Whenever blizzards or bomb cyclones spew out snow over Pictou County, local towns swing into action with snowplows and gritting trucks.
But what most people don’t know is that budgeting for such events is often an educated guess, as winters can vary wildly from one year to the next, with either massive snow dumps or nothing at all.
“Last year was relatively good. I believe we were under budget,” said Earl MacKenzie, New Glasgow’s Town Engineer.
The town maintains 82 km of roadways and 55 km of sidewalks, but usually only clears snow from the downtown core regularly. Cleared snow is taken to vacant Town land off Park Street for storage.
To work out the budget for snow and ice removal, New Glasgow examines its salting and plowing costs stretching back three to five years to work out an average for the upcoming winter.
This year the town’s projected budget for snow and ice removal totals $380,000. This includes $90,000 for snow and ice control on the streets, $70,000 for sidewalks and $220,000 for hauling road salt in from Pugwash.
MacKenzie said that it was hard to track equipment and mechanical costs, but said that these increased the more frequently they were called out to clear up after snowstorms.
“That’s what causes increased costs,” said MacKenzie.
Over at the Town of Pictou, deputy clerk Nicole Battist said that plotting the snow and ice control budget included a base amount combined with a three-year average.
This winter’s projected snow and ice budget is $334,000, according to Battist.
“It’s guesstimating,” said Battist of the budget planning.
Actual price tags for previous winters ended up at $302,000 for 2016-17, $291,000 for 2015-16 and $402,000 for 2014-15, which brought severe snowstorms to the region.
A severe winter could bring up to seven major storms to the New Glasgow and Pictou County region.
