Prince George city council approved a one-year pilot project to decrease snow clearing services in residential areas at its Monday, July 28 meeting.
Back at the April 23 council meeting, administration was tasked with coming up with three potential options for reducing snow clearing costs on statutory holidays:
- Eliminating snow removal entirely on stat holidays
- Increase the threshold before snow clearing is triggered on stat holidays
- Focusing on Priority 1 and 2 routes on stat holidays while decreasing service for priority three routes
Priority 1 routes are arterial roads. the downtown central business district, the entrances to major facilities, municipal off-street parking and adjacent sidewalks.
Priority 2 routes are collector roads, priority hills, commercial and industrial zones, transit routes not included in priority one areas and bus stops in both priority one and two zones as well as adjacent sidewalks.
For Priority 1 and Priority 2 routes, snow clearing is triggered when 7.5 centimetres of snow fall in 24 hours or compacted snow on roads reaches a maximum of 2.5 centimetres. The goal is to have them cleared within 48 hours after the end of a snow event.
Priority 3 routes are residential roads, laneways, entrances to minor facilities, pedestrian surfaces, major park pathways, trails, event parking areas and other parking lots.
The threshold for clearing these routes is after 12 centimetres of snow falls in a 24-hour period or after 2.5 centimetres of compacted snow is observed on roads. These routes are expected to be cleared within 72 hours after priority two routes are cleared.
Under staff’s first option for adjusting snow clearing policies, there would be no snow clearing at all on stat holidays, with operations starting up on the next non-holiday day.
Under the second option, 12 centimetres of snow would have to fall on stat holidays before clearing would start and there would be a 48-hour timeline for getting the work down. The threshold for Priority 3 routes would increase to 20 centimetres and the completion timeline for those routes would be 72 hours after the completion of Priority 2 routes.
Under the third option, only the increase to the timeline and threshold for Priority 3 routes would be implemented. If the threshold of snowfall isn’t met, snow clearing wouldn’t start until the next day after the holiday.
While these options were being considered as cost-saving measures, staff’s report does not comment on any potential savings the city could expect from adopting any of the three options.
In 2024, the city had a budget of $10.3 million for snow control but spent close to $10.58 million. In the 2025 budget, council reduced the snow clearing budget to $10 million after staff had initially proposed raising it to $11 million.
At the July 28 meeting, director of civic operations Blake McIntosh said staff were looking for direction on which options to pursue for a one-year pilot project. While it’s not listed in the report, McIntosh said council could also choose to maintain the status quo.
Coun. Cori Ramsay put the second option on the floor for a vote.
Mayor Simon Yu asked whether administration would need more flexibility than the motion allows for to properly manage snow clearing.
McIntosh said there would be risks with any of the options. The one-two combination of Christmas Day followed by Boxing Day could be particularly difficult if there’s snowfall over the consecutive stat holidays, he said.
Yu said that during the holidays, residents need properly cleared roads so they feel safe visiting their loved ones. For that reason, he said he was struggling with the idea.
Coun. Tim Bennett said he was more interested in the third option, though he had some logistical questions about its implementation. He asked whether all statutory holidays are treated the same in the city’s collective agreements with staff or whether extra benefits are given for days like Christmas.
City manager Walter Babicz said all stat holidays are treated the same in that respect.
Coun. Ron Polillo said there was some irony in discussing snow removal on the same day that a heat warning was issued for the city by Environment Canada. He said he felt option two went too far and wouldn’t support it, instead voicing approval for Option 3.
The mayor noted that the type of snowfall the city has seen has changed in recent years due to climate change and asked McIntosh whether he felt option two or three would be easier for staff to implement.
He said Option 3 would be more feasible for staff to provide service that the community would be happy with. Even though it might be more difficult to navigate residential areas, it would improve as residents get to core areas.
Coun. Kyle Sampson said that changing snow clearing policy during a heat warning made more sense than council voting to reduce the snow clearing budget as it was still snowing outside.
He said he struggled to support Option 2, expressing concern whether any savings would outweigh the extra work created by snow building up on the roads.
Coun. Garth Frizzell said he would also not support Option 2 and would prefer Option 3.
Ramsay said she didn’t want to reduce services, but council reduced the snow clearing budget back in January with directions not to change service levels. She said she suggested option two because it was the middle of the road in terms of impact.
She pointed to a previous report from Oct. 2024 that said reducing services on four statutory holidays would save the city up to $846,004.
She acknowledged that it wasn’t the optimal solution, but the impact would be on four days out of 364.
Coun. Susan Scott agreed with Ramsay, saying that we have to meet in the middle and Option 2 meets that criteria.
Option 2 was defeated by a four-four tie as Coun. Brian Skakun was absent.
Polillo then put Option 3 on the floor.
It passed with Scott and Sampson voting against.
