Rural residents are counting the cost of a winter that has seen repeated multi-day blizzards and over a metre and a half of cumulative snowfall in some areas.
As a result, municipalities across southern Manitoba have been eyeing snow-clearing budgets, concerned about what funds might be available once the snow flies again in late 2017.
Lloyd Leganchuk, chief administrator for the Rural Municipality of Boissevain-Morton, said an unexpected $30,000 was spent on snow-clearing contractors in the last budget period.
“The January to Dec. 31 budget did not have any special snow removal,” he said. “Usually we can handle all of that work with our own equipment, but this year, because of the amount of snow we got, we had to hire (contractors) and rent equipment, and that wasn’t in the budget.”
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The RM plans to offset the expense through decreases in its 2017 road budget.
Boissevain topped provincial snow accumulations, according to the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, an international volunteer-based weather-monitoring organization. The Boissevain station reported 153.7 centimetres of snow between Nov. 1, 2016 and Feb. 24, 2017, ahead of the 151.1 centimetres reported in Morris, 106.7-142.5 centimetres reported in Morden and between 124-135.6 centimetres reported in Steinbach.
Excess snow caused no damage to municipal buildings in the RM of Boissevain-Morton, Leganchuk said, but he added several residents had buildings come down due to snow load.
To the east, structural damage was reported in the Rural Municipality of Lorne. A Pembina Co-op branch in St. Leon had operations disrupted in December when the roof of a major storage shed collapsed, also damaging stock.
“Pretty much the whole roof caved in,” branch manager Robert Lesage said, adding that total loss from the incident is still being determined.
The wooden shed was not scheduled to be replaced prior to its collapse, Lesage said, though the structure was decades old.
The Municipality of Wallace-Woodworth and Municipality of Stanley are also among those adjusting to high snow-clearing costs.
Garth Mitchell, chief administrator for the Municipality of Wallace-Woodworth, estimated current snow-clearing cost at 30 per cent higher than an average year.
“The good thing about events happening earlier in the year, it does give opportunity to adjust your budget numbers accordingly, so Jan. 1 on, we’ve been able to incorporate that into our 2017 projections, so overall we’ll be OK,” he said.
Both the RM of Wallace-Woodworth and RM of Stanley reported high traffic on graders and snow-clearing equipment, although the RM of Stanley has said exact budgetary impact of the winter is unknown and may still be affected by incoming storms.
“There wouldn’t have been more than three days this winter that our equipment has not been out working, not leaving much time for repairs and maintenance,” Pete Froese, RM of Stanley deputy reeve, said. “This winter has certainly reinforced to us the importance of our equipment renewal program and ensuring our equipment is ready to move when needed.”
Two new graders appeared in the RM of Stanley’s draft budget earlier this year, a cost of roughly $200,000.
Related concerns have emerged as unseasonably warm temperatures through early February turn attentions to flood forecasting and the spring melt.
A significant portion of Boissevain’s chart-topping snow base has already thawed, Leganchuk said, while the RM of Stanley has hired contractors to open drains and culverts.
“The recent early melt forced us to change gears quickly from ridging snow in fields to alleviate snow drifting; then two weeks later it’s all hands on deck opening up ditches and drains making a path for water to flow,” RM of Stanley chief administrator Dale Toews said. “It is a challenge dealing with weather shifts like this with so much snow out there.”
The municipality has cautioned, however, that newly reopened drains may be more prone to freeze-up should temperatures once again drop.
Environment Canada has forecast a return to seasonable temperatures below freezing through early March.
