It's hoped a new agreement with the province will give residents in multiple areas of the RM of Stanley a quicker response to snow clearing.
The RM has entered into a snow clearing agreement with the Province, which will see Stanley being responsible for clearing a number of 600 series Provincial paved roads through the Villages of Reinfeld, Schanzenfeld, Chortitz, Friedensruh, Hochfeld, Blumenfeld, Osterwick and Thornhill.
In a statement emailed to PembinaValleyOnline News, the RM of Stanley noted it has been reviewing the plow routes to keep the most efficient system in place. That means some of those provincial roads are cleared by the RM, and some are hired out to a contractor.
This agreement with the Province is for snow clearing only, not sanding/salting or road maintenance. The RM is being compensated by the Province for this work.
The agreement with the province will expire in the spring of 2023, at which time the council will review it, and decide whether to continue with it or potentially make adjustments.
Meanwhile, a few mile roads in the RM will also be hired out to a contractor as part of Stanley's snow clearing program adjustments for 2023.
"It is an effort to make things as efficient as possible," said Unrau. "We have a few areas where it's an RM road, then it turns into a provincial road, and then ½ mile later it's back to an RM road. And so this change removes that jurisdictional issue and simplifies things as we can send one plow in to do the job."