Gatineau needs special snow-clearing committee, councillor urges

During a winter that has pushed Gatineau's resources to the limit, a city councillor is calling for a committee to examine their snow removal policies.

LouiseBoudrias, who representsParc-de-la-Montagne-Saint-Raymond, said Tuesday that snow clearingis sucha big topic, it warrantsits own group of councillors to oversee.

"I wouldn't say today that everybody's not satisfied, butI do think that it's important to have a committee that will be able to make some recommendations to council," Boudrias said.

"Inthe next few days I will be meeting with the other councillors whoagree with my proposalto see what exactly the mandate would be."

Boudrias said the new committee, if formed, would only affect next winter's snow-clearing effortsbecauseany policy changes would need to be approved in aformal budget process.

"This is a decision council has to make. If we want more service, we'll have to pay for it," she said.

'Doing the best they can'

Snow removal is currently overseenby city council's executive committee.

One of its members, Hill-Wright Coun. Cdric Tessier, provided an update on the city's snow-clearing operations Tuesdayahead of themajor storm that dumped dozens of centimetres of snow.

Tessier acknowledged the city has struggled to remove snowbanks from someside streetsthis winter, rendering them narrower than normal andfrustratingresidents.

"Our teams on the ground are doing the best they can with the resources we gave them," said Tessier.

"Asforthebudget, we'll have to evaluate that at the end of winter.City council will decidedo we want more employees, dowe want more private contractors?"

In response to Boudrias's call for a special committee, Tessier said he's open to the idea as long as it's examining policies and not getting involved in day-to-day operations.

He added that nothing should be decided until the end of winter to give staff time toprepare an update on the snow-clearing budgetanda summary of winter operations.