Richmond Wants Meetings With Public Works Crews and Minister About Snow Removal

ARICHAT - As February draws to a close, Richmond Municipal Councill isn’t happy with the track record of snow-removal crews under the direction of Nova Scotia’s Department of Public Works (DPW).

For the second time in three years, councillors are critical of the schedule used by DPW workers to remove snow from rural roads nearly 24 hours after they carry out the same job on 100-series highways. And this time, they want provincial Public Works Minister Kim Masland to personally address the situation.

Monday night’s council meeting in Arichat saw a unanimous vote to request a meeting with the minister on the provincial approach to snow clearing. Council is also requesting a similar meeting with the local office of Nova Scotia Public Works.

The issue first came up at last week’s Committee of the Whole meeting for Richmond council, where District One representative Shawn Samson took issue with the staggered approach used to remove snow from 100-series highways first, then secondary highways, and finally rural routes.

Samson noted that he has received several phone calls in the aftermath of the last major snowstorm to hit Isle Madame just two weeks ago. Some of these calls were from shift workers at the Clearwater Seafood Processing Plant in Cap-Auguet that weren’t able to drive the short distance from their homes to the plant.

Speaking to reporters following Monday’s council session, Richmond Warden Amanda Mombourquette felt that this issue requires a formal discussion with the Public Works Minister about the approach the province takes to snow-clearing in smaller Nova Scotia communities.

In the meantime, the municipality is also looking at its own policies for setting up – and promoting – comfort centres for those who lose power or experience other difficulties during winter storms.

Warden Mombourquette pointed out during last week’s Committee of the Whole meeting that a county-wide list of community halls and similar facilities that were open to the public during winter storms and cold snaps would be more effective than district-by-district lists of safe havens for those experiencing power outages or food shortages.

The warden confirmed that the county doesn’t yet have a formal protocol for who can set up these comfort centres – and whether the municipality is required to make the first move in cases like this. However, she is hopeful that council’s current discussions with its Emergency Management Coordinator, Steven Marcellus, and the community groups that oversee these halls will soon bear fruit.