In the forecast for city council: a report on the higher than anticipated cost of snow and ice clearing this winter.
According to City of Salmon Arm chief financial officer Monica Dalziel, there was a significant increase in snow and ice control and removal this winter – the second year in a row where the city has been caught short. As a result, funds had to be used from the city’s snow and ice control reserve to accommodate the $180,000 additional cost in the 2013 budget.
“This is the second year that we’ve been short, significantly short,” said Dalziel. “So it is our intention to bring forward a report to council… outlining what that’s attributed to – it might give us some clues –– and then a recommendation of council as to, do we want to maintain what we’re doing, or do we want to revert back to the way we used to do snow removal, which is better from a safety perspective.”
The report will look at the implications of new practices and procedures regarding the use of liquid magnesium chloride/salt for winter road conditions, as well as staff scheduling.