THE BRIGHT SIDE
There was a challenging question for the public works committee asked at last week’s meeting.
Committee chair, Cindy Flower, tried updating the snow removal policy on pedestrian paths to make it easier to understand and enforce, but despite her sensible presentation the issue turned out to be a much more controversial topic than anyone imagined. The thought was to take two wordy paragraphs down to one that would be clearer and state exactly what was expected of the street department in snow of pedestrian paths. There was some confusion as to what paths should be shoveled, when they should be done by, and if salt should be used. Originally the public works committee wanted to pass the responsibility of keeping the bike paths clean and clear to the adjacent property owners in order to relieve some responsibilities from the street department.
The city attorney addressed the committee and explained that the city couldn’t force the property owners to clean the paths, as it was for the benefit of the general public not the owners themselves. Thus, the topic was brought back to public works. There seemed to be confusion between some committee members and the public works director as to the importance of clearing the bike paths that are used regularly.
The way the ordinance is currently written states that it must mirror the sidewalk snow maintenance policy and that the city will review the time and maps from time to time in order to make adjustments as necessary. It also states that the paths will be cleared as time allows. That leads to different options as to what areas might be considered important over others and what is an allowable time frame to get them cleared. This difference of opinions is what led to last week’s lengthy discussion. Then the committee couldn’t agree that salt should be used on the bike paths, yet that is the only way to melt the ice to keep them safe.
After some discussion, the new policy was voted on and accepted reading; “As certain bike paths are multi-use paths used as sidewalks, it is acknowledged that these areas need to be cleared of snow and ice. The City DPW will plow all bike paths in the parks and in and/or adjacent to the road right of way. Paths outside of these locations will not be cleared.” Hopefully this clears things up for the city and public works. Now everyone waits to see if the city council will adapt this new ordinance.
