ATHABASCA – Athabasca County councillors are heralding a new snowplow policy they say treats all county residents equally. Whether you’re 25 or 75, $200 will ensure your driveway gets cleared when the graders are out.
The new policy was born out of a discussion about how to improve the old one, which required county residents to purchase physical flags that would be placed at the end of the driveway if it required clearing.
Councillors voted unanimously in favour of the policy after some last-minute discussion around pricing during their Jan. 30 regular council meeting. Councillors Joe Gerlach and Tracy Holland were in favour of a yearly cost of $100, while Coun. Ashtin Anderson felt the price should be kept at administration’s proposed $300.
“We spend money on wants freely, but on things people need, we seem to hammer them on that,” said Gerlach. Gerlach, who at various times throughout the policy discussions lamented the struggles he felt county seniors faced and expressed a belief that the county had an obligation to them, was outspoken about the need for a lower price.
Conversely, Coun. Rob Minns said the new policy was a great improvement over the old one, which he had seen grow and change during his time at the county’s public works office.
“I’ve been through where we’ve done it for free, where we’ve implemented a flag system, and then a flag system for seniors,” said Minns. “I’ve watched councils beat this (policy) to a living death in lieu of making a new policy. This will treat everybody fair, where we will provide this service for a certain amount of money.”
A complete overhaul
Jocelyn Whaley, Athabasca County’s infrastructure director, presented councillors with a brand-new policy after two committee of the whole meetings ended with councillors deadlocked around improvements. The new policy, which Whaley said was based on other municipalities, streamlines the process and removes much of the ‘red tape.’
“I think this has solved our problem that we were trying to solve, and I like that it treats our ratepayers equally,” said county Reeve Brian Hall. “For me, this isn’t a senior snowplowing program, it’s a resident snowplowing program.”
Under the flag program, seniors paid $25 per flag, while all other residents paid a standard $75. The new $200 flat rate means that seniors will likely be paying more each year, but the rest of the county will be getting a better deal.
“We actually have a policy that makes sense and is easy to use,” said Coun. Gary Cromwell during deliberations — Cromwell was the first councillor to suggest a cost reduction. “It is still fair, respectable, and doable.”
One thing that hasn’t changed from the old policy — residents will still need to wait for all the roads on the grader’s route to be cleared before their driveways will be done.
