Spring has sprung, but Paradise is preparing for snow

It turns out that Snowmaggedon 2020 laid a beating on the Town of Paradise’s snowclearing budget.

The extra hard punch thrown by the record snowfall in January pushed right through the town’s $160,000 reserve for extra equipment and rentals.

Councillor Deborah Quilty said the cost of the extra snow clearing equipment rentals during the state of emergency is eligible for a provincial emergency funding reimbursement.

Costs that were incurred this past winter season totalled some $260,759.

Quilty said that since the winter season is not entirely over, coupled with the possibility the town may have to rent more snowclearing equipment this fall if there is an early start to next winter, it would be beneficial for council to consider the approval process for any additional snow clearing equipment.

Spending on rentals this year has already surpassed the budgeted amount by roughly $100,000.

“We still have more winter in 2020 where contract services may be required,” Quilty advised. “There are several other budget areas that we can pull from to balance the budget at the end of the year. The service provided by these rentals during the unprecedented snowfalls this year was necessary to coincide with the strategic plan goal to ensure that Paradise sets a leading example by running its own operations in a sustainable manner.”

Quilty’s infrastructure and public works committee suggested the approval of all payments made for snow equipment rentals, and to provide staff with the ability to approve payments for an additional $60,000 of equipment rentals that may be needed during the remainder of 2020.

Her motion passed unanimously.