Tired of his mailbox being damaged by snowplows, an Amherst, N.S. man has come up with a temporary solution in the form of a bucket.
Richard Farrow says his mailbox was struck by a snowplow three times this winter, damaging it the first two times.
The third time it was knocked off its pole completely, ending up in a ditch at the bottom of a snowbank.
“There’s mailboxes in front of me, there’s mailboxes behind me, but they’re not picking on them, but mine is gone. Mine’s 20 feet down over in a ditch,” he says.
At 71, Farrow says he’s too old to be digging in a snowbank for his mailbox, so now he’s using a bucket, which he takes back into his house every night.
“I come out in the morning and I stick it in the snowbank and I take it in at night,” he says. “I never had a problem with my mailbox before, but all of a sudden, boom, this year they’re reckless as hell.”
When it comes to damaged mailboxes, plow operators are protected by the provincial Public Highway Act. Plows have the right of way on provincial highways, and whenever boxes are damaged, it becomes the owner’s responsibility.
“We understand people put effort and work into putting these mailboxes up and the last thing we want to do is damage them and that because people want their mail and I understand that,” says Greg Frail of the Department of Transportation.
There is a claim process for which people can apply, but Farrow says he’s been told he doesn’t have much chance of success.
“I don’t want them to replace it, just give me the material. I’ll replace it myself.”
Farrow says he will continue to use his ‘mail bucket’ until the snow is gone and the plowing season is over. He plans to build a new mailbox in the spring, which he hopes will survive until next winter.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh
