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Saanich says tent city costs won’t melt away snow budget

Municipality has so far spent $25,000 on snow removal
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Saanich has so far spent $25,000 on snow and ice removal since January 1, 2019. Its budget for snow removal in 2019 is $182,000. (Keri Coles/Black Press)

Saanich is still assessing the final cost of this week’s snow event.

“Costs for the heavy snowfall event during the week of Feb. 11 to 15 have not yet been finalized as this event is still underway,” said Megan Catalano, a spokesperson for the District of Saanich.

Saanich has spent about $25,000 on snow and ice removal since Jan. 1, 2019 — well short of the $182,000 budgeted for snow removal for the period running from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31.

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Saanich’s spending on snow removal generated some public interest last year, after Saanich earmarked its entire 2018 contingency fund — $700,000 — towards extra costs associated with the tent city in Regina Park near Uptown. Saanich has traditionally used the contingency funding to cover costs associated with unexpected weather events.

While staff are still compiling the final cost of the Regina Park encampment, Catalano said it has not impacted Saanich’s 2018 snow and ice removal budget.

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“I should also add that the Regina Park encampment will not impact snow and ice removal efforts in 2019 either,” she said.

As for the costs connected to the Regina Park tent city, available figures peg them at between $746,500 and $923,500 by the end of 2018.


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Wolf Depner

About the Author: Wolf Depner

I joined the national team with Black Press Media in 2023 from the Peninsula News Review, where I had reported on Vancouver Island's Saanich Peninsula since 2019.
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