KITCHENER — Don't get rid of your snow shovels just yet.

City councillors unanimously decided Monday not to follow the lead of a handful of Ontario cities and take over snow clearing on all its city sidewalks.

It would cost the average homeowner just over $26 a year to have the city shovel every sidewalk in the city, but councillors opted to stick with the current policy, which requires property owners to clear their sidewalk to bare pavement within 24 hours of a snowfall.

Having the city take over the snow clearing job would cost an extra $2.7 million every winter, equal to a 2.5 per cent property tax increase that would add $26.29 to the average house, assessed at $280,000. The city would also face a one-time $4 million cost to buy more snow-clearing equipment.

That money is a small price to pay to give disabled and elderly residents the ability to leave their homes and confidently navigate city sidewalks in winter, said Dawn Clelland, a member of the Grand River Accessibility Advisory Council.

She described the heartbreak of seeing the world shrink for her daughter, Alyssa, who though blind is an avid skier and wakeboarder.

"She loves her alone time, and takes our dog around the block many times," Clelland said. "Over the years, I have watched her eliminate that activity in the winter. She is afraid of getting lost going down her own street … I cannot begin to describe how it feels, to powerlessly witness this slow erosion of hard-won confidence."

A "negligible" cost of $26 a year per property would have a huge impact on those who can't now freely travel through the city in winter, she said.

Staff recommended against the change, saying it would cost millions, increase the number of complaints the city got, and didn't make sense when several other factors could affect snow shovelling in the next year or two.

The city spends about $895,000 a winter to clear 193 kilometres of sidewalks on city-owned properties, properties with sidewalks at the rear and downtown sidewalks, for which it charges downtown properties.

Having the city clear all 1,200 kilometres of city sidewalks would also mean dumping an extra 783 tonnes of salt on sidewalks across the city.

Denise McGoldrick, the city's director of operations for environmental services, said there are several reasons not to change the policy now:

the potential for complaints from residents would increase, up from about 100 complaints a winter on city-maintained sidewalks now. If Kitchener were to get the same ratio of complaints seen in other cities that clear sidewalks, it would mean another 1,000 complaints a year.

the province is reviewing the minimum standards for sidewalk clearance, which is likely to increase snow-clearing costs.

it's not clear whether the LRT might add to the city's snow clearing costs.

the city is carrying out a pilot on clearing trails and paths around schools, which could also increase snow clearing costs.

The current policy in Kitchener is similar to that in most Ontario cities, including Cambridge and Waterloo. Cities that do clear all sidewalks include London, Burlington, Ottawa, Kingston and Guelph. Those cities vary in their standards, aiming to clear sidewalks to hard-packed snow — rather than bare pavement — within 24 to 72 hours of a snowfall.

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"Right now there's too many unanswered questions," said Coun. Kelly Galloway-Sealock, adding that if council were to change its policy, it would have to do a lot more public consultation to determine if citizens were willing to pay for the service.

The committee's decision must still be ratified by council at its next meeting Dec. 12.