SYDNEY, N.S. — A dearth of snow has put most of the CBRM’s snow removal equipment on ice along with other traditional winter staples such as toboggans, ski gear and snowboards.
Except for an early January storm that dropped more than 30 cm over parts of Cape Breton, the 2020-21 winter has been mild. And relatively snow-free. Oh, there has been precipitation, but it has mostly come in the form of rain which along with many days of above zero temperatures has only served to eat away what is left of the snowfall of a fortnight ago.
But while the lack of snow is disappointing to outdoor winter enthusiasts eager to hit the hills and trails, it does help the Cape Breton Regional Municipality’s bottom line. At least for now.
According to public works senior manager Ray Boudreau, road and sidewalk clearing has so far only dented the municipality’s annual $2.5-million snowplowing and road salting budget.
“There is still lots of winter ahead of us, but at this point in time our winter maintenance budget is in good shape,” he said.
“We’re not yet at what we would consider the halfway point of the winter season and so far we’ve spent approximately 20 per cent of our budget.”
Boudreau said the snow removal expenditures actually include the cost of dealing with a couple of early spring storms that hit the area last April just as the new fiscal year began.
Of course, those who have weathered a few Cape Breton winters can attest that it’s quite common to have most of the season’s snowfall come in the latter part of winter and even well into the spring.
After the first week of 2020, the CBRM had spent less than 10 per cent of its snow removal budget. Then came a snowstorm. And another. Boudreau says that on average each snowstorm costs the municipality about eight per cent of its budget.
“There is still lots of winter ahead of us, but at this point in time our winter maintenance budget is in good shape." — Ray Boudreau, public works senior manager
With no major snowfalls forecast for the next two weeks, it is plausible the CBRM will enter February with up to 80 per cent of its snow clearing budget intact.
For now, a part of the municipality’s snow removal equipment fleet is sitting idle at the public works compound at the bottom of Inverness Street, south of the former Sydney Steel lands. Boudreau said the municipal fleet is in good shape.
“We haven’t added to the fleet, but we continue to follow a replacement strategy aimed at reducing life cycle costs of the equipment while improving reliability,” he said.
The public works fleet includes 24 loader plows, seven graders, 16 salt trucks and 20 sidewalk plows.
According to Boudreau, the CBRM generally takes care of all of the roads within the municipality’s seven former urban entities (Sydney, Glace Bay, New Waterford, Dominion, Louisbourg, North Sydney and Sydney Mines), while the roads of the County of Cape Breton are the responsibility of the provincial government. Routes are swapped from time to time.
David Jala is a political reporter at the Cape Breton Post.
