Should the City of Nelson have enough staff and equipment to deal with a rare extreme snowfall, or just enough to respond to an average one?
One of the criticisms in recent weeks, in emails to the city and on social media, is the city was not equipped to respond to the 60-plus centimetres of snow that fell on Jan. 2 and 3.
Council discussed this and other snow clearing issues at its Jan. 11 meeting.
Mayor John Dooley asked if the public expects the city to spend large amounts of money on snow removal equipment that would be used rarely.
“We have the right amount of people and equipment in place to manage a normal season and maybe a bit beyond that,” he said, “but we are not carrying millions of dollars worth of equipment that is sitting rusting in the public works yard for eight or 10 years waiting for the snow to fall.”
Dooley said he has lived in Nelson for 40 years and never seen a snowfall approaching the size of the one on Jan. 3.
Another public criticism has been that the city was too slow to start clearing on Jan. 2 and 3.
Councillor Keith Page asked about staffing allocation and whether there was enough staff on hand. He pointed out that the snowfall happened after several weekend stat holidays, and he wondered if the allocation of hours is too regimented for times when there can be major swings in weather conditions.
Chief financial officer Colin McClure responded by saying on that weekend Environment Canada had predicted 15 centimetres of snow and the city was prepared for that.
“But you are right, it was a staff holiday and we had 70-to-80 centimetres. There is really little we can do to prepare for that, and my hat is tipped to public works staff that had a stat day off, who either phoned in or were called in by our supervisors. Those people worked 12-to-14 hours that Monday.”
He said for several days after the snowfall there were city staff and contractors working 12-hour shifts around the clock.
“The community should be grateful to those people coming in,” he said.
McClure said there are many examples of community members stepping up and helping the city or assisting their neighbours.
Public works director Colin Innes agreed, and thanked people who cleaned snow off their cars and moved them so snow plows could access the streets, those who took their garbage to the temporary bin on Lakeside Drive, and people who helped to uncover fire hydrants.
‘We had crews working from extremely early in the morning to late at night,” Innes said, “and to be able to actually see those vehicles, to be able to maneuver around them with the heavy equipment … it was much appreciated.”
Councillor Jesse Woodward said the events of 2021 should teach the city a lesson about extremes, citing the snowstorm, the heat dome, and spring windstorms.
Councillor Rik Logtenberg agreed, adding that the public also has a responsibility during extreme weather events.
“Climate change is going to be inconvenient, and we can not expect our local government to do everything,” he said, adding that response to extreme events is also dependent on the adaptability and resilience of residents and neighbourhoods, who should “either do their part or chill out a bit and find a way to adapt to the circumstances while our staff rally to respond.”
He said the city cannot afford to staff up or buy equipment for relatively rare events.
“Let’s take a balanced approach, let’s be willing to be inconvenienced, and keep our budget in check and not overspend for once every two or three year events.”
City manager Kevin Cormack said community members should look at their own preparedness for extreme events. That includes whether they dug their cars out and followed the city’s long-established snow-clearing rule about parking on the odd or even sides of the street on alternate days.
“All those things impacted us,” he said, adding that the city will take this snowstorm as a learning experience.
“Each of these events helps our preparedness: what went well, what didn’t, and what was the right balance.”
Woodward said that even though the city may not be able to be consistently geared up for extreme events, some planning should be done to allow the city to jump to the level of an extreme event if necessary.
Innes listed the city equipment has been working on the streets since Jan. 3: three plow trucks, three loaders, trucks to haul snow, skid-steers and sidewalk plows, plus a variety of equipment from contractors, who Innes praised for helping out the city so quickly.
He said in the next few days rain is expected and city equipment will concentrate on sanding, clearing as many alleys as possible to allow garbage collection, and continuing to remove snow from city streets.
Related:
• PHOTOS: Nelson’s epic, incredible, wonderful snow day
• PHOTOS: Downtown Nelson digs out
• Nelson approves new snow clearing policy following Supreme Court decision
bill.metcalfe@nelsonstar.com
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