Contracts For Snow Clearing in Halifax Could Increase By 6 million

Instead of dealing with the summer heat, the city is going to spend more on snow clearing contracts. The winter operations superintendent of the municipality has asked the council to spend a substantial amount of money on snow clearing contracts. A report published by The Coast has described how the Darrin Natolino, the winter operations manager, has filed a report arguing that the new services need additional funding of $6 million.


“The contracts for snow and ice removal in several HRM communities will be discussed by the Audit and Finance committee on Wednesday, along with an accompanying staff report by winter operations’ manager Darrin Natolino arguing the new services are worth the extra $6 million in operational funding.”


Pedestrians and drivers, young and old alike were not happy with the way snow clearing task was being carried out in the city. People faced a lot of difficulty while walking and driving on the streets due to the presence of snow. However, the city has been spending millions of dollars to clear the streets of snow but without any noticeable results. The Coast also talks about the massive amount of money spend on winter operations this winter.


“This past winter saw the municipality go $10 million over its $20 million winter operations budget, thanks to an unending series of storms that buried streets and sidewalks.”


Several factors have lead to the increased costs reflected in these 4 new tenders and the harsh weather faced in the last winter is one those factors. There will be an increase in the geographical area covered by these snow clearing contracts along with the expansion of the snow clearing season.


 “The city is also increasing the geography covered within the contracts, and bumping the snow clearing “season” up from 22 weeks to 28.”


New requirements that are meant to make these operations more effective will also be included in these contracts. The Coast also talks about the conditions that should be satisfied by the bidders In order to bid for these contracts.


“A clear demonstration of a specific snow-clearing equipment inventory; the capacity to bucket and haul snow more frequently on smaller, narrow roads; 24/7 coverage availability on-site; the capacity to use brine when feasible; and being able to provide regular communications to Winter Operations (including daily updates and storm plans).”


According to these new contacts, the winning bidders will also be responsible for their own sand and salt and will be liable for any damages they cause due to their clearing operations. The new article explains how these contracts can help in some cost savings.


“Since there are no plans for cutting back unionized work, it allows HRM to consolidate the city's existing labour and equipment into a much smaller area. The “reallocation of in-house crews” could also result in some reduction of hourly-based contracts—one of the bigger costs for winter operations.”


These 4-year contracts will be valid till 2019 and can be renewed annually till 2022.