YORKTON - It was back in December 2021 Yorkton Council directed city administration to conduct a survey to evaluate citizen satisfaction in regards to our City’s snow removal program.
The results were unveiled at the regular meeting of Council Monday with Council ultimately unanimously approving a motion to maintain present levels of service for snow removal.
In making the presentation Monday Trent Mandzuk, Director of Public Works, with the city noted the snow removal policy was last reviewed in 2013.
In terms of the survey, “Key information about our program was incorporated into the survey questionnaire to help inform the Public about some of the City’s current practices. The survey would also aid in gauging resident’s current understanding,” he said.
To help Council better evaluate the reported results, a comparison of all Saskatchewan cities’ snow removal practices was summarized.
“Levels of service for major roadways are fairly consistent across the province,” said Mandzuk.
All cities initiate snow removal operations on arterial streets upon two to four inches of snow accumulation. The time frame required to complete ranges from 12 to 72 hours, based primarily on the amount of roadways in each network. Collector streets commence upon two to 8 inches of snow with completion time ranging from two to seven days.
“The most notable differences are seen when comparing levels of service in residential areas,” said Mandzuk. “In all other Saskatchewan cities, snow is allowed to accumulate on residential streets until it becomes compacted by vehicle traffic. Roadways are only bladed as required; typically once rutting forms in wheel paths, but snow is never completely removed to the pavement.
“In comparison to other communities, Yorkton currently provides the highest level of service in regard to residential snow removal. We are the only City that removes snow to the pavement surface. We are also the only City to utilize chase loaders behind graders every time we enter residential areas. This is done in effort to virtually eliminate snow ridges in residential driveways. Other centers only return to clear driveways if 8 inches or more of snow is left behind. Regina and Saskatoon do not provide any driveway clearing services.”
The last major difference concerns sidewalk snow removal, offered Mandzuk.
“Every City other than Yorkton requires their residents to clear sidewalks in front of private property within 48 hours. Some communities enforce fines if snow is not cleared upon bylaw’s first notification,” he said.
In terms of sidewalk snow Yorkton stands alone.
“Yorkton is the only community providing any form of residential sidewalk snow clearing, however we limit to streets with boulevards. In residential areas with combined curb and sidewalk, sidewalks are used for snow storage to help ensure streets can be as wide as possible for two way traffic. This seems to be the most controversial service we provide,” said Mandzuk.
Residential sidewalk snow removal cost the City of Yorkton $27,697 in 2021 and $31,241 in 2022.
“Removing this service would save approximately $30,000 to the snow budget and would eliminate the need for the sidewalk plow within the Fleet’s Inventory,” said Mandzuk.
But the level of service provided was applauded by Council.
Councillor Randy Goulden said when talking to representatives of other Saskatchewan cities they are “Very envious of what we can provide.”
Coun. Ken Chyz said residents of the city “are spoiled” in terms of snow removal.
Coun. Chris Wyatt suggested Yorkton is the best city in terms of snow removal service in the province.
What follows is usually a large amount of complaints and requests for snow to be removed from the sidewalks and hauled away.
Hauling snow is the single most costly service we provide ranging from $1,500 to $2,000 per hour, said Mandzuk. If the City were to haul snow from all residential areas with combined curb and sidewalk, it would cost taxpayers approximately $840,000 per storm or $4.2M per year. As a comparison, the total snow removal budget in 2022 was $577,000.
In addition to taking into consideration feedback from the 2022 snow removal survey, Marketing and Communications personnel within the Planning Department conducted an internal service review in effort to improve snow removal processes and our public communication plan.
“The service plan review identified a number of ideas for improving the City’s snow removal program. A workflow process was developed for the main individuals involved,” offered Mandzuk.
The biggest change to our program will be with regards to residential snow removal. To help standardize snow removal in residential areas, the City has been divided into five zones. These zones are the same as those employed in the summer months for street sweeping. Snow removal in each zone is scheduled on days that will not interfere with garbage collection. Each zone has two days throughout the week that snow removal will take place. Overall response times will not change however this methodology will allow the City to better schedule snow removal operations with public notifications. The intent is to lower public inquiries over time by creating a more routine schedule for residents, he continued.
