I think it's time we put lie to the notion that St. Albert residents get good value for their tax dollars. Our property taxes, which are supposed to provide us with services such as street and sewer maintenance, protection services, traffic control, snow removal and other such amenities, are not performing to the degree other municipalities in the capital region believe they are. “St Albert, where the streets are paved with gold and plowed when it snows” is a running gag of a friend of ours from Edmonton. I bought a 4WD vehicle to I can get out of my neighbourhood and get to work in the winter. Add on the bi-monthly utility costs we're billed for and our nearly $5,000 a year for our tiny old house isn't providing value at all.
What I do know is that due to the early and frequent snowfall in October when the leaves were still on the trees – and the resultant muddy conditions when it melted – I was unable to get my yard cleaned up until it was too late to have the leaves picked up by the city. I have two large bags of very-carefully-separated-from-the-rest-of-the-yard-waste leaves and a full-to-the-brim compost bin sitting beside my house for another several weeks because it's now winter in St Albert and compost is, as with garbage all year, only picked up every other week.
I'm not the only one on my street with bags lined up along the side of the house either. I draw the line at raking the leaves out of the trees on my neighbours' properties in September so that they don't blow into my yard and I can have them picked up before the snow flies. Perhaps the city should do some research to find out when the leaves actually fall these days and adjust their leaf pickup weeks accordingly. I'm positive that if we have a mild December they'll be telling us they can't flood the outdoor rinks because the weather isn't cooperating. They can't have it both ways.
Jan Fortier, St. Albert
