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Angry North Oakville residents complained about the lack of windrow removal service and raised their concerns with Ward 7 councillors, after last week's snowstorm buried the town.
Their frustration peaked as they learned of a recent town report estimating it would cost a whopping $4.5 million to implement a town-wide residential snow windrow clearing program. Snow windrow is the pile of snow left at a driveway's bottom after the snow plow has cleared a road.
"Being single and physically challenged, shovelling after numerous storms is very difficult and a risk to my health, especially digging out after the city's snow plows dump all of it on my windrow," said Ward 7 resident Shelina Ladha.
Moving boulders of ice and snow get painful, she said, given the tall piles that quickly develop. With North Oakville's smaller lot frontages, there is less space to pile snow.
"It is hard to see when coming out of my driveway. I feel a lack of empathy and injustice," she added.
According to the town's recent report, implementing "a full scale town-wide residential windrow-clearing program" would cost "the estimated amount of $4.5M (impact of 2.03% increase on the town tax levy, 0.84% increase on overall tax bill) per year."
Considering that there are approximately 59,000 residential driveways in Oakville, the space and operational impact will result in outsourcing the service to a contractor and requiring "internal staff resources to ensure sufficient oversight of the contract and address customer enquiries."
The report also mentions that if implemented, the service "will only remove/clear the windrow to eliminate the driveway blockage, but does not provide for a complete (edge to edge, bare pavement) cleanout to the base of the driveway, comparable to what many residents would undertake themselves."
Residents of Ward 7, the fastest-growing part of the town, are unhappy with the report. Dozens of people posted angry comments on social media sites complaining about the lack of windrow clearing service.
"Vaughan, with similar taxes like Oakville, has windrow clearing service, and so do many other cities in and outside Greater Toronto Area," said one Ward 7 resident, who has repeatedly demanded driveway snow removal service since the first snowstorm last year.
"This town, one of Ontario's most coveted cities, has very slow snow removal services, let alone not offering basic ones. Are we expected to pay more?"
The town offers a paid and registration-based Driveway Snow Windrow Clearing program for seniors 65 and older and people with physical disabilities or medical conditions. About 455 residents registered for the 2022/23 winter season.
Several residents that Oakville News spoke with also believe this service is unfair, considering the high taxes paid.
"Oakville does not have the equipment to do windrow services because it has never offered this service," said Ward 7 councillor Nav Nanda, responding to residents' queries on social media.
"Councillor Xie Scott and I have brought it up to the Town. A process is underway to see if we can get this passed for next budget."
The town's windrow report is publicly available and includes comparisons to other municipalities with the same services.
