Council moves to create snow clearing reserve

During a committee of the whole of Friday, Merritt City Council began the process of enhancing snow clearing service in the municipality.

The Committee recommended to Council that a $50,000 reserve be established to help support snow clearing during exceptional snowfalls, similar to the storm that hit the City prior to Christmas.

Because the motion was made during a committee meeting, the council will again vote on the matter during the next regular meeting.

The funds would be used to contract out services to supplement the work being done by city crews.

Mayor Linda Brown also discussed adding service levels across the board through further review.

“We are talking about bringing a policy back so we can look at the service levels over a longer-term basis and have to potentially look at increasing the budget on an annual basis. This is just a number so any emergency we can take care of,” said Brown.

Council has been discussing the area in front of residents’ driveways, alleys, and Nicola Avenue, regarding possible service upgrades.