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District of Kitimat clamps down on street parkers

Nearly 20 vehicles get towed
15963227_web1_Sitka

A local tow truck company was kept busy on Monday morning, March 11, when a number of vehicles that were parked on Loganberry Street outside Civeo’s Sitka Lodge were towed.

District of Kitimat spokesperson Mike Dewar said vehicles were towed on other streets in Kitimat as well on March 11 at the DoK’s request, in accordance with the District’s snow clearing policy.

“The vehicles were towed because they impeded snow clearing efforts. Warnings had been previously been delivered to individual vehicles parked on streets, as well as with the service provider of the work camp located on Loganberry Street,” said Dewar.

He said eight vehicles were towed from streets around the community and an additional six to eight were towed from Loganberry St. outside Sitka Lodge.

Dewar said the District will continue to strictly enforce its snow-clearing policy – to date he said as many as 30 vehicles have been towed during the 2018/19 snow season.

“Any vehicles parked on the road during snow clearing operations between November 1 and March 31 will be subject to tow without warning and at the owner’s expense.”

He said prior to and during the snow clearing season (October 1 – March 31), when it is not snowing, tow-notification tags are placed on vehicles to warn drivers that if snow clearing operations had been taking place, their vehicle would have been towed.

“The District rolled out an extensive public awareness campaign regarding snow clearing policies, which included distributing information through our website, social media channels, door-to-door notices, and local media outlets,” said Dewar.

During a snowfall, the snow clearing equipment operators notify the tow truck operator to come and collect vehicles that are delaying snow removal. A tow truck comes and collects vehicles and impounds them until the owner pays the retrieval fee.

The vehicle owners pay a flat fee for the tow and impound. These rates may vary depending on how long the vehicle is parked in the impound lot.

During the day the tow truck operator can charge $80 a vehicle plus any impound fees. After hours that amount can jump to $150 a vehicle plus any impound fees.

Dewar said vehicles parked along the road impact significantly on snow clearing operations.

“If two vehicles are parked across the street from each other and a grader cannot pass through, that machine has to back up the length of the street without completing the drive through the street. This could double, if not more, the time it takes to plow a street,” he added.

Snow clearing routes are designed so that the crews don’t have to double back.

“When the graders are delayed, it backlogs through to the blowers and ultimately puts our crews behind on overall clearing times.

“The primary purpose of snow clearing is not for the convenience of drivers, but rather to provide community access for emergency vehicles. Parking on the streets during snow clearing operations could jeopardize the safety of our community.”

Currently, there is only one towtruck driver on call – Dewar said the District publicly tendered the opportunity and only one local contractor expressed interest in being an on-call contractor.

Civeo Camps, Logistics and Sales vice president Kris Quinn said a number of parking permits were issued at the start of the project with the goal of aligning with travel management plans and minimizing the impact to the neighbouring communities .

“These complications were recently brought to our attention and we will be working in cooperation with the District of Kitimat and all other stakeholders to find the best solutions going forward,” said Quinn. “We are currently discussing additional park and rides and increased off and onsite parking.”

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