It can take several hundred feet of roadway for a snow plow to go around a vehicle that is parked out in the street. Once the vehicle is removed the plow then has to return to clean off the remainder of the street. City ordinances allow the police department to ticket and tow vehicles which remain on the street when over two inches of snowfall occur. In an effort to reduce the time spent removing snow, the city will issue a ticket the first time a vehicle is left in the street and ticket and tow the vehicle on the second offense.
The broken branches generated by the ice storm can be disposed of in several ways. Property owners can place the branches along the curb for the city to pick up but, because of the volume and additional expected snow, some branches may not be picked up until the spring thaw. The other option is for property owners to take the branches to the brush collection site at Daubendiek Park. Twigs and small branches will be treated as normal brush and can either be placed in bio-degradable bags with a red tag purchased at city hall or can be taken to the brush collection site.
There are 260 fire hydrants throughout the city and, although the fire department tries to remove snow around the hydrants, keeping them clear of snow is actually the responsibility of the property owner.
The city makes every effort to keep snow away from curbside mailboxes but when a mailbox becomes buried, it is the property owner’s responsibility to maintain access to their mailbox so mail service can be delivered uninterrupted.
