Snow and ice clearing policy changes in the cards for Taylor

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The District of Taylor is listening to public feedback following a survey of the community’s snow and ice clearing policy. 

During the September 2nd committee of the whole meeting for the District of Taylor, staff reviewed the results of a public survey done for the district’s Snow and Ice policy. 

In a previous council meeting, staff had been directed to explore improving snow clearing activities to “reduce the impact on road sanding materials being left on boulevards,” among other snow-clearing activities. 

In May, staff began reaching out to the community for feedback on the current policy and how it can be improved. 

The district received 43 responses to the survey, of which staff stated a majority were “favourable” of the current policy. 

Approximately 72 per cent noted they were either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the current policy, with only approximately 16 per cent stating they were ‘dissatisfied’ or ‘very dissatisfied.’ The remaining approximately 12 per cent stated they were ‘neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.’ 

Suggestions received and published in a staff report delivered to council on September 2nd included hauling snow away rather than storing it on district-owned boulevards, plowing school routes and sidewalks first and removing large piles of snow from intersections to improve lines of sight and visibility. 

Another recommendation from the public was to improve management of services for seniors and disabled snow removal, which all 43 respondents stated they thought the district should continue to offer.

When asked how much of a delay they would be willing to accept if the district decided to remove snow by hauling it away by truck during the initial plowing, just over 66 per cent of residents stated they weren’t willing to accept a delay, while approximately 33 per cent stated they would accept a delay. 

If the snow removal method was changed to hauling, the district noted in the survey that the time to fully clear the community would jump from two days to one week. 

Residents were also asked if they wished to keep the current service or change it, and 75 per cent of residents stated yes, while the remaining 25 per cent voted no. 

After reviewing the feedback from residents, staff have begun researching options for updating the policy.

This includes potentially adding a new policy to relate to street sweeping and boulevard maintenance of leftover sanding material, and updating the current Snow and Ice policy to reduce the impact of snow clearing operations on residents. 

As the report was received and reviewed during the committee of the whole, no votes or policy changes were conducted. District staff will continue to review the current policy, and bring it before council again for approval during a future meeting.

Find out about the nearby City of Fort St. John’s snow removal policy here.

To read Taylor’s complete Snow and Ice policy survey results, see below.