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Snow Removal
Think you got a lot of snow? You must have a short memory
KELOWNA - This weekend’s two-day snow dump didn’t even come close to the storm that started 2015, according to the people tasked with clearing much of it out of the way. “We didn’t activate the snow routes,” says public works manager Darryl Astofooroff, in charge of the city’s snow removal service. “We didn’t consider it...
Kelowna hopes to end year without ‘significant snow event’
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - About half of Kelowna’s civic workers will be off the job over the holidays but snow removal crews won’t be amongst them. “Yes, it’s all hands on deck if needed,” public works manager Darryl Astofooroff says. “It’s looking good though, nothing much in the forecast." The city has gotten off lightly so...
Weird winter weather in Kamloops, but snow removal came in under budget
KAMLOOPS - Mother Nature can be unpredictable but the City of Kamloops managed to clear the snow without blowing the budget in 2015. It was a year of weirdly unpredictable weather streets and environmental services manager Glen Farrow says. The city spent $100,000 more on contactors during the heavy snowfall of Jan. 4 and 5...
Snow removal frustrations? YouTube shaming your neighbours probably isn’t the best approach
DO YOU KNOW YOUR OBLIGATIONS FOR SNOW REMOVAL? KELOWNA - Dealing with snow can be kind of frustrating but this probably isn't the best way to deal with it. We discovered this YouTube video from user 'imabushwacker' publicly shaming his neighbour on his Kelowna street. He heads down the street, camera rolling, to confront her...
City of Kelowna changes plan of attack for ‘extraordinary snow events’
KELOWNA - With last January’s near-record snow storm on their minds, the city is going to institute something that’s been the norm on the Prairies for decades — snow routes. “One of the biggest challenges staff face during snow cleaning efforts is vehicles on local residential streets,” public works manager Darryl Astofooroff says in a...
Big dump of snow cost Kelowna taxpayers big bucks
KELOWNA - The big dump of 2015 dropped a near-record amount of snow on Kelowna and cost taxpayers over a half-million dollars to clean up. During the two-day snow storm, which began Jan. 3 and ended Jan. 5, about 37 centimetres of snow fell in and around the Central Okanagan. At one point, snow was...
Snow clearing remains top of mind in Kamloops
KAMLOOPS - It may be all but gone from our yards, but snow is still leading the discussion at council and budget meetings this week. Stan Stewart recently asked city council to have a policy to remove snow from designated handicap parking stalls as well as the adjacent curb and edge of the sidewalk. There...
Big money spent on big snowfalls in January
VERNON - The bean counters at city hall totalled up the taxpayer dollars spent to deal with the huge snowfalls in Vernon in January and it wasn’t cheap. According to a report to city council, it cost $631,000 to plow the roads and sidewalks, and then haul the piles of snow away. The bill also...
Sheer volume of snow overwhelmed West Kelowna crews during January dump
WEST KELOWNA - With just a couple years experience managing their own snow removal, staff with District of West Kelowna said they did alright during the near-record breaking snowstorm in early January with local reports of snow as deep as 50 centimetres. “We’re still quite new at this but we heard from other communities that...
Mop up continues on slush-covered streets
KELOWNA – Snow removal crews will be working well beyond their typical guidelines by trying to run a plow over all 450 kilometres of city sidewalk in the next couple of days. That's unusual, in part because the city and residents rely to a certain extent on warmer temperatures to melt snow before it becomes...
Snow removal continues tonight
KAMLOOPS - City crews will again be working to clear accumulated snow in the Downtown and North Shore business areas Wednesday night through Friday. Work began in the areas Tuesday night but with nearly 40 centimetres of snow over a two-day period a lot more snow still needs to be cleared. On Wednesday, Jan. 7...
Rising temperatures could add to Penticton’s cleanup woes
POTENTIAL FLOODING FROM SNOW MELT A WORRY PENTICTON - Driving around Penticton Monday afternoon two actions appeared to be common place on just about every street throughout the city - residents pushing stuck vehicles and those shovelling snow. By mid-afternoon snowfall was diminishing and temperatures were rising. That could be good and bad news for...
IN TWEETS: How the heavy snowfall is affecting Kamloops
KAMLOOPS - Schools are closed, transit buses are delayed, garbage pickup is slow going and only a few side streets will likely be plowed before mid-week. Yes, it’s a snow day in Kamloops. The city has been running snow-clearing equipment 24 hours and Public Works Director Jen Fretz says they have even hired contractors to...
How to get the city to do a great job clearing snow on your street
KELOWNA - The city of Kelowna is working to get the snow off area roads and residents can help by moving vehicles from curbs and into driveways and parking lots. With heavy snowfall in the past 24 hours and more on the way the city of Kelowna is requesting cars parked curbside be moved to...