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Council's budget is €1m in red after cold snap in Limerick
THE recent cold snap will see Limerick City Council lose almost €1m from its budget, figures just out show.
At this week's council meeting, members were told that gritting the roads, repairing potholes and the recovery of white lines on the snow-bound roads cost city hall a massive €930,000 during December and January's cold snap.
The cost of the cold weather - which saw city council staff out early gritting roads - means the cash strapped local authority is almost €1m down on its estimates, and a number of roads desperately requiring resurfacing may not be treated until next year.
Salting the roads cost city council €250,000, with repairing potholes accounting for €600,000, and the recovery of white lines costing €80,000.
There was also anger in the chamber after it was revealed that motorists in Limerick are subsidising rural communities when they pay their car tax - and the city is likely to get no money from the National Roads Authority next year as the Dock Road is downgraded.
Fine Gael councillor Diarmuid Scully said as a result of this, Limerick is being "hit on the double" and being "blatantly discriminated against."
Giving a presentation on the 'legacy' of the adverse weather in Limerick during the cold snap, senior engineer Vincent Murray told councillors that the coldest snap since 1963 meant up to 20 city hall staff were involved in tackling the bad weather.
He added up to 500 tonnes of grit and salt had been applied to Limerick streets and footpaths, as temperatures tumbled to minus 10 degrees, with the city council's operation increasing four-fold.
"Its an awful lot of money, and we have to take it out from what we normally spend in upgrading roads and footpaths. This places a major strain on our resources. Limerick is being a hit on the double here, because we lose out on government funding, and rates due to the manner in which the city boundary is drawn," Cllr Scully said.
The meeting also heard NRA grants have fallen by more than 70 per cent for the last two years - and because of the Southern Ring Road, the city council looks set to get no money from the authority next year since the Dock Road will be downgraded.
Cllr Joe Leddin, Labour, asked: "Once the Southern Ring Road is complete, the Dock Road will be reclassified (from a national road to a regional road]. How can we be the third largest city in Ireland and not have a national primary road?"
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Weather for Limerick
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 7 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 6 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: South east
