| Downtown disses snow clearing by town |
| By Morgan Ian Adams |
| Enterprise-Bulletin (Fri, January 12, 2000) |
| COLLINGWOOD - The town should have moved quickly to clean
up the downtown. |
| On Monday night, Downtown Collingwood char Bob Cook asked
council if contingency plans could be put in place for the next time a
major snow event hits the community. |
| "In the past month, we've received an extraordinary
amount of snow, and I've had a number of calls (from business owners)
expressing their displeasure about the snow removal," Cook told
council. "It's a critical time for many of the businesses - for
some it's 25 per cent of their business and it left them really
stranded." |
| Cook, whose organization represents about 300 businesses in
the six-block area from Fourth Street north, and between Pine and St.
Marie streets, reminded council downtown businesses contribute about $8
million to the town's tax base. |
| "We pay an inordinate amount of tax for the services
we receive," Cook said. "Staff (at the works department)
were very responsive (to his questions), but the answers I received were
not really acceptable. |
| "We were left in a situation where businesses suffered
and citizens suffered." |
| Most of the downtown was shut down by a major storm on
December 19. The resulting cleanup left huge piles of snow on the
main street (as well as throughout the community) which the town did not
remove until that Friday night. |
| It costs the town more than $10,700 each time it cleans up
the snow in the downtown. The town has cleaned up the downtown about
three times so far this season. |
| However, council defended staff, and Deputy Mayor Tim
McNabb got into a fairly heated exchange with the downtown businessman. |
| "It angers me that you would come here, when we've
spent money to clean up the downtown," McNabb said. "If
it's not fast enough, then you hire a loader and a truck. |
| "The businesses on the main street have the responsibility
to provide good access -t here's a lot of municipalities that don't do the
sidewalks." |
| Mayor Terry Geddes told Cook the council has discussed the
size of the works department, and the fact some of the plow drivers have
been working 24 hour shifts over the last three weeks. |
| He added council is also trying to balance the balls of
promoting the fact the area is a winter tourism destination with the
problems experienced by the amount of snow the area receives. |
| "We're doing the best job we possibly can," he
said. "If we've learned one thing from having 145 centimetres
of snow fall, is that we'll be ready for it the next time." |
| After the meeting, Geddes said the town was "doing its
best" to clear the snow within budget restraints. |
| "We have to salute... the works department for what
they have done," the mayor said. "We have gone out and
hired extra teams to clear the main street and the parking lots, and
that's an expense. |
| "I believe when we have situations like this we turn
around and say these are the jobs we're doing extremely well, or doing
well or doing our best," he said. "If this happens again
how can we make it better - but the bottom line still comes down to the
amount of resources you have at your fingertips. |
| "Our municipality is limited in that area, and
we're doing everything we can to meet the needs." |
| Cook's treatment by the deputy mayor also raised the
eyebrows of a couple of councilors - including Rick Lloyd and Joe
Gardhouse. |
| "We were a little rough on him" Gardhouse
said. "It's not necessary to get emotional and defensive. |
| "He state himself professionally, and I think we beat
up on him," Gardhouse said. |
|
Previous article on this
topic |
|
Next article on this
topic |
