From Great Big Sleet to Control+Salt+Delete: Mount Pearl seeking names for snowplows

Mount Pearl is taking snow clearing personal — in that it wants to put names on each of its shiny, new snowplows before next winter.

The city is open to public input until Wednesday, and has already received more than 70 submissions. Staff will take anything and everything under consideration, but Mayor Dave Aker said the punnier the better.

Staff wanted to get the names chosen by the spring or summer, Aker said, when the sight of a snowplow doesn't induce a wintry sense of dread.

"We look forward to getting the names on the loaders, but we don't necessarily look forward to seeing the loaders, if you get my drift," Aker told the St. John's Morning Show on Monday.

Among the contenders so far — Control+Salt+Delete, Great Big Sleet and The Pearl Hurl.

Mount Pearl Mayor Dave Aker said he would like to see new names on the city's plows more than the plows themselves at work. (Danny Arsenault/CBC)

Some machines already have names, with the mayor's favourite being Plowabunga.

"We've done some naming in the past, so we want to compete the fleet, so to speak, this time around," he said.

Mount Pearl has shelled out big bucks in recent years to replace its fleet of loaders. Aker said the city prides itself on its reputation for timely snow clearing, calling the public works department the "backbone" of city services.

People can submit names through an online survey that closes on May 15. Aker said they might accept a few late stragglers — just as residents accepted a late-season dumping of snow on Friday.

The winning names will be emblazoned on the loaders, and will also show up on the city's online plow tracker.

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