Kitchener Snow Clearing (Pt 2)

This is part 2 of my posts on the snow clearing pilot project (you can read part 1 here). This one focuses on the appendices of the report.

Appendix A looks at weather patterns from last winter compared to the previous 5 winters. Last year, it looks like we had more days with snowfall between 2 and 8 cm and about the same number with snow events greater than 8 cm. Last year also looked slightly warmer than the average of the previous 5 years.

Appendix B is the proactive bylaw enforcement information pamphlet. Appendices C, D, and E are pilot area maps. Appendix F is the report on the survey.
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According to the survey summary, residents are split on whether they support a tax increase to have the city take more responsibility for sidewalk snow clearing. 

​Appendix G is the focus groups report. Summary below. (Sorry the image is not more clear). 

​The focus group report outlines participants beliefs about city obligations and also about the value of calling by-law in response to unclear sidewalks. (Hint: most are hesitant to do so). 

​This quotation by a participant sums up why people are hesitant to call by-law. 

​The focus group also reached out to individuals not in either pilot. Overall, they preferred the full-service option compared to the snow event option, but had concerns about overall costs and whether the city could complete the work. 

​Interesting to note that the people who experienced the full service didn’t have either of these concerns.

​This really sums up where things are and I think it’s important to note that many of the concerns about the full-service option were based on perceptions that the pilot participants tended to say were not actually an issue.

​I have heard a few people say this but as a community, we haven’t come up with something yet that works as well as the full-service pilot.

That's it for the appendices. This goes to Committee on Aug 31st and then to Council on Sept 14th. You can reach out to your councillor prior to then if you'd like to provide any feedback on the pilot. Thanks for reading!