Sibley City Council clarifies rules for snow removal | Gazette-tribune | #citycouncil


SIBLEY—The accumulating winter snowfall is producing ongoing headaches for those responsible for monitoring and moving it.

That includes the Sibley City Council who addressed a residential concern during its meeting Monday, Jan. 23.

Gert Gaalswyk requested to speak to the council after receiving a letter from the city about snow being moved from her property onto the perimeter parking area at Central Park.

“It said something to the effect that they would not like to have the snow pushed across the street into a parking space which is not being used all winter, and that it is endangering people on the sidewalk and the snowplows,” Gaalswyk said.

She questioned what had changed. She and her late husband Stan had snow removal handled this way for 40-some years, and she stated that he even had an OK from the city.

“Now, all of a sudden, we have a lot of snow, and I don’t know where to go with it,” Gaalswyk said. “I don’t know why all of a sudden it came up.”

City manager Susan Sembach confirmed that the city received several complaints about snow being pushed over to the Central Park area and has sent out numerous letters citywide to residents about improper snow removal.

“One of the big concerns was that, and I don’t whose person it was moving snow across, that they were leaving berms of snow in the street, creating a hazardous issue for drivers,” Sembach said.

Snow pushed up was also falling onto the sidewalk, causing the city extra work by having to re-clear the sidewalks around the park.

“Our code does mimic the Iowa state law that you cannot move snow across a street, any street. And if they’re leaving piles of snow in the street, that is creating a hazardous driving situation,” Sembach said. “That code was put in there in 1976, so it’s always been there. It’s just never been enforced.”

Sibley code states, “It shall be unlawful for any person to throw, push or place or cause to be thrown, pushed or placed, any ice or snow from private property, sidewalks or driveways onto the traveled way of streets so as to obstruct gutters or impede the passage of vehicles upon the street or to create a hazardous condition therein.”

Planning and zoning administrator Steve Hallgren added that this is a common practice for cities.

“Most cities by far have language that says when you remove snow, the snow needs to stay on your property,” Hallgren said.

Street department head Wayne Poss offered that when his crew is clearing that area, they will attempt to move some of the snow across to the park side with the maintainer if possible.

Gaalswyk asked about the legality of piling snow between the street and sidewalk on the city boulevards. This practice is allowed.

“You can pile your snow there, but the minute it starts to topple over either into the sidewalk or onto the street, then we have a problem,” Sembach said. “You just can’t take it across the street.”

The other alternative is to have someone haul it away. Snow removal companies can bring snow to the city site on Twelfth Street. There is no fee to dump snow there. The city charges $30 per load if they remove snow from a resident’s property.

Gaalswyk agreed to notify her snow removal service to pile her snow on the boulevard area for now. Sembach agreed that the snow is a hot topic right now.

“I’ll accept this, but I sure am unhappy with it,” Gaalswyk said. “Thank you for your time and I did not accomplish anything. People are going to ask me because there are a lot of people talking about it.”


Click Here For This Articles Original Source.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *