For Collingwood's Collus Executive Director Ed Houghton, 2008 will be remembered as a year where the snow, and snow removal costs, just kept piling up. Houghton says that the 2008 budget has presently been exceeded by about five percent, or $42,600.00. Winter hit early this year, keeping snow removal crews from the Town of Collingwood very busy, even before winter officially arrived on the calendar. The Town has already had to clear and truck away snowbanks from Downtown Collingwood once at an estimated cost of $6,000.00

"We did have a great deal of snow last year but in reality our budgets were fairly accurate with the exception of the sidewalk snow removal where we were a little light" said Houghton. He feels that over time, the Town of Collingwood does an excellent job in budgeting for snow removal in anticipation for what Mother Nature can throw at this part of the province. "We continue to estimate the best we can but history shows us that over a period of time we are very accurate" Houghton said.

In addition, ongoing subdivision development in Collingwood have resulted in an increase of new sidewalks and roadways. The town is growing very quickly and Houghton says this will result in an increase in snow removal budgets. "We have installed a number of new sidewalks and we are now running a fourth sidewalk plow. Also, additional regulations and liabilities have increased the need for additional sanding and salting" Houghton said.

Town officials are presently working on the 2009 budgets for council to consider for approval.

While the town may be slightly over its snow removal budget, local businesses and attractions are enjoying a boost in pre-Christmas traffic and sales thanks to the early season snow. Blue Mountain is now open for skiing and boarding, bringing winter tourists to the area just in time for the all-important Christmas retail season. This is very good for Collingwood at a time of economic uncertainty throughout the region.