A decision will have to wait on whether or not the city clears snow on downtown Barrie sidewalks for merchants there.
As part of 2022 operating and capital budget talks earlier this week, councillors sent this matter to the finance and corporate services committee for future discussion and talks with the Business Improvement Association (BIA), saving $100,000 for now in next year’s budget.
“I get it. A vibrant downtown is key to the city, but this isn’t a BIA ask and they’ve managed,” said Coun. Robert Thomson, who originally wanted to delete the request. “This is a service that doesn’t exist today and it’s not affecting businesses.”
Property owners and merchants are responsible now for clearing the sidewalks of snow in front of their downtown businesses by 10 a.m.
The motion sent to committee would have the city assume this responsibility with snow clearing machines next November and December, for $100,000, and then $300,000 for each year afterwards.
Coun. Keenan Aylwin, who represents the downtown, supports the new city service.
“This is an issue of standardizing sidewalk clearing across the city (and) an issue of equity. There is uneven service right now in the downtown,” he said. “It’s giving the downtown the same sidewalk clearing as the rest of the city has.”
The Ward 2 councillor said he does favour talks with the BIA about it assuming part of the cost of this service.
Coun. Sergio Morales, who’s also chairman of the BIA board, said its members have been asking for this service, but not formally. Some merchants there hire contractors to clear their sidewalks, he said, although not all can afford to pay for this service.
“People have been asking and wishing for this to happen,” Morales said of the city clearing downtown sidewalks. “The BIA essentially is an outside mall and anything that gives them the ability… to compete and be a little bit competitive is obviously an advantage.”
But Thomson said downtown merchants should get used to a different level of sidewalk snow clearing if the city assumes this service.
“When you clean with a shovel, you get everything, right from the door front. When you clean with tractors… staff are not going to get out with shovels and move the snow,” he said. “They’ll come down with V-plows and angle-plows… so it’s not the service that I think people think they’re going to get.
"Not that it’s poor service, just not as good as hand shovelling," Thomson added.
Deputy Mayor Barry Ward said merchants could nevertheless use the help on some winter days.
“I’ve been a downtown business owner and I don’t know whether it’s really necessary for the city to clean these sidewalks every time,” he said. “In my own experience, it’s those times you got six or eight inches of snow, or 10 inches of snow, that you really wanted a bit of help.
“If it snows during the day, the plows are not going to be coming up and down all day,” Ward said. “There’s still a requirement for the shop owner to clean the snow during the day as it's falling.”
The Ward 4 councillor suggested some sort of hybrid model involving merchants and city sidewalk snow shovelling.
Mayor Jeff Lehman said he believes the majority of downtown businesses would prefer this become a city service.
“I see lot of logic in this. Our plows do operate in the downtown... (and) the equipment is already going down there,” he said. “There is a significant surge of angst when we issue enforcement notices" to merchants who don’t clear their sidewalks by 10 a.m.
“Saving $100,000 on the tax levy is obviously something we all want,” said Coun. Mike McCann, “but if it affects business in any way, I’ll be against it.”
City council will consider the motion to send this matter to finance and corporate services committee at its Dec. 6 meeting.
