ATHABASCA — Athabasca County seniors will now have to pay for a flag to have their driveway plowed by county staff.
At the Sept. 14 Policy Review Committee meeting, a motion was made recommending council change the residential driveway snowplowing program to increase the feel; add seniors, who been exempt from paying fees; and ensure all participants have a current hold-harmless agreement. Those recommendations were discussed and accepted at the county's Sept. 28 regular meeting.
“I’ll make the motion to approve the snowplow flag fees in Policy 3200 being $75, plus GST for non-seniors and $25, plus GST, for seniors, and further; to direct administration to require all residential snowplowing hold-harmless agreements be updated for the 2022 to 2023 snowfall season with notification of such mailed out to property owners that currently have a valid agreement on file,” said Coun. Rob Minns.
Coun. Tracy Holland came out opposed to the changes saying the current service is working well and promises were made in the spring.
“Last year we had an unprecedented snowfall so I … think this is a knee jerk reaction,” said Holland. "We shouldn't be making any changes this year at all, and especially this late in the season, when there's many seniors who may not have the opportunity to prepare for this type of change. We raised taxes in the spring and with that we had said we were not going to change any services.”
She added there are safety concerns for grader operators who must get in and out to collect the flags.
“Operators have to get out every once in a while, and actually exit the grater and walk around,” said Minns. “Whether they do that to possibly have a cigarette or they just walk around just to check the machine and wherever so they're getting in and out of machine anyway. So, to say it’s detrimental to them, it’s not.”
Holland noted there needs to be more concern for the residents who need the program.
“I think that we need to have a lot more empathy and compassion for the people in our community and I'm really against this motion,” she said.
“I definitely have some concerns with seniors pertaining to this program,” echoed Coun. Natasha Kapitaniuk. “I would much rather see them have a $25 flag than not offer the program at all.”
Kapitaniuk added if seniors have to pay for the flag, it may also make them aware there has to be room for the grader to enter the driveway as well as turn around.
“I think this might actually take some stress off our operators by knowing that when they see that flag that the resident knows they're coming, and they may have their vehicles moved appropriately, or just giving that space to the operator,” she said.
Coun. Joe Gerlach questioned if the changes diminished services.
“My personal opinion is we try to maintain services and improve services,” he said. “It seems like we’re spending most of our time diminishing services, especially when we sacrifice needs for wants. These are services that people need.”
Coun. Camille Wallach, however, said increased fees are needed as it all costs money.
“I'm for this. I think we have to; it is costing us money and the liability for the operators and the county is extremely high,” she said.
After much debate, the final vote on the motion was passed with a vote of 5-4 and the policy went into effect immediately. A second motion to update the hold harmless agreements passed unanimously.
