Olds town council approved a motion to spend $108,900 on a new snow blower to replace a model that is 30 years old and frequently needed repairs.
Town council heard from Scott Chant, manager of utilities and public works, that the town is unable to order parts for the old unit because there is no longer any support for it. The parts had to be fabricated locally.
The town received three bids during the request for proposal stage: one from a Calgary firm, one from an Edmonton company and a third from a Surrey, B.C. firm. Administration recommended that council approve the bid by Industrial Machine out of Edmonton. Council approved the money for the purchase in December during 2011 budget discussions last month.
“The new model …it'll outperform the one we got now. So what that means is that we can move faster on the streets, haul more snow,” Chant said, adding that the average person won't see the difference in snow clearing, except that main street and other areas will be cleared faster.
Chant said town staff will be looking at a revised snow route policy and will be bringing back recommendations shortly to council for its consideration.
“With the addition of school buses coming in, they're going into some of these residential streets. So we're finding that we have to clear them,” he said.
With the new machine, town crews should be able to do major routes much quicker than in the past, meaning outside contractors won't have to be hired as much to clear snow, saving costs for the town.
Mayor Judy Dahl said the town spent $32,206 on snow clearing in 2010, and had spent $12,500 on snow removal so far in 2011 as of the beginning of last week.
“So when you look at an addition of a piece of machinery like this … (it) is essential,” she said.
In response to the major snow event that happened about three weeks ago, town staff did some clearing in Valiant Crescent and Hawthorn in the southwest section of town.
“We've been working our way steadily back through the area around Deer Meadow. We did a lot of cleanup above and beyond what the priorities are. We are quite concerned with the tightness of the lots in some cases and the parking on street,” said Larry Wright, the town's director of operations.
Wright said town staff recognizes that winds can cause drifting in some areas and is doing its best to stay on top of events as they arise. Wright said if anyone has any additional concerns about snow clearing, he would be open to talking to them.
