City backs off snow removal plan

The city received a strong reaction to their proposal to contract for snow removal services in the downtown business core. (See nuggetnews.com, December 4, "City to coordinate downtown snow removal.")

After meeting with upset snow removal contractors and business owners in the days following the announcement, City Manager Andrew Gorayeb announced at Thursday's city council meeting that the city would take the interim step of first enforcing the snow removal codes now on the books.

Gorayeb said, "I am going to make a recommendation to council that we take a very different approach to this (snow removal). The city never enforced the snow removal, ever. The first thing we need to do is enforce. The second thing we need to do is to make the contact information of the 12 or 14 local contractors available to people as part of the enforcement process ...if someone does not remove their snow then we (will) send a contractor out to do that work, and then ... pass that cost on to the property owner."

At this point, snow removal remains the responsibility of the individual business and/or property owners.

There is little disagreement that removing snow from downtown sidewalks is a hassle, and can be more than a little chaotic with each businesses individually contracting for snow removal. Scheduling is a challenge for the business owners and snow removal contractors alike. Plowing happens on a haphazard time schedule and sometimes leaves snow piled up in awkward areas and sidewalks connecting business.

While snow removal in front of empty buildings and vacant lots is still the responsibility of the property owner, the snow removal often does not get done, leaving sidewalks and parking areas a patchwork of cleared and un-cleared access. This patchwork can make it difficult for shoppers to park and to navigate on foot in the downtown area.

Several long-time local snow removal contractors attended the council meeting with the intent to testify against the announced city plan. After Gorayeb, Boyd and Public Works Director Paul Bertagna's discussion of the city's change in direction, the contractors instead praised the city for listening to and being responsive to the wishes of the community.

A number of the contractors and business owners indicated that they believed that the proposed city snow removal program was being "mandated" by the city, and it was the mandate that had them upset.

Gorayeb said, "I checked with all my staff at the city and no one used the word mandate. We never contemplated making it mandated."

Boyd said, "The desire from the council is not to be heavy-handed, but it is to provide a better service for both the townspeople and the visitors. I've had a storefront on Hood Street for 24 years. You can't walk west or east without having snow on the sidewalk. If (this process) doesn't work this year, we want to continually refine this (program)."