Burlington Council Approves Exploring Costs & Options to Enhance City-Wide Windrow Snow-Removal Program

At our April 18 Burlington City Council meeting, we approved a motion memo from myself and Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman directing staff to explore options for how we can expand and enhance our windrow-removal program.The full staff direction below and click/tap here for the motion memo: CPRM-04-23 Motion Memo - Windrow Clearing

• Direct the Director of Roads, Parks and Forestry to explore costs and options for enhanced city wide windrow removal program, including:
  • Revised cost and criteria in the existing Windrow Clearing Program
  • Increase the program from the current maximum of 200 homes to minimum 500
  • Other relevant options; and
• Report to Environment Infrastructure & Community Services Committee with costs, options (including those ruled out) and any recommendations by Q3 2023 in advance of 2024 budget deliberations.(SD-19-23)

MY TAKE:I know every member of Burlington Council has heard concerns over windrows in our city when it comes to snow-clearing operations. This issue occurs every year, due to the nature of snow-clearing operations, however, this year was particularly troublesome as a result of fluctuating temperatures and changes in precipitation.I’m glad Council was unanimous in asking staff to look into any possible solutions that can help ease the pain windrows can cause our residents. We look forward to staff’s report on that, as well as exploring costs and options to enhance our existing Windrow Clearing Program and potentially increasing the home cap that currently sits at 200 homes. Thank you to Counc. Sharman for co-authoring this staff direction motion with me.

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Background:The Mayor's and Councillors’ offices have received a significant volume of complaints from residents about windrow clearing this year, partly due to the wet and heavy snow creating large chunks at the end of driveways when the plow has passed. Residents have shared that the size and weight of the windrows made it difficult if not impossible to leave their homes as they were blocked in and unable to easily remove the windrows.Residents have privately and on social media suggested a range of options to address the issue.This staff direction is in response to community input, to explore the feasibility and cost of these options, or others that staff may be aware of, and report back to council to allow council to make an informed choice during budget about whether or not to deploy any/all of the available options.The city has an existing windrow clearing program provided for persons who are physically unable to clear the windrows left at the bottom of their driveway by the road plow. The program is limited at 175 spots, with demand for more. Staff will occasionally increase that to about 200. The program is funded approximately 50% by the tax levy with a service fee of $61.84 plus HST per driveway.There is an opportunity to review the cost and criteria and include any additional costs in the 2024 Budget.There is also an option to review available machinery and consider any additions to the fleet during 2024 budget discussions.By asking staff to provide costs and options related to enhanced windrow clearing, council will be able to make an informed choice about which options are most feasible, and include any associated costs or revenues in the 2024 budget. This will respond to community input asking for additional research around what can be done to improve windrow clearing.