Snow, snow and more snow everywhere.
At the recent committee of the whole meeting, Tay Township touched on the tireless efforts of staff to keep the municipality running, as well as addressing resident complaints over Mother Nature’s bounty.
When asking about how to gain access to fire hydrants by Coun. Sandy Talbot, operational services general manager Shawn Berriault replied that due to the slight break in inclement weather, crews would be out clearing hydrants and cutting back corners throughout the township, starting in Victoria Harbour and Port McNicoll before Waubaushene and Waverley.
“If you're plowing or blowing out your driveway, feel free to blow out a hydrant so that the fire department can get access to it,” said Berriault. “We will do what we can, but the public's help would be great along with getting these hydrants cleared.”
Council expressed gratitude for the efforts of township staff throughout the challenging winter, with Deputy Mayor Barry Norris providing an anecdotal accumulation of roughly 380 centimetres (150 inches) he had measured to date.
According to Environment and Climate Change Canada data, whereas the snowy season is measured annually between November 8 through April 12, neighbouring Midland had received over 230 centimetres (91 inches) of precipitation since November 9.
Berriault cited the town’s six plows over seven routes, noting that crews had been out over 50 times so far this year. He added that while one loader and two pick up trucks with plows were out every time, the township’s grader was not. Additionally, the municipal sidewalk blower was in operation as the meeting proceeded.
“With the latest amount of snow we've had,” said Berriault, “the first complaint we get is the vertical heights of snow banks.”
He stated the difficulty in using ‘high-wing’ bladed plows on certain streets due to variables, as well as negative public perception when those plows push snow onto resident driveways.
Addressing complaints he had received, Berriault said: “We do not fill people's driveways in because we don't like you,” to the laughter of several council and staff. “We live here also; we shovel the snow out of our driveways; we have the same problem with the banks.”
Ditched roads were easier to plow than curbed roads, said Berriault when asked about narrow roads. Coun. Gerard LaChapelle offered that vehicles should slow to pass safely.
Norris commended staff on an excellent job while noting that the area hadn’t seen snow to this amount in nearly two decades.
“We’re doing the best we can,” said Norris. “It’s called winter, it’s called Canada,” he added with a suggestion that those not appreciating the season could relocate to warmer climates, a sentiment which LaChapelle echoed.
Said Talbot: “This is Canada, and unfortunately we haven’t had snow like this for such a long time. Embrace it, and embrace our staff that are trying to do such a wonderful job.”
At the conclusion of the meeting, Coun. Paul Raymond suggested that the township look into providing weather alerts through the official website as had been seen in other neighbouring municipalities.
As of the time of publication for this article, a significant snowfall warning had been issued for the area from late Wednesday afternoon into Thursday morning, with total snowfall amounts between 15 to 25 cm anticipated, and peak snowfall rates of 2 to 4 cm per hour.
The December and January activity reports for the protective and development services department can be found in the agenda page on the Tay Township website.
Tay council meets for committee of the whole meetings every second Wednesday of the month, and regular council meetings every fourth Wednesday of the month. Archives and livestreams of council meetings are available through the Tay Township YouTube channel.