The town's new $192,000 snowplow has arrived – too late for the Nov. 2 snowstorm but ready to handle any upcoming big dumps of the white stuff.
“Yes, a little bit more equipment would help us to clear things up. We do have the staff to operate it,” said Craig Teal, the town's director of planning and operations.
While the town accepted delivery of the new unit last week, public works crews were busy for several days cleaning up after the storm.
“It does take us a bit of time to clear snow even on a good day. And this was a lot of snow, not your average five or six centimetres at a time but three or four of those all in one shot,” said Teal of the storm that dumped an estimated 21 centimetres. “The first priority is that they go around a series of roads that we have coded through three priorities to open up the lanes for travel, and then they come back and repeat the process. It takes a good five days for us to clean up after a big storm.”
Meanwhile, the new snow sanding and plowing truck is expected to give its public works department extra ammunition to fight off the rigours of winter and keep the streets clear of ice and snow.
“We already had trucks that had the big frontal plow. This one has an underbelly scraper with a short wheel base that allows it to have more maneuverability,” said Teal in his pitch to town council on Oct. 21. “You can use the underbelly plow in tight areas and go out on the large rural roads and push with the front blade, and in the back it can also distribute sand and ice control materials as it goes.”
Teal said the new vehicle, which will be purchased immediately from a U.S. company and is scheduled to arrive by the end of November, would complement two other near comparable vehicles in the town's public works fleet.
“It is not 100 per cent like the others but it has some of the same capabilities,” said Teal.
He said it will also have a front-end plow and a bucket in the back for either hauling out snow or dispersing sand or ice control material.
Teal acknowledged it is a big investment for the town but added it would be the sole large purchase of equipment for the public works department for the 2014 budget year.
“Last year we bought a new track hoe for $300,000. That was our last year's purchase and this represents, although a little bit early, our 2014 purchase,” said Teal. “We already have excellent snow removal service but this will make it that much better.”
