Fence Not Impeding Snow Removal

Mayor Dennis O’Keefe is clarifying recent misunderstandings that the new harbour fence has hindered snow removal operations.
 
“Over the past two weeks the City has removed upwards of 5,000 truckloads of snow from City streets,” says Mayor O’Keefe. “Most of this snow was dumped in the harbour, and the harbour fence did not interfere in any way with the operation.”
 
Ward 2 Councillor Jonathan Galgay, Chair of the Public Works Standing Committee, explained that the City does not require access to the secure area behind the harbour fence for snow dumping purposes.
 
“With the cooperation of the Port Authority, the City obtained access to an area on Pier 8, just west of and outside the fenced secure area,” says Councillor Galgay. “No sign-in/sign-out procedures were necessary and snow dumping went smoothly and efficiently. In addition to the dumping area at Pier 8, the City also has access to Pier 17 at the far east end of the harbour for snow dumping purposes.”
 
Mayor O’Keefe went on to say that the City fully understands that the harbour is becoming busier and accepts that immediate access for snow dumping may not always be possible due to the volume of marine traffic.  
 
“If the harbour is busy, our snow dumping operations may be slowed-down, but minor delays are still preferable to trucking snow all the way to Robin Hood Bay Waste Management Facility,” he says. “If it gets to the point that the port is full, and there is no room to dump, we will simply have to truck the snow elsewhere.”
 
Given the continuing increase in marine traffic at the harbour, the City will be undertaking a review in 2014 to identify alternative snow dumping sites, should the port not be available in future.
 
  
For further information:
Jennifer Mills
Communications Officer
City of St. John's
Phone: (709) 570-2037
Cell: (709) 690-7586
E-mail: jmills@stjohns.ca
 
Dennis O’Keefe
Mayor
City of St. John’s
Phone: (709) 576-8477
E-mail: dokeefe@stjohns.ca
 
Jonathan Galgay
Ward 2 Councillor
Chair, Public Works Standing Committee
City of St. John’s
Phone: (709) 576-7144
E-mail: jgalgay@stjohns.ca