Even though the formal discussion on the topic has yet to happen, the St. John’s city councilor who introduced the idea of heated sidewalks in the downtown already believes the idea will not be moving ahead.

Sandy Hickman was the one who first introduced the idea. He admits it was a “long shot”, but that due to the high costs of installing and operating such a system he doesn’t believe anything will come from the proposal.

He maintains there are benefits to such a system, but right now the financial impacts outweigh those benefits.

Hickman says although this proposal didn’t work out, we need to keep looking for innovative ways to support people in the city.

There are all kinds of unique ideas out there, and Hickman says “bring them on”.