Deputy mayor on walking back snow clearing pledge: Money does not grow on trees
Instead of the requested €15 million, Tallinn received €2 million for snow removal from sidewalks. As a result, the city will primarily focus its snow removal efforts in the City Center (Kesklinn) and Põhja-Tallinn districts, Deputy Mayor Pärtel-Peeter Pere (Reform) said on ERR's "Otse uudistemajast" webcast.
In April, Pere told ERR that Tallinn would take responsibility for snow removal from sidewalks in the coming winter. This commitment is also outlined in the city's coalition agreement. "Next winter, the city will certainly take on the responsibility of snow removal," were Deputy Mayor Pere's exact words.
"I sincerely regret that I have raised people's expectations so high," Pere now said.
"I can say that we won't be able to clear snow from all sidewalks, nor did we intend to," he added.
According to Pere, the focus for snow removal will be on the City Center and Põhja-Tallinn districts.
"Why on a limited scale and not everywhere? Because money doesn't come out of thin air. It comes from business and exports, and the city receives tax revenue from this. Our budgetary resources are limited. We allocated €2.1 million, and we strengthened the municipal snow removal fleet because we wouldn't have been able to arrange tenders in time," he explained.
According to Pere, €15 million would have been needed to clear snow from all sidewalks. With the available €2.1 million, the city will be able to remove snow at twice the capacity of last year, thanks to the purchase of additional machinery and the hiring of more staff.
Pere also pointed out another issue that undermined the original large-scale plan.
"We currently don't know how well snow removal is being handled in the city or how well the contracts are being fulfilled," he said.
According to Pere, internal audits of city districts have raised certain concerns. "For example, with snow removal, a truck comes, loads the snow and takes it away, getting paid well for it. But how much snow fits in one load? There have been some very creative interpretations. Right now, we are conducting an internal audit to evaluate how well the city is actually clearing snow. There's an ongoing criminal investigation involving two companies. The city provided funds, and one company allegedly paid another a million euros in bribes with that city money. This is theft in broad daylight. If there's so much excess money that a million can be given away, and it's still city money," Pere stated.
"So, we don't know how well the city is supervising snow removal or how effectively the snow is being cleared. And then there are corruption suspicions as well. It wouldn't be responsible to add another €10 or €20 million until we know that the system we have is working," Pere noted.
According to Pere, the city will now enhance oversight and collaboration with district governments and is also implementing innovative solutions.
"For example, when someone in Nõmme clears the path to get their car out, the snowplow won't come later in the day and block it again. We're trying to resolve these issues. We've also introduced GPS sensors on snow removal trucks. We now pay for snow removal based on camera footage. The snow storage sites we use are equipped with cameras, and we have GPS to ensure that a full load of snow was indeed transported. We're closely monitoring to ensure that the right people are in the right places at the right time and that all contract terms are being met," Pere explained.
Pere also mentioned that snow removal could have been more efficient if it had been centralized under one entity, but Mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE) opposed the idea.
"Personally, I wanted to centralize all ten-plus snow removal contracts the city has under KEKO (Tallinn Urban Environment and Public Works Department), as this would have allowed us to manage things better, but Ossinovski didn't support it," Pere said.
He added that a map would soon be published, showing exactly where the city plans to start clearing snow.
ERR asked Pere whether more snow would be removed from bike lanes this winter. "Snow removal from bike lanes will be carried out according to the condition level regulations and requirements, no later than 24 hours after snowfall. We've also included bike lanes on our snow removal map. But our main focus is on sidewalks," Pere said.
In the long term, Pere believes it would be reasonable to privatize the city's snow removal unit, sell it, and then purchase services from the resulting company.
Property owners are currently required to keep sidewalks clear of snow themselves in Tallinn, which the new coalition of the Reform Party, Isamaa, Eesti 200 and SDE promised to remedy before taking office.
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