Discussions

I have a friend that lives in a small town and he was telling me that this year he is paying his city street cleaners $125 for snow removal for the winter  
Wouldn't that be a great idea to help citizens, especially seniors, and extra cash for the city of Brandon  
I would gladly go for a plan like that

Why not hire a private contractor then for 125.00.  
Pretty sure a lot of people would clean your snow for that every month here in the city. I do snow clearing in the city (mainly commercial) and I had a few individuals asked if I would clear there snow. I would quote 125.00 but all they where willing to pay was 85 to 100 dollars. For the record I would not lower my price and walked away.

The city is not even capable of maintaining an acceptable level of service on most streets. For them to clean any number of driveways is unrealistic. Driveways are also hard to do without the right size of equipment is very easy to scoop up some lawn hidden under the snow or damage the pavement/concrete.  
 
 
I know many people will defend the city and say they do their best and snow removal takes time etc. Those people have not lived out east where they actually plow at night and everything is clean by the time you drive to work not 3 days later.

It amazes me how many Manitobans actively defend mediocrity.  
 
No matter the subject, a bunch of people will say "they're doing their best". It is actually ok to advocate for better things from your elected officials. The standard of winter road maintenance is pretty low here compared to many other jurisdictions. There's no way we need the city dealing with private driveways on top of everything else.  
 
Also - why do we want the government competing with private business when private business is already capable of doing the work well?

How long does it take for some roads to see a plow. If you can’t shove your walk for whatever reason there is a dozen or so company’s that will do this. Give one of them a call. This isn’t a city issue.

Would be a good source as I am sure they could use the money.....high school. University

I just thought it's a good idea for the city to get some exrta money as I am sure they are losing a lot with the coved happening

I doubt during a high snowfall winter that there is any profit left at that price so likely not worth wasting city resources on. In my town a guy did that service one winter and then nobody wanted to pay him so now he doesn’t offer driveway cleaning. To be fair though after the Plough goes around, the town here cleans up the mound left in everyone’s entrance pretty good at no extra cost except our normal taxes.

only there were actually students or youth willing to do it, do it well and do it for a fair price. Last winter we tried 3 different individuals , all charged high, and did a crap job. when asked to actually clean it up properly we were told sure and they just left or they argued it was fair for the fee. A 2'x15 ft walkway and 2 parking spaces approx 6'x15' was $ 50 - $75 ..and again we had to go out and finish the job all three times so no thanks lol ..carter bros seems to be a decent price compared to the rest of the quotes we received for this year.

There are students and youth that do snow shovelling... both my teenagers do it, always have... along with grass cutting, leaf raking etc. They have the same people use them every year (and recommend them to neighbours, friends, etc) so they must do a good job for a fair price.