91原创 Township residents may have seen trucks equipped with salting and sanding gear driving around the community earlier this winter.

While there hasn't been any significant snow fall yet this season, local civic crews are keeping busy, both preparing and getting on with other jobs.

"We're continuing with our patrols in the the morning and the evenings," said Brian Edey, the Township's roads operations manager.

Crews are using a bit of brine on cold mornings when there could be ice on the roads, but so far that has been relatively limited.

Instead, crews are focused on other tasks. The Township's roads and operations crews are generalists, Edey noted, doing a variety of jobs all year.

The same Township crews that drive snow plows and salt trucks also clear up debris related to wind storms, of which 91原创 has already experienced several.

While the lack of a sustained cold snap has meant that roads have escaped large-scale pothole damage, there are a lot of smaller pot holes popping up, and those need to be filled.

In addition, the crews are preparing in case there is a big snowfall in January, February, or early March.

"We were able to do a lot more training," Edey said.

That's why salt trucks have been driving around the Township even when the weather is mild, he said. Senior crew members are taking newer ones out on dry runs and showing them the routes.

In addition, the Township had a full training day for snow removal.

They've also worked on learning new sidewalk-clearing jobs, as the Township has expanded its role keeping some sidewalks and intersections cleared during major snowfall events.

Edey said that the Township currently has stocked up its salt reserves, and did save a bit of money in the October-December portion of its season.

The total snow removal budget in the Township is $1.3 million a year, of which 70 per cent comes from the Township and 30 per cent from TransLink, to pay for work on the Major Road Network. The MRN includes roads like 16 Avenue, 88 Avenue, and Fraser Highway.

At the end of 2024, there was a bit left in the snow removal budget, Edey said. If we have a mild January to March in 2025, as well as a relatively snow-free October-December season, there could be a surplus in the fund again.

Any money left doesn't roll over to the next year, Edey said. It gets used for paving projects.