With the white stuff falling from the sky, the City of Moose Jaw is reminding residents and businesses to keep their sidewalks clear of snow.
According to the city’s Clean Sidewalks Bylaw, snow must be removed from the sidewalk before 9 a.m. the day following the snowfall. If the snowfall is particularly heavy, the city will extend the time limit to 48 hours.
“It has not been a particular problem for us but again we just ask everyone to comply,” said City of Moose Jaw communications manager Craig Hemingway.
The same guidelines apply to residential sidewalks. The city does ask that those who clearing off sidewalks not shovel snow onto city streets or alleyways.
Sidewalks are enforced on a complaint basis. If a complaint is received, a bylaw officer will issue a notice to the property owner as to what needs to be done.
Failing to comply with the notice can result in fines ranging from $100 for the first offence to $300 for three or more offences.
“Certainly if there are concerns people can get in touch with our bylaw department but our experience has been that business owners have been very good at this and they realize the importance of keeping their sidewalks clear so their customers can shop and be downtown,” Hemingway said.
With shoveling also comes safety concerns.
Chief of Moose Jaw and District EMS Kyle Sereda says this time of year they often see a lot of heart attacks because people are overexerting themselves.
“Often you don’t realize you are overexerting yourself until after you start getting pain and because you are outside, you’re cold, your extremities are a little bit (cold), blood vessels are constricted so you don’t realize it as much as if you were outside running,” he said.
Sereda recommended that if anyone who is shoveling and experiences shortness of breath or chest pain should stop immediately and rest. If the pain doesn’t go away with rest, 9-1-1 should be called.
He says the best way to prevent overexertion is to shovel in short intervals, especially those with a history of heart or respiratory problems.
“That can be a 15 minute break, go out for half an hour and sit down for 15 minutes,” Sereda said. “Let your body catch up, warm up in the event you are overexerting yourself and not realizing it.”
Other tips Sereda gave include wearing the proper attire to protect against the cold and having the proper footwear to protect against slipping and falling.
Not clearing off your sidewalk can be a safety hazard for others as well. Sereda said they get a lot of calls of people slipping and falling on snowy sidewalks.
“The snow hits the ground, covers the ice, people don’t see it, they are walking — boom — they hit the ground and then we get called,” he said.
