Man ‘frustrated’ with city hall

Repairs to snowplow-damaged property are shoddy, he said

Mark Roberts says snow removal went as usual this past winter in his Fall River neighbourhood.

But it was when the weather began warming up and things started to thaw that he said he realized a large stretch of his backyard was ruined by snow plows.

“There was a 30-foot section of the asphalt curb that had been torn out and the pieces ended up on our lawn. Then there was another 30 feet where they didn’t tear out the asphalt curb, but they tore out my lawn,” Roberts told The Chronicle Herald.

When he was getting his mail down to the road, on Fletcher Drive, Roberts said he came by another property where “a similar thing happened.”

His first instinct was to file a report with 311.

Then, two weeks ago, Roberts said a truck came by and removed all the broken pieces of asphalt off his lawn.

“Of course by that time, the lawn was all dyed underneath where the asphalt was,” he noted.

Roberts said a crew of about 10 people then came by last week to replace the asphalt curb around his property and they did the same with the property down the street.

It was on Tuesday, when Roberts drove by to get his mail once again, that he said he realized another problem.

“They had taken 11 threefoot pieces of sod and just slapped them down behind where the new asphalt curb is. The problem is, the sod was all yellow and stinking, and even if it had been green, it wasn’t level with the top of the curb. It just looked like it’d been thrown in and stepped on,” he recalled.

“So I said to my wife, ‘What a terrible job that is. What are we going to do now?’”

Roberts said he later found the crew that was “dumping the dead sod” in Schwarzwald, where they were doing another patch-up job, and asked them why they were laying down dead sod.

“He said, ‘ We don’t know how to do this. We’re just putting in time,’” Roberts recalled from the encounter.

“Frustrated” by what he was told, Roberts said he walked away and decided to file another report with 311 and reached out to a local councillor, but has yet to hear back.

“I don’t know where to turn next,” he said.

Roberts said it’s not only the sod damage that needs to be fixed, but also the 30 feet of his lawn that was “scraped away.”

“Now what am I going to do? Do I take the dead sod and just throw it in the street? And I’ve got a $200 bill to buy new sod and lay it all in? That’s not right,” he said.

“I don’t think I should go through the expense and the time to repair something that was done by the city crew.”

The Chronicle Herald reached out to Halifax Regional Municipality to arrange an interview with a representative, but was told municipal staff were unable for an interview.

In an emailed statement, HRM spokesperson Klara Needler said the Fall River area is maintained by one of the municipality’s “performance-based snow contractors” during the winter season and therefore it is the contractor’s responsibility to repair any damage they may cause.

“As it is still early spring, the sod may not be completely green at this time. The contractor will continue to monitor the sod, and will be responsible for replacing the sod if it does not survive,” Needler wrote.

Needler noted that residents can contact 311 if they have any issues with plow damage.

Roberts said he understands that when HRM’S contractors are out plowing snow, accidents may happen.

But, he said he thinks crews should “immediately” tend to any issues that may arise instead of leaving them for residents to deal with.

“I don’t know why they’re dumping their problems on me,” Roberts added.

“It just looked like it’d been thrown in and stepped on.” Mark Roberts