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Plowing through the budget

Roger Khouri sat in council chambers Monday night as officials debated an unusually controversial issue in London: snow removal.

Improving sidewalk snow removal has been a five-year campaign for Khouri, who is visually impaired and the chair of London’s Accessibility Advisory Committee.

Before 2004, London put more effort into sidewalk snow removal than required, according to Doug Leckie, director of roads and transportation for the City.

When budgets tightened, London looked to save money and slashed $200,000 from the sidewalk snow removal budget.

Since then, Khouri campaigned against the standards, saying they allow ice and snow to compact on sidewalks and mounds of snow to form around road edges, making it difficult for seniors and the disabled to get around during winter.

This year, Leckie and his department looked at what it would cost to return sidewalk snow removal efforts to the previous levels and came up with a $400,000 price tag.

At the meeting on Monday, councillors argued what to do with the bill, eventually passing it on to the budget planning session next February.

Controller Bud Polhill offered a frank prediction about what will happen to the proposal.

“We’re not going to do it, so why are we telling people we will?” he explained in an interview yesterday. “Instead of playing the game, we have to be up front about it.”

Polhill argued any budget increases would be dead on arrival at the budget planning sessions in February and March — just as similar proposals were for the last several years.

Leckie agreed there are many challenges facing this year’s budget.

“Council is being barraged by numerous things to increase the budget. The sidewalk snow clearing was one of them,” he said, adding council asked for staff to put forward zero per cent budget increases, which actually means cutting money because of inflation.

Nancy Bromscombe, a councillor who supported the budget increase, was more confident they could reach the 10 votes needed to pass it.

“We want to go back to that extra level of service,” she said, arguing seniors and the disabled are sometimes trapped in their homes waiting for snow to be cleared from the sidewalks.

While London has gone over-budget for the past few years with snow removal — $2.5 million over its $10 million budget last year — Polhill said budget planning can be a catch-22.

He argued if the snow season ends with a surplus, the City is criticized for not putting the money where it’s needed; if they have a deficit, they’re criticized for not spending enough.

“What I could support is putting a little more money in [snow removal] but there are other areas in our budget where that money could come from,” he said, adding existing supervisors could solve snow buildups on sidewalks.

Leckie disagreed, saying those workers are already assigned to areas around the city.

“The equipment that they use is gainfully employed. It’s not like it’s sitting somewhere, waiting to be activated.”

Without any progress, Khouri said he may turn to the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act for help.

“You know what? I’m not going to be waiting around for a budget meeting in February or March for them to make a decision,” he said. “I haven’t ruled out filing a complaint with the AODA and seeing what the City responds to, or going to the human rights tribunal.”

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