March 20, 2013
WEDNESDAY
Woodlawn Recovery Plans Moving Along
OTS Curling Bonspiel Begins Thursday
www.estevanmercury.ca Issue 46
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⇢ A3
Bruins’ Season Comes To An End
⇢ B1
The sight of heavy equipment clearing snow has been a familiar one in Estevan throughout the past couple of weeks.
Winter woes continue Seemingly endless winter creating headaches for City
ECS To Present Comedy Production
⇢ B7
As the snow continues to fall, the bills are piling up for the City of Estevan. The incredible volume of snow that has fallen on the area throughout the winter, but especially within the last month, has forced the City to mobilize much of its workforce as well as local contractors as they attempt to keep up with Mother Nature. Estevan was hit with an estimated 10 to 15 centimetres of snow on Friday and received another eight to 10 centimetres Sunday and into Monday morning. The blast had City crews out early Monday morning to hit the Priority 1 streets. Crews were also at work Tuesday morning windrowing snow in the downtown core. City manager Jim Puffalt said their primary focus since mid-January has been snow removal. Although he was unable to provide an exact dollar figure as they are still tabulating their costs, Puffalt said it’s safe to say the final total is not going to be small. “We’ve had all of our loaders and graders out and working so that is four or five pieces of equipment and four to five employees basically going 10 hours a day, so it starts to add up,� said Puffalt. Aside from the obvious hit to the City’s wallet, Puffalt said the constant snowfall is taking its toll on their employees who have been called on to put in a lot of hours in the past couple of months. “It’s becoming quite wearing, but our people are handling it well,� he
said. “They are professionals and have been dealing with this for years, but it just gets a little hard on people, and it’s hard on our equipment and hard on people who are trying to drive around the city. It’s been tough to keep up.� Puffalt said he has been pleased with the City’s reply to the snowfalls. He noted in January they decided to clean up the majority of residential areas, a move that gave them a little extra capacity. “It gave us some area to have the snowpack down. I don’t know where we would be otherwise; I’m sure we would have been removing snow the last couple of weeks.� While the snow is obviously the current focus, Puffalt said they are wary of what will happen when it begins to melt. As has been well documented, roads in Estevan are in terrible shape and it will be at least a month before the City has asphalt to make repairs. They have been using cold asphalt in the interim, but that is nothing more than a temporary solution. “We have multiple projects to look after at this time of year. We have some snow being moved around, we have people on pothole patching and then we have to have people on steamers to keep the water moving. It’s a very hectic time of year for us.� The forecast for the next week calls for snow on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The temperature is expected to begin rising next week with a high of three degrees for next Wednesday but a high of eight degrees by April 1.
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After getting a first look in November, and apparently not liking what they saw, the members of Estevan city council are getting ready to take another look at the 2013 budget. Mayor Roy Ludwig said he expected council would do some preliminary work on the budget Monday during a closed planning meeting and will also work on the budget during the next regular meeting this coming Monday. When council first began deliberating in late 2012, the theme of the budget was to complete whatever work had been delayed over the past couple of years and allow themselves to catch up. As well, with the City’s overall debt up to $37 million, they were not eager to take on large, costly projects in 2013.
However, it would appear the results of a harsh winter on local streets may have changed that plan. Ludwig said the shape of Highway 47 through Estevan as well as sections of King Street are in such poor shape that the City has no choice but to work on them this year. The City and provincial government have a deal in place to rehabilitate Highway 47 through Estevan with work expected to start in 2014. As part of the deal, the City was not allowed to begin the work until receiving approval from the province or would have to pay the whole cost themselves. But with much of Highway 47 and areas of King crumbling to the point where they have become an embarrassment to the City and a safety
hazard for drivers, Ludwig said they have to do something this year. “It’s in such rough shape, we are looking at a shave and pave probably and we are in discussions with the province to see if we can’t get some kind of partnership on the shave and pave because we can’t wait until next year anymore,â€? Ludwig said. “It’s very rough and we can’t wait. That is one of our key areas we have to get at (once asphalt is available) because it is getting impassable. “This was a particularly tough winter and we really appreciate the patience of the taxpayers and we all understand that their patience is running thin and understandably so.â€? Council ⇢A2
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