Erin Lewis
News Reporter

Wintry weather has hammered Toronto and clean-up crews around the city are struggling to stay within budget, but not Humber, said facilities management.

“We have a fixed price contract with the snow removal company,” said Carol Anderson, director of facilities management. “Some years he might make more money than other years depending on the snowfall. But with the fixed price contract we shouldn’t experience any budget issues.”

The same cannot be said for the city. Its $67 million 2008 winter budget had already been substantially cut into due to heavier than usual February snowfalls.

Glenn De Baeremaeker, city councillor and chair of Public Works and Infrastructure Committee, said there is roughly $40 million remains in the current budget.

“It used to be, ‘oh well, this is the most snow we’ve had in a decade,’ and then it was the last 50 years and now it’s a record that we’ve broken,” De Baeremaeker said.  

In the ‘90s former Mayor Mel Lastman called in the army to help remove snow. “We seem to be better organized this time and doing the best we can with it,” said De Baeremaeker. 

Peter Noehammer, director of the city’s transportation services, said there are 1,600 staff working to keep roadways and sidewalks clear.

“This is a service we have to provide for the safety of motorists and pedestrians in Toronto,” Noehammer said.  “At the end of the year, we do have a reserve fund where if we have a milder winter, we put some unspent funds into that reserve and in the heavier winters we may have to draw from that reserve.”

The $11 million reserve fund should be enough to protect the city from a snowy winter, De Baeremaeker said.
And with monitoring systems located throughout the GTA, De Baeremaeker said the system is well prepared for winter storms.

“We are like an army of worker ants making sure that when the snow comes in we clear the sidewalks and we clear the roads,” De Baeremaeker said.