New fee to dump snow irks contractors
Snow removal contractors are steamed about the new dumping fees they’ll be paying this winter.
Beginning Nov. 1, the City of Regina will charge a user fee at the snow storage site, located at the southwest corner of Fleet Street and MacDonald Street.
All site users must purchase a $10 permit per vehicle — a one-time, non-refundable fee.
They will receive a Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) tag installed on the vehicle windshield. Users will then be charged on a cost-per-load basis, depending on the category of their truck.
Users must have their RFID tag from City Hall prior to entering the snow storage site. There will be no registration or payment facilities on site.
On Monday, Doug Seibel, owner of D&J Bobcat Services, learned he’ll pay $15 per load to dump snow from his single-axle truck.
During an average snowfall, he hauls between 10 and 15 loads. He’s not happy he will have to pass the additional cost on to his customers.
“To me, it’s like another grab just to help pay for that stadium,” Seibel said.
Norman Kyle, director of roadways and transportation for the city, said the new charge is to recover the cost of managing the snow brought to the site by snow hauling contractors, residents and businesses.
He noted other municipalities, such as Fredericton and Red Deer, have pay-per-load systems and Ottawa doesn’t accept snow from private contractors.
“Saskatoon currently provides a free service to city and non-service users, but anticipate they’ll be going to a fee-recovery system,” Kyle said.
Most site users are hauling it from private property such as shopping malls or parking lots, he said.
“They’re making a profit off of it, clearing a private parking lot, and they were allowed to get rid of the snow free previously,” Kyle said.
Aside from monetary concerns, Seibel worries that trucks will have long waits to dump their loads.
“If you get a heavy snowfall, there could be anywhere from 60 to 100 trucks hauling snow,” he said. “If you’ve got to scan in every time, it’s going to be backed up by the refinery because you only have one entrance to go in through.”
Based on testing done this summer, Kyle expects there will be minimal delays — if any.
“Before we had attendants directing traffic,” he said. “This is all automated for them to come in. It’s got a scanner, it’s got a camera. It reads the card, once it reads the card they get a green light and proceed through.”
Seibel maintains the city needs another snow dump.
“Saskatoon has three and they’re not much bigger than us,” he said.
Right now, a second snow site isn’t on the city’s radar, Kyle said.
“It’s a lot of land to set aside for six months of the year,” he said.
Ken Johannsen, owner of Johannsen Trucking Inc., recalled the snowy winter of 2013 and said trucks were backed up then.
He operates six semi trucks and four tandem-axle trucks. Each semi will be charged $35 per load and tandems will be charged $25 per load.
“It’s an unnecessary cost,” he said. “Everybody pays taxes and I think that should be included in the taxes.”
To cover his administrative costs, Johannsen said he will have to charge his customers above the cost to dump the snow.
And, he noted, sometimes he doesn’t get paid for 30, 60 or 90 days.
“I’m going to be on the hook for a lot of money,” Johannsen said.
On an average night, one of his semi trucks hauls between 10 and 15 loads.
Kyle said users can either prepay for dumping a certain number of loads or they can apply for a credit account and get monthly invoices.