Halifax properties damaged by improper snow removal
While Toronto continues to experience one of its least snowy winters in memory, residents in another one of Canada's larger cities have more snow than they—and apparently the independent contractors hired to clear away the snow—know what to do with. City Councillor Shawn Cleary has been voicing many of the concerns that his constituents and others across the city have been having with regard to the service.
"We can't claim to be accessible when we have three inches of snow and ice on our sidewalks and people are afraid to get around, in fact injuring themselves, or housebound as a result of it," Cleary said to CBC News. "They will come along and rip up sod, they'll rip up the railway ties, they knock over concrete steps. I think last year there was over $200,000 in damage just in the peninsula alone that had to be remediated after the Bobcats went by people's fences, sidewalks and so on."
A west end Halifax resident has spent the past four winters watching her 20-year-old hedge be continually be damaged and uprooted by the snow removal teams. She has now resorted to putting up a sign on her property that tells the teams to bypass her place.
Cleary has urged council to reevaluate snow removal in the city. According to him, a report should be coming in April on the matter.
While Cleary and his West Armdale district have been up in arms about the clearing issues, not all of the feedback has been negative. Just over a week ago, City Councillor Tim Outhit he received calls from about 30 or 40 people who wanted to congratulate the teams for doing such a good job—a rarity, considering that people usually get in touch with their politicians to complain, not compliment—following a harsh winter storm.