Slow start to winter means big savings for city hall

Posted Jan 5, 2012 By Bill Hutchins

EMC News - A slow start to winter is a bummer for skiers, but not salters.

Kingston's public works department has probably saved a few hundred thousand dollars from its 2011 road clearing budget.

"This is probably the mildest of the past three winter seasons," said public works director Damon Wells.

He says crews were only sent out half a dozen times in the final two months of the year, but not for plowing. The persistent fluctuation of temperatures - from cold to mild - and plenty of rain instead of snow has been the focus of most winter control work so far.

"We were out dealing with icy roads or potentially icy roads but we haven't had any big plowing events," he said in a pre-Christmas interview.

Of course, winter's fury can strike at any time.

"We have full day and night shifts to deal with a winter event on a 24 hour, 7 day a week basis."

The city's winter control budget runs on a calendar year, which means the cost of snow plowing, snow removal, plus sanding and salting, covers the months of January, February, March, November and December.

Wells said the first three months of 2011 were extremely active ones for his department. The busy snow season ate up $4.2 million of the city's $6 million winter control budget. But, as it turned out, there was more than enough left over to cover for the quieter months of November and December. "Yes it's helping our budget for year end."

While the relatively tame winter season may be bad news for private contractors that get paid for each snowfall event, it adds up to savings for the city in materials, fuel and overtime.

Wells says budgeting for winter is always a guesstimate, but there is a formula that's followed.

"When we budget for winter control we look at the past five year average of those actual costs. We also look at increases for fuel and materials."

The past few years have been taxing on snow clearing budgets, but the city has a reserve fund to ensure street and sidewalk plowing service is not interrupted. In slow years, surplus winter control money is placed into the fund, which can then be tapped into during busy winters.

Wells added: "So far we've been quite fortunate. We haven't had any significant weather event."

It may not stay that way for long, but Wells says the fleet is ready to roll when winter arrives.