Winter is approaching and it continues that compared to Thunder Bay, some southern Ontario municipalities are way ahead of the game when it comes to dealing with the lethal combination of climate change and aging populations. In recent years, Thunder Bay has been getting heavier and wetter snowfalls which in the aftermath are quickly compacted into thick ice on residential streets. Once the city snowploughs come through the neighborhood, usually several days after the snowfall, the result is a windrow at the end of one’s driveways. Notwithstanding the snow already in one’s driveway, increasingly, we are not looking at six inches to a foot of snow left behind but massive walls of ice and snow which even a heavy duty snowblower is challenged to deal with. The result for young and old alike is a period of massive exertion to exit one’s driveway which increasingly has been found to culminate in cardiac events not conducive to one’s longevity.
Now this blog has brought the issue of windrows up before but obviously to little avail in Thunder Bay. A 2021 blog post noted that even Ignace Ontario was apparently getting its municipal snow grader outfitted with a “snowgate” while at the time it was noted that other cities in southern Ontario such as Richmond hill, Markham and even Toronto had windrow removal programs in place. To this list can now be added the City of Burlington Ontario which according to a story in the Hamilton Spectator appears to have moved beyond a targeted windrow removal program (for seniors or people on disabilities) to a more general program that naturally comes at a charge. As the story reads:
Burlington city council has approved enhancements to its program to clear snow left behind by plows, including increasing the number of available spots from 200 to 1,000 driveways.
In addition, service boundaries will expand to include all areas of the city.
As part of the city’s windrow program, crews will clear windrows within 36 hours of snowfall stopping and within 12 hours of residential road plowing. A windrow is the pile of snow that is left at the bottom of driveways by roadway plows.
Residential road plowing only occurs after accumulation of 7.5 centimetres or more of snow. Windrow-clearing services will run from Dec. 1, 2023, until March 31, 2024. A non-refundable fee of $125 plus HST per driveway entrance for the entire season must be paid at the time of registration.
In years past, the program was only offered to people with disabilities and individuals unable to clear their windrows. As part of the program’s expansion, the city now has the capacity to offer spots to any resident.
The city will continue to focus on providing spots to people with disabilities. Previous registrants will be contacted over the next week to secure a spot in the program. Following that, advanced registration for people with disabilities will open on Oct. 5 at 9 a.m. Registration for residents city-wide will open on Oct. 19 at 9 a.m.
Now, one is not asking for the city of Thunder Bay to provide free windrow removal. After all, Thunder Bay has pretty clearly stated what its priorities are when it comes to tax funded or assisted municipal services. While Thunder Bay does spend one of the highest per capita amounts of major Ontario cities, it has chosen to prioritize three things: general government, police, and fire services. Indeed, of 27 major Ontario municipalities, Thunder Bay historically spends the most dollars per capita of its of its tax levy supported operating budget on these three items. Indeed, historically nearly 60 percent of Thunder Bay’s operating tax levy is spent on these three items - again, the highest of these 27 major municipalities. However, the City of Thunder Bay does not even appear interested in pursuing an approach like that of Burlington where one could essentially pay for the windrows to be removed so after the residential street is ploughed. It is probably too entrepreneurial an approach for a gvoernmental body in Thunder bay to attempt. On the other hand, given Thunder Bay’s municipal cost structure, one suspects that even if such a service were offered, it would be substantially more expensive than what Burlington is planning to offer.
So, there you have it. Winter is coming and with it Thunder Bay’s survival of the fittest approach to retirement living.
