Pictou County got its first real dose of winter Wednesday night. Those tasked with removing all of that snow were busy through the night and following morning – and anticipated being busy for the rest of the day.
New Glasgow town engineer Earl MacKenzie said crews took to keeping the roadways clear with a methodical approach. That involved three plows being on the roads from 10 p.m. Wednesday night until about midnight.
“At midnight, we took a full complement: a crew of three graders, two tandem trucks, two loaders, a lane truck and a backhoe,” and MacKenzie. “They started at 12 a.m. and cleaned up, just to keep up with the storm.”
At 4 a.m., the town deployed the sidewalk machines, and “in the morning, the sidewalks were in pretty good shape.”
“We don’t know the exact time when every street was done, but waking up this morning, citizens would have had their street cleared – we were in good shape by then,” said MacKenzie.
Those working for the town were not the only people who were busy cleaning up the white stuff.
Jason Fauvelle, an independent snow remover, said things have been going good for himself and his brother. The pair were busy throughout Thursday, primarily helping private customers clear their driveways.
“We’re just starting out, and this is the first real big snowfall we’ve gotten. We haven’t been doing too many commercial lots – just working on driveways for property owners,” said Thompson.
When asked how busy the day has been, Fauvelle said, “it’s been steady. We’re going to be going the rest of the day, probably until suppertime.”
As far as competition is concerned, Fauvelle is undaunted, since “it’s just one truck we’re running. It’d be different if we had a bunch of different trucks going; we’d be pushing more for commercial lots and stuff. But we just got the plow and truck a month ago. This is really our first push at it.”
Fauvelle has a property maintenance and landscaping business that keeps him busy in the summer, and said the plowing is something to keep him busy in the winter months.
Like Fauvelle, Gib Thompson, a Red Seal carpenter and the owner of MacGibbons Contracting, has a business in the warmer months that doesn’t see a lot of activity in the winter. Instead of contracting, he and his employees were among those out and about clearing roads, driveways and parking lots after the snowfall.
“We’ve been going steady since 4 a.m. We have got a lot of projects on the go, but we’re hoping for a white winter, that’s for sure,” said Thompson.
Thompson said he has a number of steady clients who the company has been serving over the last few years. When the snow really comes down – like it did on Wednesday night – business often spikes, and “today, with the new snow, we picked up five or six new clients.”
“Usually, every time we get a good bit of snow, we pick up a couple of new clients,” added Thompson.
Watch where you park
With the appearance of the first significant amount of snow, restrictions on parking in communities across Pictou County are still in place.
A parking ban remains in effect between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m., on all streets in the towns of New Glasgow, Trenton, Stellarton and Westville and Pictou. The parking ban also applies to daytime hours, when plows are attempting to clear roadways.
