You can't park there at that time, winter is coming!

Coun. Mac Bain noted that shelving amendments to the winter overnight parking ban would result in "a cost factor. The reason it was in was for snow plow and snow removal and now that it's being removed there is going to be either a continuation of costs or an increase in costs."

"It's been removed from this particular motion but it would be my hope that this component of the parking ban would be brought back at another time," said Public Works Managing Director David Euler.

A resolution pertaining to winter parking regulations that has been on the community services committee docket for some six months had its most contested sections removed from consideration at a Tuesday committee level meeting and will be dealt with separately. The remainder of the resolution, dealing with prohibited parking zones was moved to the council level. 

The removed sections included extended overnight parking bans between 3 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. within the Downtown Improvement Area (DIA), from 3 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. on streets with cul-de-sacs or dead-ends, and an extension of the overnight ban on all remaining streets from 3 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Parking restrictions would begin on November 1 but would be extended in the spring from March 31 to April 15. Under the current by-law, the ban is in effect from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. across the board.

When the resolution was first brought forward in November 2016, there were concerns from the public, and from around the Council table that the later parking ban times extended too far into the morning commute and could affect daycare drop-offs and businesses.

City staffers were quick to say that this was not the last that citizens would be hearing about the time changes. Said Euler, "I would like to have this resolved, one way or another, before next winter."

"The intention is to bring it another time as a standalone," confirmed City By-Law Officer Ron Melnyk.

This was clearly about "efficiency and trying to control costs. If we're out plowing early and one of our plows has to stop because cars are parked on cul-de-sacs and dead-ends they have to go to another section of town and return at another time. That costs us money, that costs us time, it costs us resources, extra gas, wear and tear on vehicles. I don't know exactly what the overtime component would be, but certainly, there are efficiencies involved and that's why we brought it forward," declared Euler.

Added Bain, "The recommendation, before it was being removed, was going to change the way things are done, make snow plowing more efficient[...]There won't be an increase, but the challenges we've had will be perpetuated."

Euler acknowledged that the proposal caused some public outcry, but added it would "give us more time to work on other things, like removing snowbanks and tackle other problems within the community. That's really important."