CITY administrations over the years have regularly pooh-poohed the idea of clearing those snow windrows left at the foot of driveways after a street has been plowed.
Too expensive. Too impractical. The city does, however, provide an annual maximum subsidy of $250 for those over the age of 65 or for those with a physical disability who hire a contractor. For the rest of the population, suck it up.
Things are different in Quesnel. There city crews do clear windrows for residents but with conditions.
The snowfall has to first exceed four inches and, according to the Quesnel policy, “it is the responsibility of the homeowner to mark any obstructions that may be damaged by backhoes clearing the driveway entrance” using brightly coloured stakes as markers and which are supplied by the City of Quesnel.
Quesnel officials place the cost of this service at $55,000 each winter.
Quesnel’s population is slightly less than Terrace’s. It’s also in a different climatic zone with a drier snow and, on average, its snowfall is about half of what falls here.
And that means what happens in Quesnel may not be easily or quickly compared to any similar service here. But the duty of a government is to provide services to as many of its taxpayers as reasonably possible.
An enterprising city council, on behalf of its taxpayers, should at least ask the question of its administrators for all to consider