A new proposed snow removal strategy could save the City of Yorkton hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Veteran councillor Randy Goulden explained:
鈥淲e were in a committee of the whole meeting. Aaron [Kienle] was gazing at his hand, not really sure why, but out of the blue he said, 鈥榙udes, did you ever notice that when it gets warm outside, the snow melts?鈥欌��
Council handed the issue over to administration to produce a report, Goulden said. The report confirmed Kienle鈥檚 keen observation.
鈥淚t鈥檚 straight up science,鈥� said roadways manager Clayton Werner. 鈥淥nce the ambient temperature reaches approximately zero degrees Celcius, the snow cannot maintain its solid form and turns into a liquid that simply drains into the sewer system.鈥�
Furthermore, the report went on to say that since climate records have been kept, every year there comes a point, approximately in May, that the average daily temperature is above zero.
鈥淚t鈥檚 remarkable,鈥� said Goulden. 鈥淭here was not a single exception dating back to the late 1800s, not one year that this hasn鈥檛 happened.鈥�
After reviewing the report, Council came up with the new strategy to let nature take care of city鈥檚 snow problem.
鈥淲e felt that by stopping the use of costly equipment and staff to clear snow, if we just wait until spring, the snow will remove itself,鈥� said Mayor Bob Maloney. 鈥淭hat could save us about $650,000 annually.鈥�
Jenny Sirko, a resident of the Weinmaster area said she didn鈥檛 think she would notice much difference.
鈥淚t seems like that鈥檚 pretty much what they鈥檙e doing in our neighbourhood already,鈥� she said.
Council is currently working on another plan to save even more money by not planting flowers in the summer.
鈥淪tuff grows whether you plant or not,鈥� said Kienle. 鈥淓specially those little yellow flowers, they鈥檙e, like, everywhere.鈥�
