Dropping sidewalk plowing worries Thunder Bay councillors

Superior Morning2:43Sidewalk Plowing - The Pricetag

After a snowfall, City of Thunder Bay crews are out plowing roads and sidewalks. In Edmonton taxpayers are required to clear the sidewalks in front of their own property. Troy Courtoreille explainsThunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs says it might be time to ask residents to do a job now performed by municipal workers: clearing sidewalks.

Some Ontario cities have implemented the practice to cut costs, but councillors in Thunder Bay are reluctant to go that far.

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Councillor Shelby Ch'ng said having homeowners shovel sidewalks in front of their properties is a philosophical question at this point.

"Would you rather shovel your own sidewalk and sand your own sidewalk and lower our taxes by half a percentage point?  Or would you rather pay the taxes and understand this is just the cost of doing business in the city,” Ch’ng said.

"I feel like I could do that myself, certainly. But, you know, we do have an aging population that really needs to be taken care of." 

Eliminating city crews from sidewalk plowing would save about $600,000 a year, or about half of one percent of the overall budget.

Cities such as Waterloo, Windsor, Hamilton and Edmonton require homeowners to clear the sidewalk near their properties or face a fine.

Mayor Keith Hobbs said it's worth looking into.

"It's got a lot of merit.  And, it would [save] us for sure on the snow budget,” he said.

“I understand the Red Cross has a program to help people with disabilities and snow shovelling, so perhaps we could help incorporate that into it."

Councillor Frank Pullia, who chairs the budget process, said he's against the idea — for now. There should be other ways to save money before asking homeowners to maintain sidewalks, he said.

"That's a cut in service ...  I'm not satisfied yet we've found all the efficiencies we need to find."

Councillors Joe Virdiramo and Andrew Foulds said they’re against the idea.

"That would be a fundamental service standard change. And I, personally, do not like making those very fundamental changes on the fly,” Foulds said.

“If people are serious about wanting changes in their service standards then, frankly, I need a full report understanding what the savings are going to be. What are the potential impacts for people with mobility issues? Do we have to hire more bylaw enforcement officers to make sure that sidewalks are clear?”