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w at er lo oc hr on ic le .c a W at er lo o C hr on ic le | T hu rs da y, Ja nu ar y 9, 20 20 | 6 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 80 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the news- paper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca editorial@waterloochronicle.ca facebook.com/waterloochronicle @wlchronicle WHO WE ARE VP, Regional Publisher Kelly Montague Regional General Manager Nelson Parreira nparreira@metroland.com Regional Director of Media Heather Dunbar hdunbar@starmetrolandmedia.com Advertising Representatives Cassandra Dellow, Jan Bodanka, Rebecca Butler, Matt Miller, Lisa Humphreys, Sheri-Lyn Blair, Chris Rego Managing Editor Doug Coxson Online Editor Adam Jackson Reporters Bill Jackson Namish Modi CONTACT US Waterloo Chronicle 475 Thompson Dr. Cambridge, ON N1T 2K8 Phone: 519-886-2830 Fax: 519-623-9155 Web: www.waterloochronicle.ca Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 320 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. Published letters will appear in print and/or online at waterloochronicle.ca Delivery For all delivery inquiries, e-mail customerservice@metroland.com or call 519-894-3000 OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT WATERLOOCHRONICLE.CA EDITORIAL LETTERS & COMMENTARY Residents have recently complained about how ludi- crous it is for the city not to clear its sidewalks. But that doesn't mean the city should do it. What would be more ludicrous, perhaps, would be wasting months and perhaps years of staff's time, and council's time, to investigate the possibility and conduct pilots. With budget time approaching, several councillors have expressed an interest in improving the situation. However, the City of Waterloo, as innovative as it is, wouldn't be exactly reinventing the wheel on this one. A municipality certainly has to do its due diligence before expanding service or strengthening bylaws, and formal public consultation should be a part of that. However, the Waterloo needs to look no further than Kitchener's council agendas over the past several years, where staff there compiled numerous reports that consid- ered the costs of expanding the service, and also looked at municipal sidewalk clearing services elsewhere in the province. The bottom line is that expanding the service across the city would have a tremendous financial impact - in the millions of dollars annually - jacking property taxes high- er, while not having nearly as much of an impact on keep- ing sidewalks clear. It's basically throwing good money after not-so-good results. While some residents think it's the only way to go to ensure walkability; others in municipalities that provide a citywide service advise us to be careful what we wish for. They say it adds a greater level of complacency among those who take care of their sidewalks already, and that it often takes plows up to two days to arrive. By that time, the snow-covered sidewalks have often turned to ice any- way. Given changing weather patterns and the icier condi- tions experienced these days, it's hard to fathom how a citywide service with more bodies and plows would even keep up some weeks, with over 400 kilometres of sidewalk to cover in Waterloo. A pilot program in one section of the city wouldn't necessarily be indicative of service levels. Kitchener scrapped a pilot project proposal, and what has seemed to work well, at least there, is proactive bylaw enforcement that still puts the onus on private property owners to be vigilant following winter storms. The issue has been debated to death by local pundits and commentators, and by this time, unless they live un- der a rock, Waterloo councillors should be somewhat de- cided on what they see as feasible. Make no mistake, something needs to be done. If that's expanding municipal sidewalk clearing or strengthening bylaw enforcement, or mix of the two, so be it. But continuing to berate the issue as if it's new is just putting blinders on. Time and effort would be better spent putting money toward solutions instead of investigations. And there are other aspects of winter control that leave much to be de- sired. So, if spending more money to improve conditions is required, let's get on with it. DON'T WASTE TIME AND MONEY ON SIDEWALK CLEARING CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR ON SIDEWALK CLEARING We're in Guelph, and I must say, be careful what you wish for. As the husband of a wife with mobility issues - my wife has difficulties walk- ing, has used a walker off and on over the last few years - I completely under- stand where Cait Glasson is coming from. One slip and fall and my wife is done, and we moved here to be close to a school so she can take our young chil- dren there. She can no lon- ger drive. Problem is we moved off a main bus route, we're only a few houses away, but that short dis- tance to the well cleared sidewalk may as well be a mile when they're icy. She's practically a shut-in dur- ing the cold winter months, and we have "city main- tained snow clearing" in Guelph. It doesn't work. The City of Guelph is technically responsible for sidewalk clearing, yet many in our neighborhood are great about keeping the sidewalks clear them- selves, despite that there's no bylaw requirement to doanything. Why we shovel it anyway: Because it takes the city 24 to 48 hours to send a sidewalk plow to the non bus route streets, no matter what, and by then it's already icy and difficult to navigate. It's usually like this all winter long. Of course once it's solid ice the snow shovel ma- chine the city sends does absolutely nothing, and the amount of sand it deposits is a trickle, not enough to melt the ice left behind. The city doesn't care; they did their job, which is half-ass at best, the fatal flaw is there's always one or two neighbors (rentals, etc) that do not shovel and as a result, my wife risks injury walking to the school with our children when it's icy - which is most of the Winter. I almost want Guelph to go back to having property owners shovel it so we can call bylaw on the problem houses and get it taken care of. To Guelph's credit they do a great job snow clearing sidewalks and walkways in many parts of town, in par- ticular near downtown, if you are along a major route, the sidewalks are pristine, sanded properly, and fairly easy to use. I've told the City of Guelph op- erations and Councillors, recently, that it's border- line obsessive how good it is down there, but at the ex- pense of the outskirts (ie. not downtown area) where we're lucky to see service the next day after a snow- storm or ice event. I sup- pose this is just how it is to be, I understand the costs of obsessive clearing of the suburbs would be very high, but I still question if it would simply be better to just have property owners clear sidewalks. I don't know if it would be any better in Waterloo region, but for those with mobility issues, it's not all it's cracked up to be here in Guelph. So be careful what you wish for. Best of luck. STEPHEN HOST GUELPH SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT WATERLOOCHRONICLE.CA