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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSD-08-002 - Sidewalk Winter Maintenance & Enforcement Issues ) R Community Services Report To: Date of Meeting: Submitted By: Prepared By: Community Services Committee January 7, 2008 Greg Hummel, Interim Director of Operations Scott Berry, Manager of Maintenance Operations Shayne Turner, Director of Enforcement Colleen Collins, Marketing and Communications Associate Ward(s) Involved: Date of Report: Report No.: Subject: All December 12, 2007 CSD-08-002 SIDEWALK WINTER MAINTENANCE AND ENFORCEMENT ISSUES RECOMMENDATION: 1. That expanded communication and by-law enforcement measures as described in CSD-08-002 be implemented for the winter of 2007/2008 and that staff report back to Council in the spring of 2008. 2. That the fee for removing snow and/or ice from sidewalks, in instances where the abutting property owner has failed to remove it, pursuant to Chapter 687 (Snow and Ice), be set at $300 for a single lot and $500 for larger lots. 3. That the By-law Enforcement Division utilize staff within their pool of part-time officers to assist with the enforcement of Chapter 687 (Snow and Ice), as may be required during periods where they experience a high volume of complaints. BACKGROUND: At the September 24, 2007 Community Services Committee, Council heard several delegations relating to the issue of winter maintenance on sidewalks throughout the City of Kitchener. As a result, Council requested staff investigate the feasibility of sidewalks being maintained city-wide as a municipal service. Staff submitted report CSD-07-087 at the October 9, 2007 Community Services Committee meeting. This report contained preliminary information in regard to potentially providing sidewalk winter maintenance city-wide, including preliminary budget figures, by-law issues, and high level comparisons to other municipalities who provide this service to one degree or another. As a result staff was requested to: A. Provide Council with the current communication plan literature and public education components, which support winter sidewalk maintenance through existing By-Law, as well, Report No: CSD-08-002 2 any staff recommendations to expand these components as a means of enhancing voluntary compliance. B. Discuss how By-Law enforcement could be increased, with the goal to have sidewalk sections not in compliance with current By-Law, be cleared within 48 hours as opposed to the current 72 hours or longer. C. Investigate and report how other municipalities who provide city-wide winter sidewalk maintenance services deliver this service in terms of resources. D. Investigate the feasibility of providing sidewalk winter maintenance services to any resident who requests it, for a nominal fee. REPORT: Communications - Current Practice Each winter the City develops a comprehensive communication plan to educate the public with regard to all snow removal issues. Per the recommendation as part of the Joint Accessibility Plan, additional information encouraging residents to shovel their sidewalks was included in the materials that were delivered directly to residents beginning in 2005. Annually, the City provides information on the program to residents through newspaper ads, radio ads, articles in Your Kitchener, information on the website and flyers delivered to homes. This is done in partnership with the City of Waterloo to take advantage of cost sharing opportunities. The cost to the City of Kitchener is approximate $6,000. Details regarding the timing and specific costs are outlined in the appendix. By-Law Enforcement - Current Practice It must be noted that enforcement of this by-law is not the ultimate way to ensure that all sidewalks are cleared to the desired standard within the desired time frame. This is due to the timelines that are inherent to the by-law and the process. Voluntary compliance through education is still seen as the most effective means. Having said this, experience tells us that a measure of enforcement is required each year. For the winter of 2006/2007, the By-Law Enforcement Division received 1493 complaints, of which 151 had to be sent to the Operations Division, of which 137 were actually cleared. In terms of officer resources, last year the By-law Enforcement Division dedicated one officer exclusively to the enforcement of this by-law during the winter season. In addition to this dedicated officer, the 6 Property Standards Officers provided support to the dedicated officer with his workload depending on the volume of complaints and inspections. When this happens, priority is given to the sidewalk snow/ice complaints. It should be noted that there are times during the winter season when this shifting priority can cause the Division's other complaint files (i.e. property standards, zoning, fences, etc.) to suffer in terms of follow-ups, adhering to timelines, etc. Report No: CSD-08-002 3 Staff reviewed their process at the beginning of the season and has already implemented the following measures: 1. Staff will reduce the amount of time to comply that is typically given for someone who has received a By-law notification, from 36 to 24 hours. 2. Where circumstances warrant it, the officers will lay a charge pursuant to the By-law, as a pre-cursor to having Operations clear the sidewalk. The set fine for non-compliance with the By-law is $95, including costs. 3. At no time will a repeat offender be given a second warning (a by-law charge and/or City clearance will take place). 4. Staff will continue to identify those areas of the City which require a proactive approach due to the nature of the area in relationship to accessibility needs/concerns. It should also be noted that staff has worked to improve the system of communication between the Operations and By-law Enforcement Divisions. Requests sent to clear sidewalks (for non- compliance), as well as the related tracking, photographs, etc., have now been automated to allow for a more timely exchange of information, thus allowing for a quicker response. In terms of the Operations Division as related to winter sidewalk maintenance and By-Law Enforcement, historically, municipally maintained sidewalk sections have been maintained first and by-law related issues only afterwards. The result of this was typically greater than 24 hours response time, and on occasion, considerably longer response times during times of particularly heavy workload. For the winter of 2007/2008 Operations Division will be giving a higher priority to by-law related sidewalk maintenance issues, with the goal to address by-law related complaints within 24 hours of receiving the request from the By-Law Enforcement Division. In an effort to improve levels of service in this activity, 2 crews will be assigned to addressing by-law enforcement issues on sidewalks on a regular basis. Should the workload dictate, the operators working on municipally maintained sidewalk routes will be assigned to assist in this activity where appropriate. Operations - Current Practice As described in CSD 07-087, the City of Kitchener maintains sidewalks fronting City owned properties, back-lotted properties, the downtown, as well as Waterloo Catholic District School Boards properties through contract. This inventory of sidewalk totals approximately 162 Km exclusive of the downtown. This work is accomplished through 11 routes, and at an annual cost of approximately $600,000. Sidewalks are maintained at a level of service to be free of snow and ice within 24 hours after the cessation of a storm. This time for level of service is the goal, but under certain conditions this time may be longer for a variety of reasons. In an effort to learn more about how other municipalities who provide city-wide sidewalk winter maintenance provide this service, staff contacted City of Ottawa, City of London, City of Guelph, Township of Woolwich, Municipality of Brighton, City of Pickering, Town of Richmond Hill, and the City of Brockville. These municipalities all provide city-wide sidewalk winter maintenance. It should be noted that the level of service delivered by the municipalities contacted indicated that sidewalks were generally not kept in a bare and wet state. The municipalities generally did not maintain sidewalks until an accumulation of snow had reached a specific amount, generally Report No: CSD-08-002 4 5cm for sidewalks on arterial roads, and 8 cm for sidewalks on residential roads. Response times anywhere from 48-72 hours are typical goals to deliver the service once the snow accumulation triggers were reached. Communications - Options Based on the request for additional action by delegations earlier this year, staff has built new tools into the 2007-2008 communications plan. Staff is proposing adding ads in the local community newspapers, advertising on Rogers TV guide channel, and is investigating working with Canada Post to deliver notices to homes where residents haven't shovelled their sidewalks. Additionally, staff will work with local media to try and secure editorial coverage that helps raise awareness among residents about the importance of shovelling their sidewalks. Because of the production of some new elements there is an additional cost this year, bringing the total cost to the current program to approximately $7,000. An additional option staff are prepared to recommend is to augment the current program with television ads on CTV during the 6 pm news. These ads would be 3 times per week for a 4 week period each winter at a price of $11 ,400. This added feature would take the total communication budget to $18,400. Bv-Law Enforcement - Options Whenever City forces clear a sidewalk where the abutting property owner has failed to comply, a fee is charged and added to the property tax roll as may be required. The existing fee is $125 for a single (average) frontage and $250 for a larger (or double) frontage. In order to more accurately reflect the actual costs involved, staff proposes that these fees be increased to $300 and $500 respectively. It is also hoped that this revised fee may act as an incentive to achieve a higher degree of voluntary compliance. With regard to existing resource levels, a brief survey of other municipalities (similar or smaller in size to Kitchener) has indicated that they often employ seasonal staff to enforce their by-law in addition to their regular complement of officers. This allows their regular complement of officers to focus on their other complaint files. The approximate cost of adding seasonal staff would be approximately $12,000 per officer for the winter season. It must be noted that it is unlikely that the total costs of seasonal officers would be recoverable. Another option that is available is to utilize the Division's pool of part-time officers (subject to availability) when we experience high volumes of complaints and inspections. The costs associated with these additional part-time shifts are not currently provided for in the Division's operating budget. It is not possible to accurately quantify the costs associated with this approach, as this issue is entirely weather dependent. However, it is anticipated that the total cost would be less than the $12,000 identified for a seasonal position. Staff is suggesting that this option be considered. Another potential option, during times following heavy snowfalls (anticipating a large volume of inspections) could include the Enforcement Division looking at which of their enforcement activities could be delayed or temporarily suspended in order to divert additional officer resources towards the higher priority of sidewalk complaints. However, it must be noted that such diversion may not always be feasible depending on the nature of the activities at the time. This is not a preferred option given the adverse impacts associated with delaying or suspending other enforcement activities. Report No: CSD-08-002 5 Operations - Options 1. City-Wide Sidewalk Winter Maintenance The option of the City of Kitchener expanding the sidewalk winter maintenance program from the current 162 Km with an annual budget of approximately $600,000 to approximately 1025 Km with an estimated annual budget of approximately $3,800,000 is a complex scenario of operational, financial, labour - management, and environmental implications. While staff has already estimated to provide a city-wide service, the current 11 routes would likely grow to 35 routes based on 2007 infrastructure, and the efficiency of the current activity, there are several issues that need further discussion and consideration. Level of Service: Municipalities we have contacted communicated the level of service of the plowing activity generally to be triggered by a minimum snow accumulation of between 4cm- 8cm, and a response time to clear all sidewalks between 24 hours - 72 hours once the trigger accumulation was reached, depending on the municipality, and the class of roadway the sidewalk resides upon. A level of service with a goal to maintain all sidewalk in a bare and wet state within 24 hours of the cessation of a storm may not be achievable in all instances, and further, would have significantly higher operating costs associated to run such a program then the city-wide winter sidewalk maintenance levels of service that seems to be offered by municipalities that provide this service we are aware of. Labour - Manaaement Implications: The investigation into how other municipalities deliver city- wide winter sidewalk maintenance in terms of resources indicated that a majority of these municipalities outsource the service either in part or in whole. In fact only one municipality we contacted provided this service entirely with its own resources. As each municipality is different to varying degrees in terms of workforces, practices and varying levels of existing outsourcing, this issue is complex, and will need to be looked at further from operational and labour - management perspectives. Salt Manaaement Implications: In terms of salt management and sidewalk maintenance, while equipment and resources continue to be improved for winter roadway maintenance, the same cannot be said to the same degree for sidewalk maintenance. While products and new equipment are available to some extent, a sidewalk is a very difficult environment to maintain ice free. Sidewalks that are free draining during the summer months tend to hold ponding water during the winter months because of the presence of accumulated snow acting as a barrier along the lower edge of the sidewalk which drains towards the roadway. De-icing, very likely with salt, will be a large component to any maintenance activities undertaken in any expanded municipal winter sidewalk maintenance program. Throughout the winters of 05/06 and 06/07, an average of 1 ,225 Tonnes of salt was applied to sidewalks maintained through the Operations Division. Using these figures, and interpolation, it is estimated to maintain all sidewalks city-wide; calculations would indicate the salt application figure relating to sidewalk maintenance could grow to approximately 7,750 Tonnes per winter. To put this figure into perspective, 7,750 Tonnes is approximately 700/0 of the amount of salt applied to all roadways in the City of Kitchener over the same time period (average of 11 ,000 Tonnes per season 05/06 and 06/07 on Regional and City roadways in the City of Kitchener). Report No: CSD-08-002 6 The Financial Implications of this option based on an annual maintenance budget of approximately $3,800,000 would result in an approximate 4.50/0 property tax increase and an approximate increase of $40.00 per year to the average ratepayer in 2008. Should Council direct staff to move forward on implementing city-wide sidewalk winter maintenance, we will bring back an additional report at that time to discuss all of these issues further. 2. City-Wide Sidewalk Winter maintenance For Only Those Residents Who Request It The issue of providing winter sidewalk maintenance to only those residents who request it presents the Corporation with some significant challenges that may adversely affect ability to deliver such a service efficiently. It should be noted, no other municipality we contacted who provides winter maintenance of sidewalks city-wide chose to offer this service as an option to residents. Providing service to the entire city geographically, while only individual properties receive the service, is significantly less efficient than providing the services to all properties. Knowing for certain how many residents would want to receive this service is unknown at this time. If an assumption of 500/0 of properties would be receiving the service is made, to travel to all streets within the City of Kitchener, and the inherent inefficiency of only maintaining 500/0 of the sidewalks on a specific sidewalk section is made staff would suggest that it would take just as long, and quite possibly longer to provide service in this manner, than to simply clear the entire section for 1 000/0 of properties. Staff has specific concerns with the ramping up, or ramping down necessary to adjust for the number of property owners who wish to, or wish not to, receive the service, on an on-going basis as this figure could change substantially from time to time or from season to season. Staff do not recommend this option be pursued further at this time 3. Status Quo The option of status quo in terms of sidewalk municipally maintained would not change outside of the types of sidewalks the City has historically maintained, however this option could be partnered with an expanded Communications component, as well as an expanded By-Law Enforcement component. Benefits from this option involve greater compliance; ideally, more residents would enjoy a change in mindset and awareness as a result of the expanded communication component, while those residents who choose to still not comply would enjoy the benefits of a substantially more aggressive by-law enforcement component. It should also be noted that staff's recommendation to increase the fees related to sidewalk snow removal, would form an integral part of this approach. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Communications budgets for programs such as the winter sidewalk maintenance component reside in the operating department .The Operations Division would absorb the additional cost of the expanded communication component. Report No: CSD-08-002 7 The costs associated with the option of adding additional By-law Enforcement shifts, on an as needed basis, is difficult to accurately determine as the issue is weather dependent. However, an average of 2 additional shifts per week for the duration of the winter months would cost approximately $5,000. This cost has not yet been allocated within the Division's 2008 Operating budget submission. Greg Hummel Interim Director of Operations ~ o o .... tn s:: o ; m (J s:: ~ E E o u E m I.. C) o I.. a.. Q) (J s:: m s:: Q) .... s:: m ~ I.. 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