Last Friday - the City of Williams Lake published a News Release reminding its' residents' around the requirement to shovel snow from sidewalks adjacent to residential property 24 hours after a snow event - click here
The response to the News Release was swift and the consensus, on Facebook, was that the City was being unreasonable in its' request and the majority felt the City should be taking care of sidewalk snow removal as part of City wide snow removal operations.
As an observation, perhaps the City should take the opportunity to have a Town Hall meeting on snow removal operations to accomplish two things:
1) Educate the public around how snow removal actually is accomplished in the City
2) Discuss enhancing snow removal operations, if desired by City residents'
Cariboo Politics Dot Com also received the following two comments:
1) What about homeowners with chronic medical issues who are incapable or too frail to comply with the bylaw? Not everyone has the physical ability or financial means to comply, but they do have sleepless nights worrying about being ticketed for not complying. It's time for Mayor Cobb to make a public statement about this issue, especially when the senior bylaw officer has put out an insensitive news release that strikes fear into the heart of some citizens. The whole thing just sounded so damned authoritarian. Remember, Walt, you'll be asking for our votes again in short order ....
2) Brendan Foote, Senior Bylaw Officer: one size does not fit all when it comes to physical work. My folks are a good example of good Williams Lake citizens who just cannot do the work and can't afford to have someone do it for them on their limited income. I am not in town all the time so sometimes it just doesn't get done. And it doesn't help when mom calls upset that it has snowed and they can't get the sidewalk cleaned because I'm not there. A bit of compassion without having to embarass yourself by having to let everyone at the city know about your circumstances in order to evoke understanding. We should all be in this together, not out there scaring the wits out of folks who fear the next snow fall.
Back in January of 2016 - residents' expressed their displeasure to members of Williams Lake City Council with respect to snow removal - click here
Will snow removal be a City wide election issue - for some, perhaps. But I personally wouldn't be surprised if snow removal is one of many local issues discussed at the doorstep this fall as candidates for Williams Lake Mayor/City Councillor seek support for their election/re-election bid
~SF
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