The October blizzard that damaged numerous trees, plugged streets with snow and damaged two sports-related buildings cost the city around $300,000 in cleanup expenses, a new report suggests.
A major snowfall hit Moose Jaw on Oct. 23 and 24 and dropped over 30 centimetres of the white stuff during that period. The heavy, wet snow and high winds cancelled buses, left many residents without power, disrupted waste collection services, flooded the Golden Ticket Sports Centre and Pla-Mor Palace and damaged over 1,000 city trees.
Based on the parks and recreation department’s blizzard-related costs of $207,100 and the public works department’s costs of $90,000, the overall estimated economic hit is $297,100, based on information in a city council report. If Golden Ticket’s costs are included, that cost increases to $497,100.
Parks and rec challenges
“There was significant damage to our urban forest,” Derek Blais, director of parks and recreation, said during the Nov. 14 executive committee meeting while discussing the report. “It (the blizzard) left quite a mess in our community.
Parks and rec estimates it cost $107,100 to remove destroyed trees and branches — an unbudgeted expense, the report said.
Click here to see a collection of photos of damaged trees from the blizzard.
The department had planned to lay off its last seven seasonal employees by Oct. 31 but retained them for another month to assist with clean up. They will support the seven permanent staff who work during the winter.
City hall believes clean up of parks will take all winter and into early spring. Meanwhile, flooding of rinks will begin in late November due to ongoing cleanup efforts.
The forestry budget was already over budget by $14,020 because of unanticipated repair costs to the bucket truck, the report said. Therefore, the overall projected budget overage is $121,120.
While a funding source to cover this overage has not been identified, the department believes it may have to use money from the accumulated surplus reserve, the report continued.
Meanwhile, the Golden Ticket Sports Centre — formerly Hillcrest Sports Centre — suffered significant water damage because contractors had been working on its roof when the snowstorm struck and the temporary roof seals failed.
The hardwood gym floor was completely flooded, while there were major leaks in the second-floor viewing area, the report said. Parks and rec believes the entire gym floor must be replaced before it can be used again.
The department and Golden Ticket have opened insurance claims, while the city plans to investigate recovering the remediation and repair costs through the contractor’s insurance provider since they were responsible for protecting the building, the report noted.
Building damages for which the municipality is responsible range from $70,000 to $100,000, while Golden Ticket would be responsible for $200,000 for the floor.
Meanwhile, damage to Pla-Mor Palace was less severe and didn’t suffer permanent damage — the same contractor was conducting similar roof repairs — but needed major cleaning.
City hall expected the contractor to finish both roofs by Nov. 10, but that timeline has been pushed to the end of November, the report added.
Public works challenges
The public works and utilities department expects its blizzard-related costs to be $66,000, including $50,000 for snow removal and sanding and $16,000 for back-lane tree cleanup efforts, the report said.
The department did not have to complete snow hauling — and thus saved money — because of the subsequent warm temperatures, allowing it to remove branches once priority roads were cleared, the report said. The department believes it can absorb its storm response costs through its existing snow removal budget.
The municipality had originally scheduled a regular free landfill disposal weekend for Nov. 5 and 6 but opened that up starting Oct. 26 so residents and contractors could dispose of excess trees and yard waste.
“Normally, we get 200 to 300 customers in the fall yard waste (disposal weekend, but) we had 1,363 people roll through the gates,” said Darrin Stephanson, director of public works. “Most were contractors with trailers and trucks with branches from around the city.”
While these nine free days helped with cleanup efforts, public works estimates it lost $24,000 in revenue because it didn’t track the volume of waste.
“But we believe it was the right choice in facilitating clean up around the city,” Stephanson added.
The next executive committee meeting is Monday, Nov. 28.
