KENORA — The city's mayor acknowledges road conditions weren't the best following the season's first major snowfall, but disputes that efforts weren't being made to have streets cleared.
“The roads were not very good. I'll admit that. But that doesn't mean that there wasn't equipment sanding and salting on the weekend and then over the last couple of days,” said Mayor Andrew Poirier to NWOnewswatch last week.
An anonymous post in a Facebook group accused the city of having its public works department understaffed, while also restricting overtime pay. The post claimed there were collisions at the corner of May Avenue and Ottawa Street on the morning of Oct. 29, followed by another incident two days later.
Poirier and city CAO Kyle Attanasio both say the claims are "untrue" and have "inconsistencies."
“We currently have a full complement of 25 frontline staff in the roads area," Attanasio said, adding that the city is not denying overtime.
Attanasio also confirmed that city crews are actively plowing fallen snow and sanding and salting roads and bridges city-wide.
The CAO said while the city budget appears to show a reduction in winter control, that number is based on a rolling five-year average rather than a cut/
“Sometimes you're going to have a little bit less or a little bit more, and the city has a reserve specifically for winter control that we use if we have a big year. So, the budget's not really a consideration here. Most of what you're reading isn't really an accurate portrayal of the city's operations,” Attanasio said.
Attanasio ackowledged planning an up-to-the-minute shift schedule for crews to be ready to work precisely when the snow starts and stops can be tough.
“It’s the start of the year and the road conditions are changing. The city needs to do its part to make sure that we're doing our best to keep the road safe. And then, we always try to encourage people to drive to conditions as much as possible,” said Attanasio.
