Re: City revises snow clearance targets, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012
Nowhere in this article is there a reference to the snow clearing that takes place on the top floor of the city parkade above the transit terminus in downtown Red Deer.
And likely not many taxpaying residents are aware of this snow clearing practice. A bobcat operator is at work the moment the snow starts falling and clears every inch of that mostly unused top floor each and every time it snows, no matter how little or how much has fallen. The snow is always pushed into piles for removal by a city truck (last week there were three trucks involved). I have a view of this, which has upset me for too long, resulting in a letter to the mayor last March on a day that was so sunny and warm that the snow was melting at the same time as the bobcat was scraping and loading it into a city truck.
His assistant’s response was:
“We appreciate that you are concerned about the financial responsibility of the city and are happy to respond to your concerns with respect to clearing snow from the parkade. While the parkade is a concrete and steel structure and is designed to carry heavy vehicle loads, piling snow or allowing snow to remain piled on the structure is not a good practice. Over the course of this winter we have had significant snowfalls. Following a snowfall, the first course of action is to ensure vehicles can navigate the parkade and park. So, the snow gets pushed/piled up and out of the way. The next step is to remove it which is why you see the snow clearing happen after the plowing. To leave the snow could in fact put the city in a position of negligence if an incident were to occur. ”
The cost of a bobcat operator, the operation of said bobcat and city trucks is a colossal waste of taxpayers’ money. An efficient solution would be to close the top floor in winter. There are only a smattering of vehicles at the best of times and only in the area under the orange cover. And if negligence really is a concern, the City of Red Deer should pay close attention to Julie Hares letter to the editor also on Thursday, Nov. 1. Being unable to stop on glare ice because of a lack of winter maintenance, as she points out happened to her, screams of negligence.
As a resident and therefore taxpayer, I am tired of the wastefulness that continually drives up our taxes.
Rosanne Benoit
Red Deer