The District of Lantzville is one step closer to beefing up its snow removal budget.
Lantzville councillors voted in favour of allocating $100,000 to the 2017 snow removal budget during a committee of the whole meeting earlier this month.
The decision comes after a staff report indicated that the district was $54,822 over budget for snow removal this year. The average annual snow removal costs to the district are around $50,000 according to the report, which states that Lantzville spent $104,822 on snow removal from January to Feb. 28.
The report recommends of the $100,000, $17,525 come from the district’s winter road maintenance reserve and $82,475 come from the general surplus.
Mayor Colin Haime had concerns with money being taken out of the surplus and questioned whether there are cuts that can be made elsewhere.
Speaking to the News Bulletin afterwards, Coun. Bob Colclough said its difficult to predict how much snow the community will see each year and that the money needs to be spent in order to keep the community safe.
“[Winter] is not very predictable. You never know what is going to happen. But it is what it is what it is and from a public safety perspective, people need to be safe,” he said. “It had to be done.”
The budget amendment will need to approved at a regular council meeting.