Merulla calls for refund from private plows after public complaints

By Kaleigh Rogers, CBC News

Posted: Dec 31, 2012 2:08 PM ET

Last Updated: Dec 31, 2012 2:14 PM ET

 

Hamilton saw 13cm of snow on Boxing Day. The city is investigating its snow removal service. (AP Photo/Kevin Pieper)

Hamilton City Councillor Sam Merulla is calling for refunds after several city side streets went unplowed for hours, even days, following a heavy snow fall on Wednesday.

"I think we should be looking at refunds or some kind of compensation. We've paid for a service that wasn't delivered," he said.

Merulla estimated he received over 100 complaints from constituents whose streets had not been plowed as recently as Monday morning. The complaints have spurred the city to investigate their snow plow services.

Merulla believed the inconsistencies were likely due to the private contracted plows.

"I believe it's more to do with the contractors than the public sector. The public sector went above and beyond and went into areas to clear where contractors hadn't."

He stressed the public works department should be thorough with their review in order to fix the problems and prevent a similar interruption in service, which he described as "one of the worst snow removal events in recent history."

Much like the snow quickly accumulated during Boxing Day's winter blast, it was likely several small incidents that built up and led to inefficient snow plow service, one city official said.

"There were no major gaps, just minor issues that converged to create a gap in service," Bryan Shynal, the director of operations for public works, said.

"Things like perhaps a lot of cars parked on narrow streets or snow blowing off people's property onto the street. It only creates a minor issue for a block or two, but it adds up."

He also noted the city has employed some new private contractor plows, who might have been confused on their routes. Shynal and Darrell Smith, manager of roads operations and maintenance, plan to meet Wednesday morning to go over the data from last week's service. They plan to deliver some explanations as to what went wrong the following Monday, as well as recommendations for improving service.

The city owns 110 plows and contracts over 300 private plows to keep the streets cleared. On Wednesday, the city was blanketed in 13 cm of snow, with even higher accumulation in some areas, leading to snow-packed streets.

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