The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is going to have to make some tough decisions this winter when it comes to clearing snow from sidewalks.
Due to changes in the provincial government's Minimum Maintenance Standards (MMS), the municipality is now obligated to salt sidewalks to prevent and treat ice. Currently, the municipality plows sidewalks but does not salt sidewalks except in some downtown business areas.
Ryan Brown, director of public works, said the municipality will have some decision making to do in the next few months in order to secure their winter maintenance contracts by fall.
"We, to comply with this law, are going to have to make some changes to our practices and we know that's really going to affect the public and our budgets," he said. "Before they made these changes, there wasn't a whole lot of rules on sidewalks regarding timelines, we were just bound by the municipal act. These changes now make us bound under the MMS."
Brown led a public information session on Monday night to give residents a chance to express their thoughts on the matter. The public works department also just wrapped up a month-long resident survey, with several questions asking the public what they would like to see done with sidewalks when the snow hits.
The survey garnered responses from 840 people, from communities across Chatham-Kent. Of the respondents, 84 per cent said they used municipal sidewalks in the winter. Not surprisingly, 58 per cent of people said they are willing to pay a zero dollar property tax increase for sidewalk winter control, while 23 per cent they would be willing to pay no more than a $15 increase.
Ryan Brown talks with a resident during a public information session at the Civic Centre in Chatham on July 29, 2019 (Photo by Allanah Wills)
Although many people agreed that they don't want a tax increase, respondents couldn't agree on what service level route the municipality should take for snow control. The results were almost perfectly split.
• 23 per cent said they would prefer that only highly used sidewalks get maintained by the municipality, while rural sidewalks will be closed. This option would result in a property tax decrease.
•19 per cent said they want property owners to be required to remove all snow and salt within 48 hours, which would result in a property tax decrease.
•28 per cent said the municipality should plow sidewalks and have property owners be required to salt them within 48 hours. Property tax would stay the same.
•27 per cent said the municipality should be responsible for both plowing and salting, which would require a tax increase
If it is decided that property owners must take responsibility for winter maintenance, the municipality would then have the task of adjusting bylaws and putting additional budget money towards hiring workers for enforcement
"We're going through all the processes and thinking of all the different options...we're taking results from the survey and this open house. Eventually, we'll be writing a report to council with our recommendations for what we should do for this coming winter," explained Brown.
For anyone who was unable to make it out on Monday night, Brown said he is still encouraging residents to share their feedback by emailing or calling the municipality's public works department.