Each year the Village office receives questions and comments regarding snow clearing, so the following information is offered to help clarify roles during snowfall events:

• Highway 3/7^th Avenue snow clearing on driving and parking lanes is the responsibility of the Ministry of Transportation. Urgent concerns may be reported to AIM road services at 1-866-222-4204.
• Snow clearing around Canada Post community mailboxes is the responsibility of Canada Post’s contractor. Urgent concerns may be reported at 1-866-607-6301.
• Snow clearing around fire hydrants is the responsibility of the Keremeos Irrigation District. Urgent concerns may be reported at 250-499-5651.
• Snow clearing on private property is the responsibility of the property owner. A number of Keremeos property owners also use contractors to clear snow. 
• Snow clearing on Keremeos streets and on Village-owned properties is the responsibility of the Village’s Public Works staff. Please do not approach plow operators or staff working in the community directly.  Instead, provide any comments or concerns to the Village Office at 250-499-2711. The Public Works Foreman will be made aware of all calls and re-direct manpower in the community where necessary and possible.

Managing snow and ice is truly a cooperative community effort. With so many contributors to the effort, there are sometimes counter-productive results as we all struggle to move snow and ice out of our way. To help alleviate conflicts, we have provided more information below about everyone’s roles and responsibilities.

The Village has chosen not to prohibit street and boulevard parking during a snowfall event, however snow plowing is faster and easier without obstacles. If residents wish to voluntarily remove their parked vehicle from snow plow routes, it would be very much appreciated.

Thank you to all residents for doing your best to be patient and work together when Mother Nature gifts us with snow and ice!

How the Village prioritizes snow clearing:

The Village’s Public Works staff are available for snow clearing 7 days a week. In order to control taxpayer costs for overtime, weekend and evening efforts concentrate on snow clearing that cannot wait for a regular shift.

Any time a significant accumulation of snow is anticipated, Public Works staff initiates snow clearing. Some priority areas are:

• sweeping the sidewalk to the hilltop for pedestrian safety
• clearing driving lanes on bus routes and near the school and areas where resident mobility may be an issue
• Clearing arterial roads which traverse the Village

Efforts then turn to clearing driving lanes on other roads and laneways, parking lanes downtown not covered by the Ministry, and parking areas and sidewalks on Village properties such as the Information Centre and Victory Hall.

When active snow clearing is caught up, Village staff work on removal of snow piles and digging out drains.

Ministry of Transportation snow clearing of Highway 3/7^th Avenue:

The Ministry of Transportation’s contractor is responsible for clearing both the driving and parking lanes along Highway 3/7^th Avenue. They have a large contract area that includes several towns.

Snow clearing from parking lanes is challenging for the contractor when cars are parked in them. The contractor is not always able to make several passes to clear the parking lane when cars have moved. Their priority is to keep the driving lanes passable.

The Village has opted not to restrict parking on Highway 3/7^th Avenue during snowfalls due to the impact on businesses and the additional walking distance that would be required for their customers.

The “snow ridge”

We have all been there. You have just finished shovelling snow and the plow goes by, leaving a new ridge of snow. Snow plow operators understand the frustration this causes and do their best to minimize it, but it is very difficult to avoid (particularly in a major snow event).

Residents can assist in minimizing the ridge by not pushing excess snow from properties onto the roadway.

What the Village of Keremeos bylaw regarding snow removal says:

(Good neighbour bylaw)

2.5      “Every owner of real property in a residential area, as defined in the Village's Zoning Bylaw, shall remove all snow or ice from all sidewalks bordering the real property before 6:00 p.m. each day.

2.6      Every owner of real property in a commercial area, as defined in the Village's Zoning Bylaw, shall remove all snow or ice from all sidewalks bordering the real property no later than 10:00 a.m. each day.

2.7      Every owner of real property is required to remove snow or ice from the roof or other part of any structure on the property within 24 hours of the cessation of any snowfall or storm event that cause the accumulation, where the location of that structure is such that it is reasonable to expect that the snow or ice on it may fall onto any street.

2.8      No person shall deposit snow, ice or other material removed from sidewalks, boulevards, lanes, or private property onto Village property or highways” (note that all Village roads are defined as  “highways”)

We encourage residents to push excess snow onto their own properties. Pushing snow onto the roadway is contrary to the bylaw and additional snow on the boulevard makes local parking more difficult, particularly if it freezes.

Commercial property owners are reminded not to push snow from sidewalks onto streets. Additional snow in parking lanes makes customer parking more difficult, and can block storm drains and cause localized flooding.

Residents wishing to report a bylaw enforcement concern should visit the Village Office at 702-4^th Street to fill out a complaint form. The Village’s protocol is to first inform an alleged violator of the bylaw requirements before ticketing or taking other enforcement action. In most instances, knowledge of the bylaw resolves the issue.

Where to deposit excess snow

Contractors or residents who wish to remove excess snow from their properties may deposit it at the following two Village-owned locations:

• East of dog park on Veterans
• Village-owned parkland north of lane behind 6^th Avenue between 4^th and 5^th streets

Please deposit snow well onto the property to leave room for others.

Click here for the location of the 5th Street Snow Dump Site

Click here for the location of the Veterans Avenue Snow Dump Site