Snow budget more than half spent
By Chris Simon

It kept snowing, and residents kept paying.

So far this year, the Town of Innisfil has used up about 57 per cent of its $770,000 snow removal budget, after higher than anticipated precipitation fell in the region over the last few months.

The snowfall could force staff to review the road maintenance budget, and reallocate funding for snowfall that will occur later this year. This year, there have been 122 snowfalls, with a total accumulation of 12.3 feet of snow requiring clearance.

By contrast, there were 97 snowfalls, resulting in 10.3 feet of snow that required clearing from town roadways in 2007. Last year's snow removal budget totaled about $770,000.

"The municipality was basically on target (last year)," he said. "We've already exceeded the snowfall last year. We've spent approximately $440,000 at this time. If we predict ahead, there could be an exposure. We all have to deal with that from staff's point of view.

"Certainly, there's been a lot of winter activity early this year."

Columbus made the statement during a town council meeting last week, after councillor Bill Pring asked for an update on the municipality's snow removal efforts.

"In the newspapers, there's a lot of comments that the communities are in dire straights," said Pring.