With another blast of snow predicted for this weekend, Old Man Winter isn’t even close to letting up on Metro Vancouver.
While the weather, and mostly the icy conditions on sidewalks and roads around the region, have given residents something other than real estate prices to complain about, City of Burnaby officials say they’re on top of the situation.
Brian Carter, the city’s manager of public works operations, said crews have spent this week focusing on clearing local residential streets, using a sand and salt mixture and equipment to chip away at the ice.
He noted the city also started ramping up enforcement against people not clearing the snow from their property, focusing on commercial and multi-family properties that have the resources to remove the white stuff.
Carter warned the next step will be to issue fines for people not following the rules.
“People have been told, and this has gone on long enough,” he told the NOW.
As of Thursday, the city had issued about 250 warnings, but the data on how many tickets have been issued hadn’t been compiled.
Carter added enforcement on single-family properties can be a challenge because, in some cases, it involves an elderly person who doesn’t have the ability to clear the snow. The city is encouraging people to help their neighbours out.
He also suggested that, in some cases, when a new dump of snow hits, it’s difficult to determine whether a homeowner has neglected to clear the snow from the beginning.
While this week produced an unusual site in Vancouver of people lining up for free salt at fire halls, Burnaby will not be taking part in the free salt giveaway.
On Thursday, however, the City of New Westminster announced it would make salt available for residents.
Carter noted Burnaby secured enough salt from a source outside of the province and it would be used for city operations.
Since snow began to fall in early December, there have been six snow events keeping city crews working around the clock. The annual budget for snow removal is $450,000, but the total was expected to be eclipsed by the end of 2016. The city is now working with a new budget for 2017.
Carter said this season beats the 2008/09 winter, adding the city has already used three times the amount of salt as normal.
He expects some type of post-winter report will make its way to city council to assess how the municipality handled the winter and if any changes need to be made in the future.
