City council was unanimous in its agreement that something needed to be done about snow and ice removal in the city — but not quite unanimous on the process.
Aldermen agreed to plow ahead with a proposed value-for-money audit of the city’s snow-removal program, but one dissenting voice said an audit could delay improvement.
Ward 12 Ald. Ric McIver told his council colleagues he believed action could have been taken on the file earlier through a notice of motion he made last week, with a policy in place by May.
“I think this (audit) actually slows down the process instead of speeding it up,” said McIver.
Yesterday’s audit motion, brought forth by Ald. Brian Pincott, would have an interim report to council later this year, with full results by budget proceedings near the end of the year.
Still, council supported the notion of creating an audit sub-committee comprised of members of the public, aldermen, members of the audit office and industry professionals.
“I think maybe we’ll finally see some meaningful results. This is the sixth notice of motion regarding snow clearing and each one seems to chew at the edges,” said Ald. Druh Farrell.
