With perfect timing, as the snow has finally arrived, Kimberley City Council received the updated Snow and Ice Management Plan for 2016-2017 at their regular meeting this week.
The City’s overall goal is to have all roads and designated trails passable within 72 hours once the snowfall or weather event has ended. The 72 hour goal does not apply to weekends and holidays as the City does minimal snow and ice control during those times. Once the snow is cleared off all roads and designated trails, the priority shifts to ice control and snow pile removal.
While that is the goal, it is not always possible to achieve as many factors, such as another storm arriving on the heels of the last one, or equipment failure and more can have an effect.
The city’s snow removal fleet consists of three Graders, three Loaders, one Rubber tire backhoe, three Sanders c/w plows (1 belly plow and 2 front plows), three Tandem axle dump trucks with belly plows, three Single axle dump trucks with belly plows, one Trail maintenance unit, one heavy duty snow blower loader attachment and two Skid steers. A staff of 20 operates the snow removal equipment.
Not much has changed in this updated plan. Major routes, hills and access to neighbourhoods, will still be plowed first, and secondary roads as resources allow.
Mayor Don McCormick says that the main issue every winter is windrows.
“It’s the single biggest issue every year. City plows clear streets. We don’t clear driveways or entrances to strata developments. Every year, we hear complaints about that.”
It is also the responsibility of property owners to clear sidewalks adjacent to their properties.