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By Justine Kelsie

Heavy snow could impact city budget

Dec 4, 2017 | 4:00 AM

Grande Prairie city crews continue to clear roadways after the snowiest November in a decade.

Transportation Services Manager Robert Carroll says if there is average snowfall for the remainder of the season, there will be no issue covering the cost of snow removal with a 2017 budget of $5.1-million.

“We seem to be right on target for allocated funding. We are not going to be over any significant amount or under any significant amount. If conditions stay relatively normal for the rest of the year, we should be right on target,” said Carroll.

If the weather follows November’s trend and we get another few dumps of snow pushing the amount over the average, Carroll’s department could have to dip into reserve funds.

“The way that reserve is funded is if we have a year where there is a surplus in our snow [budget], then that money automatically goes into the savings account for a [future] bad year. We are close to $3-million in that reserve right now. We have a hefty amount of money set aside there so if we do get extreme conditions we can continue on with our program and tap into that reserve to keep it going.”

Carroll explains that one of their biggest expenses is split equally between staff and equipment. Contractors for tasks like residential snow clearing are also a large expense, but come in as a close second. There is enough money to get through another round of residential snow clearing if another large amount of snow falls, according to the Transportation Services Manager.

The Residential Windrow Clearing pilot project commenced on December 1, 2017, with a city-allocated addition of $885,000 to try it out for the winter. If the pilot project is a go for next year, Carroll says the budget for 2018 snow removal could go up.

“Council will have to find some extra funding to continue on with it because I’m not funded to provide this level of service outside of this pilot project. At the end of the winter, people are probably going to be pretty happy with the program and I can’t predict what council will do, but I am sure there will be interest in keeping this program.”

According to Environment Canada, Grande Prairie had 61 centimetres of snow in November which is more than twice the amount of the 30-year average of 27 centimetres.  Looking ahead in the long-term forecast, Carroll points to a little amount of snow predicted, but he recognizes that weather can change.

“A hard winter or easy winter, even if we have no snow, we still have to spend money. We have our equipment costs, we may save a little amount in fuel and maintenance, but no snow at all, we may save a little money. If we get no snow at all, we are still going to spend most of our budget. We have a lot of full-time staff and we haven’t historically laid off full-time staff during easier winters. We have all of our equipment and we don’t send our equipment back afterward. We bought the equipment. Just like you have your vehicle and whether you drive it or not, you still have to ensure it and pay the loan. There are a lot of fixed costs associated with our winter operations that won’t change whether we have 10 centimetres of snow or 200 centimetres.”

The 2018 year is the last of a four-year budget cycle with council working out a new budget for 2019.

by Justine Kelsie