Brandon crews filling potholes instead of clearing snow during 'really unusual' winter

There's been so little snowfall in southwestern Manitoba this winter that Brandon crews have been filling in potholes instead of plowing streets for the past month.

Pam Richardson, director of public works for the City of Brandon, says the lack of snow has made this winter abnormal. The city has only had to send out crews to clear priority roads  — main routes that have to be plowed within 24 hours of a snowfall — once this winter.

In a typical winter, crews have to go out for two or three major weather events, said Richardson.

Now, the priority is potholes.

"It's definitely something different," she said. "It's something really unusual for us to be doing."

Richardson said in her 15 years of service, she's never seen crews start work on filling potholes in February.

Based on Environment Canada data for Feb. 28, this year's snowfall is well below average, with five centimetres on the ground as of that day.

On Feb. 28, 2023, there was 32 centimetres on the ground in Brandon. In the three years before that, the Feb. 28 number ranged from nine centimetres to 26, according to the weather agency.

Savings difficult to determine

However, the below-average snowfall doesn't necessarily mean the city is saving money, since some funds are shifted to different things like filling potholes — not typically in the budget for February, Richardson said.

The streets and roads section has 13 full-time staff, who are typically responsible for clearing around 275 kilometres of roads, 104 kilometres of sidewalks and 39 kilometres of bike paths, according to the city.

In addition to working on filling potholes, staff are also now tackling different projects like helping with sanitation projects, said Cory Schermann, the city's chief financial officer.

"If there's a chance for savings we'll always take it, but if there's money available to make sure that we can do something to help out the citizens, we're going to do that as well," he said.

Schermann said since the city works on a calendar year for budgeting, it won't be clear until next December what overall effect the lack of snow has on spending.

"The light snow right now might be helpful, but without knowing what's going to happen in September, October, November, December ... I can't say for sure we're going to have savings," Schermann said.

For now, he's cautiously optimistic that there won't be a lot more snow this season, but he notes Prairie weather is unpredictable.

"We do live in Canada.… We could get snow in July."

CBC asked for November to February budget comparisons for snow clearing, but Schermann said the city does not track finances that way.

He noted that in 2023, the city spent $770,000 on snow clearing — about 10 per cent over budget.

This year's budget will be around $927,000 for snow removal, but the city may have to adjust based on the unpredictability of Mother Nature, Schermann said.

"It's a moving target every year. It's one of the most difficult things to predict, as far as I'm concerned, in a budget."

Richardson says the city has expected snow several times this season, but instead got rain or freezing rain with some snow.

She also said while full-time staff may be helping out in different departments and casual hires have been lighter, they're ready to come back if the city has to clear a potential heavy snowfall this weekend.

"It's just been a little bit more of a game this year in trying to get staffing right."