'Wall of snow': Older adults in Newmarket and Aurora want towns to provide driveway windrow clearing

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 28, 2022

In the wake of the Jan. 17 storm that dumped more than 24 centimetres of snow in Newmarket and Aurora and with weeks of winter still to come, some residents want the towns to provide windrow clearing.

But while Georgina launched a pilot project Feb. 1 to clear windrows -- hard-packed snow left at the end of driveways by plows -- for eligible residents in need, Newmarket and Aurora have no plans to follow suit.

Newmarket resident Gus Calderone and Aurora resident Lowell McClenny are older adults who believe the municipalities should clear windrows.

Calderone, along with his daughter, Nikki Nolan, a Midland resident who posted on Facebook about her father’s struggle to clean his windrow after the Jan. 17 storm, said the service should be available for elderly residents and those in need, such as residents with disabilities.

McClenny argues windrow clearing would benefit all homeowners.

Calderone, 70, shovelled his driveway twice on the day of the storm but was upset to find a daunting windrow the next morning.

“It ended up looking a lot heavier than it was but I knew if I tried to do it myself, I would end up having a heart attack,” he said.

“I am not as strong or have as much energy as I used to. I know there are others on my street who would not have been able to handle it. Luckily, I am still in decent enough shape that with help, I can clear it.”

At the time, Calderone was worried about getting out of his driveway to drive to Midland to care for his six-month-old grandson and to pick up cat food and milk.

He called the town and mayor’s office but was told if the municipality provided windrow clearing for him, it would have to do the same for others.

“I think they should (clear windrows for older adults) as we have worked and paid taxes our whole life, so they should be helped by those same taxes when they are older,” Calderone said.

Nolan, who found a neighbour and his teenage son to came to Calderone’s rescue, agrees.

“Seniors are still people with inherent value. We can't just forget about them simply because they are old and are retired, or not able to work,” she said.

“My dad had sent me a picture of the wall of snow and I was worried that he would either have a heart attack or injure himself trying to clear it himself.”

While her Facebook post brought offers of help, Nolan argues that’s not the way to provide services and argues taxpayers will pay more if older adults or people with disabilities injure themselves clearing windrows.

Mark Angnoletto, Newmarket’s public works director, said community organizations can be contacted by residents needing the service.

“Windrow clearing service has been discussed in previous years, however at this time, the town is focusing on a variety of snow clearing services for roads, sidewalks, trails and parking lots,” he said.

“In 2015, the town expanded services to provide sidewalk winter maintenance to 100 per cent of town-owned sidewalks.”

Newmarket doesn’t have a cost estimate on providing the service but in 2019, Aurora pegged its costs at $1.5 million-plus, not including the cost of purchasing equipment.

Vaughan’s windrow-clearing program doubled the city’s snow plowing budget and increased taxes by about 2 per cent.

Aurora-based Community and Home Assistance to Seniors’ home adaptation and maintenance (HAMP) service has provided snow clearing for more than 2,000 clients in York Region and South Simcoe since 2009.

However, while the program includes windrow clearing during regular visits, service providers won’t return if municipal plows dump snow at the end of driveways after they have completed their calls.

CHATS CEO Christina Bisanz acknowledges windrows can distress older adults worried about emergency crews, transportation services and home care not being able to access their homes.

“The sight of a windrow can cause a feeling of literally being trapped in their home without assistance,” she said.