Private Snow Removal

Residential Snowplowing - Private Snow Removal

In effort to best serve Lamont County residents, Council has recently made amendments to the custom snow plowing/grading on private driveways (Residential Snowplowing: Policy #5100 and Snow and Ice Control: Policy #5104). Please note, Custom Snowplowing shall be conducted given the following factors:

1. The landowner(s) have submitted a Snowplow/Grading Agreement and the County has accepted, no later than the earlier of November 15 or the first significant snow event.
2. The County has conducted, in the presence of the Landowner, an Occupational Health and Safety Inspection/Hazard Assessment to determine the suitability for Snowplow/Grading.
3. While conducting the Inspection/Hazard Assessment, should the County representative determine that the condition of the Private Laneway poses an undue hazard, the County may conclude not to provide this service or until such a time as the hazard has been eliminated.
4. The Snowplow/Grading Agreement and the Inspection/Hazard Assessment must be completed on an annual basis.
5. If the application is submitted after November 15 or there is too much snow present, the inspection cannot be done and therefore the service cannot be provided. The Landowner can request to be placed on a list for the following year.
6. Upon execution of the Snowplow/Grading Agreement, an inspection has been conducted and approved; the Landowner must place the flag at the entrance to the property and contact the County office (Contact Public Works Department directly) when maintenance is required.

Medically Fragile

County residents who are medically fragile and/or require at home medical services on a regular basis will receive the service on a reduced basis. This is only provided subject to provision of an doctor's note (annually) and also be recorded separately so that a flag is not required. The service provided for medically fragile is $100.00 +GST /season. (Contact Public Works Department directly when service is required.)

Seniors (65+)

The service provided for seniors (65+) is $200 +GST /season and will be recorded separately so that a flag is not required. This service will only be provided after all roads have been opened and medically fragile residents’ driveway clearing has been completed. (Contact Public Works Department directly when service is required.)

Regular Flags

All other landowners/designates have the opportunity to buy flags at $125 +GST /each flag (Regular Flags, per one-time use). 

For snowplowing purposes only, if four extra flags are posted, County forces will clear snow for agricultural purposes. This is to the equivalent of a maximum of one hours’ work (not including time spent clearing the driveway).

1 flag – Driveway cleared only;
4 flags – For agricultural purposes; or
5 flags – Both driveway and for agricultural purposes.

The service provided for the driveway clearing will be the distance from the County right-of-way to the residence and supporting infrastructure and back to the right of way. Service will be initiated subject to a flag placed at the entrance of the property unless the resident is a senior, medically fragile or requires at home medical services. (Contact Public Works Department directly when service is required.)

Please note: time spent on driveway clearing is a maximum of 30 minutes per clearing. This is due to the sheer volume of requests. Public Works receives approximately 120 driveway clearing requests, including church clearing requests per snow event. If your driveway is cleared of snow prior to Public Works driveway clearing arriving, please also let us know so we can efficiently clear all requests in a timely manner!

During a snowfall event, the County will use the following order of priority for snow removal (connecting roads with a lower priority will also be treated for efficiency purposes):

a) Emergencies (Ambulance, Police, Fire, Utilities);
b) Major collector roads and Hamlets;
c) Bus Routes;
d) Minor collector roads;
e) Local roads (e.g., Dead End Roads, etc.);
f) Private Driveways;
g) Public Facilities as requested (churches, cemeteries, community halls);
h) Snow removal from approaches (including snow ridges that may have accumulated
on approaches); then
i) Private approaches (if not done as part of snow clearing) and unmaintained road
allowances used for agricultural purposes, on a per request basis as equipment and
resources are available.