That was until the forecast changed on between Monday and Tuesday.

According to a release from the city on Tuesday at 12:40 p.m., the plan changed as the weather forecast worsened and the city managed to secure more equipment and personnel. While no plows would be available, salters and sidewalk tractors were dispatched to residential areas.

Many on social media were still reporting their streets hadn’t been salted well into the day Wednesday.

While all of council thanked and agreed city staff did the best they could with the resources available, it was divided on a path forward.

Some councillors were more moved by the once-in-decades nature of the storm and felt only minor tweaks to existing policies and emergency protocols were necessary. Other councillors felt additional measures and further preparedness should be a top priority.

“I’m almost surprised at some of the comments that I’m hearing,” Coun. Gurpreet Dhillon said. “I don’t think anyone here denies that staff did an excellent job … I’ve also heard staff say ‘we failed.’ I think this is an opportunity to look in the mirror, to take a step back and refocus. Climate change is a real thing.”

“I think what we heard loud and clear from our residents is that things went wrong. There were information gaps in communication, the service-level expectations. I think we owe it to our residents to address their concerns,” said Coun. Martin Medeiros.

Concerns about the cost benefit of extending contracts resulting in oftentimes idle workers in April were also raised by some members of council.

“I think staff did absolutely the best that they could do … but the resources that this council approved during budget time, we don’t always connect what staff have to deliver on the street with what we approve here around the table,” said Mayor Jeffrey.

“We can talk about extending contracts and doing business differently, and oftentimes doing business differently has a price tag attached to it. Those are the kinds of tough decisions we make around this table at budget time,” she added.

It was also revealed by senior staff in attendance that most of the current service providers were in the first year of seven-year contracts.

Ultimately, though, council and senior staff agreed the response needed to be looked into and studied in detail, and a motion was passed directing staff to prepare a comprehensive report on the storm and the city’s response.

“Could we have done better? We sure could have. If we had extended the contracts, would that have helped? It sure would have. These are all things to be considered, and quite frankly we do this after every event,” Pitushka said of the review and report, adding the process would begin this week.