The Okotoks Recreation Centre has taken some heat recently on social media for what some residents claim is poorly-executed snow removal in the parking lot.
Dianne Wushke, 70, describes herself as an active senior who is in no way disabled and physically compromised, and values the role of exercise for seniors.
For Wushke, staying active is a crucial part of maintaining health later in life, and she has no intentions of quitting her active lifestyle
“I used to go swimming every morning and I haven’t been for weeks, because you cannot walk across that parking lot,” she said. “I don’t want to fall and break a hip or injure myself, because then I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the rec centre at all.”
Wushke posted her complaints about the parking lot on the Foothills Views and News page on Facebook, and received a sizable response, largely in favour of her criticisms.
“It is a safety thing. All I want to see is a little bit more due diligence on the part of the town to keep that parking lot a little freer of snow and ice,” she said.
“Maybe if they can’t plow, just to even sand, because I actually have a friend who fell and broke the bone just below her knee, she’s an elderly woman, and that’s a life-changing injury for her.”
One suggestion of Wushke’s was for the recreation centre to reallocate some of the handicap parking to senior parking, to help seniors get closer to the doors. She said she knows seniors who use the parents and young children parking in order to avoid navigating the parking lot, or to find a space when the lot is full.
“It’s wonderful to see that facility so well used, but I think it is kind of at 100 per cent capacity,” said Wushke. “I’m delighted that so many seniors go to the pool in the morning, that’s a very good thing, we just have to make sure it’s safe.”
According to the facilities manager, they’re doing what they can.
The Western Wheel approached the recreation facilities manager at the centre, Doug Robson, with some of the complaints.
“We have a signed contract for snow removal, and parking lots are to be cleared if there is over 2.5 centimetres of snow, sidewalks are to be cleared by the contractor after one centimetre,” said Robson of the parking lot management. “So that’s the contract, but outside from that we do our own internal [snow removal].
“We have a Bobcat on site that we do, so typically throughout the day if it’s snowing, we’re out there moving snow all the time.”
According to Robson, the contractors are required to clear the parking lot within 24 hours of snowfall. The ability to do so, however, is dependent on the time of day.
“Our contractors come in during the middle of the night, because if they come during the day… I understand where [the complaints] are coming from, but it’s really hard to move snow around when there’s a parking lot full of people and cars, without damaging something or somebody getting hurt,” he said. “We typically try to stay away from that. You can’t run big machinery when it’s tight quarters.
“Let’s just say they come in and they clear the parking lot out, say at four in the morning, and then it continues to snow after that, you couldn’t with all the vehicles out there [during the day], you couldn’t get in there until the next night again.”
For days like that, Robson says they work hard to try and keep up to the snow, but are limited in their ability to do much for the parking lot itself.
“We do the sidewalks continuously, we just don’t have the machinery to touch the parking lots,” he said.
“We try, we honestly do. I have a guy that’s out there, he’s been out there for two weeks straight on a bobcat trying to keep up and get ahead of it, but a small bobcat can only move so much.”
For Robson, a main challenge posed to keeping the lot cleared is the temperature and regular snowfall. With the consistent low temperatures and regular snow, it has been difficult to clear the snow all the way down to the pavement. He said that whenever the temperature gets warm enough overnight, he brings in an extra contractor to work to clear the handicap stalls as best they can.
“There’s always room for improvement,” he said. “I will certainly look at it and talk to my contractors and keep the front [clear]. I’m going to really evaluate this, and I’ll bring in extra work done at the front to make sure it’s as clear as possible.”
