SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
As the snow begins to melt and warmer weather comes, city council is already looking at ways to improve snow clearing in the downtown core for next year.
Dan Wong: Wants to recognize people for snow-shovelling efforts. - NNSL file photo
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One councillor says an incentive for clearing snow from sidewalks would be to hand out shovelling awards to businesses and residents noted for doing an exceptional job keeping their sidewalks clear.
Another idea – broached several times before with no success to date – is to expand mandatory shovelling of sidewalks to other areas of the city.
City councillor Dan Wong met with senior administrative officer Dennis Kefalas earlier this month to develop a Golden Shovel Award, which would allow residents to nominate each other through the city website. The second award, the Snow Angel Award would recognize people for going out of their way to shovel a driveway for someone who has mobility issues, such as the elderly or a person with a disability.
“Right now all we have is a regulatory bylaw which states you must shovel your driveway, or you will get a citation and eventually a fine,” said Wong, adding such awards are common in other jurisdictions he has looked at.
Council is also considering expanding the area it enforces for downtown snow and ice removal after the Ecology North Transportation Issues Committee made a presentation to council asking for an expansion, citing the difficulties people face navigating some sidewalks around the city. The idea has backing from some groups in town.
“No one has reported any issues, but I really think a lot of my clients don't go out in the winter because the snow is not removed from the sidewalks and you can't depend on it,” said Norma Jarvis, the regional manager for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.
“More people are retiring in the North now, so there is going to be a larger population with age-related muscular degeneration and other forms of vision loss that will find it challenging to travel downtown if the streets are not cleared.”
CNIB has about 40 to 50 clients living in Yellowknife. What people don't realize, Jarvis said, is how important it is for visually-impaired people to have clear sidewalks so that they can trail the ends of their canes along the edges of sidewalks so they can perceive the path ahead of them.
“Any incentive would be good because sometimes people need that to get them to do what they need to do,” said Jarvis of the snow-shovelling awards. “Sometimes (the shovelling) doesn't happen, no matter what you do.”
Coun. Phil Moon Son, who is the council representative on the transportation issues committee, said he likes the idea of the award, but he is concerned about excessive enforcement because when people go away, it can be very costly to keep sidewalks clear.
“There will be an increase in maintenance costs and effort, but in the grand scheme it is not much,” said Moon Son of the potential of expanded snow-clearing zone. That information is still to be presented to council, however.
“I think it is important to try to implement some type of measures to help people who are physically unable to clear their sidewalks or who financially can't afford it or who travel quite a bit,” said Moon Son.
