City donates snow-clearing machines to local community leagues

The City of Edmonton donated dual purpose snow clearing and mowing machines to three community leagues. Tuesday Feb. 02 (CTV News Edmonton)

EDMONTON — Community Volunteer Rienke Mulder says it normally takes him about four hours to clean off the ice rink in his neighborhood, but a donation has chopped that down to 15 minutes.

The city just donated three dual purpose snow-clearing and mowing machines that will hopefully make life easier for communities and the volunteers that help maintain them.

“It’s sweet,” laughed Mulder. “I'm not quite used to it yet but I've been putzing away with it and once I get the hang of what it can do it'll be excellent.”

Mulder lives in the Newton area, the other community leagues that received a donation were Prince Rupert and Aspen Gardens. The city says the donations are part of an initiative to make life better for communities in Edmonton.

“Today I think we're at this point where the city has seen the value of this type of equipment, where before they might have put it to auction,” explained EFCL executive director Laura Cunningham-Shpeley.

“There's value to just passing it along to neighborhood organizations that then can ensure clear sidewalks around parkland. It can help with things like mowing, the rink, in the summer if there's different activities, or the grounds around the hall.”

All together, the equipment is valued between $20,000 to $30,000.