• Council has approved $296,500 in additional funding to cover 2025 sidewalk and windrow clearing costs.
  • Todd Brothers Contracting maintains over 160 kilometres of local sidewalks and clears windrows for eligible seniors and residents with disabilities.
  • Total 2025 spending far surpassed the approved $533,000 budget.
  • The overage is expected to be absorbed within the Town’s 2025 operating surplus, with no reserve draw required.
  • Councillors requested Staff investigation into a winter maintenance reserve to help cover future overages.
  • Staff will also assess adding fire hydrant clearing services to the windrow program.
  • Past procurement timing and future contract tendering also drew scrutiny during Council discussions.

 

Two historically precipitous winters have put significant pressure on winter sidewalk and windrow maintenance, and Whitchurch-Stouffville now needs to dig deeper into last year’s operating budget to cover the costs.

Council approved an additional $296,500 during its Feb. 18 meeting to cover the final 2025 invoice from Todd Brothers Contracting Limited, the contractor responsible for maintaining more than 160 kilometres of municipal sidewalks and pedestrian pathways. The company also clears windrows for eligible seniors and physically challenged residents.

Unlike many private snow clearing agreements that operate on flat seasonal rates, the Town funds sidewalk and windrow clearing on a per-event basis. Each snowfall draws from the approved operating budget, with the expectation that allocated funds will cover a full year of contracted services.

That assumption did not hold in 2025. In a recent Staff report, officials described the 2024/25 winter as “one of the busiest in recent years,” with 175.6 centimetres of snowfall recorded. February 2025 alone brought more than 75 centimetres of snow to Stouffville and ranked among the largest monthly snowfalls ever recorded across the Greater Toronto Area.

An early November start to the 2025/26 winter season compounded the strain. According to the report, the Town has responded to 31 plowing events and 17 salting-only events. Todd Brothers has completed 44 sidewalk plowing and salting deployments, all while clearing 460 eligible windrows.

“This level of activity is well above historical averages and has resulted in the full depletion of the approved 2025 operating budget,” Staff wrote. “The December 2025 invoice cannot be processed without additional funding being allocated.”

Despite the overage, the Town will likely not need to dip into reserves. Commissioner of Finance Jeremy Harness told Council the municipality is projected to finish 2025 in a surplus position. The sidewalk and windrow deficit “will be absorbed in that overall operating budget, and thus we will not need to draw anything from [reserves] to address this amount,” he said.

Councillor Hugo Kroon referred to winter maintenance crews as “unsung heroes,” acknowledging both the difficulty and cost of the work involved and pointing to the inherent uncertainty in forecasting winter service levels.

“Some years there is very little work to be done… and at other times, there is a huge amount of expenditures,” Kroon said. “I don’t want to call them additional expenditures, because we have to deal with it, and we have to somehow find the money to do that.”

“It’s somewhat difficult to go to the public halfway through a snow season and say ‘We’ve run out of money,’” Kroon added, noting that budgeted funds have gone unused in past years.

Council later approved a resolution from Kroon asking Staff to examine the creation of a winter maintenance reserve. Following lighter winters, unspent funds could be transferred into the reserve and later used to offset higher-than-expected costs in busier years.

Sidewalk and windrow budgets in 2023 and 2024 were approximately $510,000, with combined underspending of just over $90,000. Although funding for 2025 and 2026 was raised to just over $533,000, 2025 expenditures far exceeded the amount. Because the 2026 approved budget maintains the same funding level, Staff cautioned that further adjustments may be required if elevated service demands continue.

Councillor Rick Upton questioned whether the Town’s single-source sidewalk and windrow contract with Todd Brothers, approved in October 2024, contributed to higher costs. The agreement covers the 2024/25 through 2026/27 winter seasons.

At the time of approval, Engineering and Public Works Commissioner Jack Graziosi apologized for not initiating the tender earlier, suggesting that additional lead time could have attracted more competitive bids.

“If we want the most competitive procurement process to occur, sufficient lead time is needed,” Graziosi said during Council’s Oct. 16, 2024 meeting. Committing to a much earlier start date for the next contract, he explained that “any contractor that is going to consider bidding on this will need time to procure the equipment needed to meet the requirements of the contract.”

Upton said he believes the 2024 delay is “costing [the Town] a lot of money.” He also sought an update on the 2027/28 contract procurement process, noting a previous report indicated it would be tendered in 2025.

“Staff have compiled all the elements for an updated sidewalk and windrow clearing contract,” Graziosi responded. He added that tendering last year would likely have been premature, and the Town now intends to issue the call later this year.

Council also directed Staff to explore potential hydrant clearing as part of the windrow clearing program. Upton noted that residents who qualify for windrow assistance may still be responsible for clearing snow around hydrants located on their property, which poses significant challenges for seniors and those with physical disabilities.

Graziosi advised that such a program would likely require manual labour, with windrow operators shovelling around eligible hydrants. Councillor Maurice Smith cautioned that the added expense “is going to be a big number” and voted against the resolution.

While sidewalk and windrow costs exceeded projections, Graziosi confirmed that winter road maintenance remained within budget and no additional funding requests are anticipated for that service. Staff reports providing further details on both the proposed reserve fund and hydrant clearing are expected before Council’s summer recess.