “Of course this most recent storm that we got, was second only to White Juan in terms of the amount of snow that we received, if I got that right.
“So far, crews are doing a great job. The main routes are passable, and many of the subdivisions have had their first pass through. I think folks are fairly pleased so far.”
Blackburn said there’s always an ongoing concern that storms like that on Feb. 13 which dumped upwards of 70 centimetres of snow and shutdown the province pretty much can easily eat into a municipality’s snow budget.
“That’s always a concern, not so much with the contractors because they are contracted for a certain amount already so there’s no fear in going over budget with those folks,” she said. “But the stuff that’s done in-house, for sure it’s always a concern.
“My understanding is that’s all wrapped in to the budget process, and they do have a fund on hand just in case.”
She agreed the budget would get hit hard from the most recent dump.
“This is certainly going to take a chunk out of the snow clearing budget for this year,” she said.
Councillor Steve Streatch said in a Feb. 17 interview, postponed by two days also because of bad weather, that he too has heard a lot of great feedback on the job being done by the contractor in the Fall River/Waverley core area.
“Obviously this winter, especially the last week or two, have been very challenging,” he said. “We’ve had an enormous amount of snow come down in a very short period. For the most part, our staff and contractors are doing the best job they can.
“I encourage people to be patient, but at the same time I want to bring priority to those areas that need greater attention.”
