Bowman’s budget-balancing behind botched snow job: Wyatt

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This article was published 12/01/2017 (3203 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Snow budget too low?

Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt said the cost of snow clearing in December and the city’s budget troubles don’t add up.

Wyatt said when he chaired council’s finance committee in 2014, the annual budget for snow clearing was $33 million, adding he was surprised to learn the most recent figure is $28 million.

“There’s no doubt the mayor has cut the snow-clearing budget by 10 to 20 per cent to balance the operating budget,” Wyatt said.

While the city’s snow-clearing budget has shrunk, new neighbourhoods have sprung up, producing additional property tax revenue, he said. But the city has less money to clear snow on more streets, sidewalks and an explosion of new cycling and pedestrian paths.

“It’s no accident we’ve not been able to keep up (with snow clearing), and it’s not an accident that two weeks after the last major snowfall, we’re still catching up with the sidewalk clearing.”

However, a spokesman from Mayor Brian Bowman’s office said that, despite the $28-million figure cited in the financial status report, the snow-clearing budget has not been changed.

The 2017 budget does show the cost of snow clearing in 2016 at $33.339 million and is set for $33.629 million in 2017.

The official said the $28-million figure cited in the financial status update does not reflect all costs related to snow clearing.

Street maintenance manager Jim Berezowsky said this week that while city crews have been working around the clock to clear sidewalks, many stretches along regional streets still had not been cleared. Berezowsky said the city, which does the bulk of the sidewalk clearing while private contractors are hired to clear streets, increased the number of machines from 28 to 32 this winter.

However, CUPE Local 500 president Gord Delbridge said the city doesn’t have enough equipment on the streets or the manpower to operate it.

Sidewalk clearing is a core civic service, Wyatt said, adding there is no excuse for the poor level of work over the past three weeks.

“It’s clear that city crews are overwhelmed,” he said. “If we can’t do the work in-house then we should be hiring contractors. If we don’t get the sidewalks open now, it will be insurmountable in a few weeks time.”

Wyatt said Wednesday he saw a man walking on Higgins Avenue, between Main Street and the Louise Bridge, because the sidewalks weren’t clear. On Wednesday night, he said he saw city crews clearing portions of sidewalk on Regent Avenue.

“That’s a regional sidewalk that should have been cleared two weeks ago,” he said. “It’s absolutely ludicrous that there isn’t a higher priority to clear the sidewalks.”

— Aldo Santin