Funny you should ask: How often should I shovel my walk?

 

This can be slippery stuff!

Sec. 90-403. - Responsibility of owner or occupant.

The owner or occupant of any lot or parcel shall remove or cause to be removed, within 24 hours of cessation of each continuous period of snowfall, all snow and ice which may have fallen or accumulated upon the sidewalk in front of such lot or parcel provided, when ice has so formed that it cannot be removed, the owner or occupant shall keep the same sprinkled with a material which will prevent the sidewalk from being dangerous to pedestrians. All snow and ice so removed shall be deposited on the property of such owner or occupant, or be hauled away by such owner or occupant, or their agent, and such removal shall at all times conform with the provisions of Section 90-405.

(Code 2005, § 6-2-7(a); Ord. No. 739A, § 1, 5-13-2014)

It seems like a dumb question, doesn't it? “As often as it needs it, right?” seems like the right answer. In reality it should be: “Within 24 hours of the last snow” as that is what our Code of Ordinances state.

This gets walked on every day

If you drive around town these days, however, it's clear that people have different opinions about the answer to this question. There are many stretches of sidewalk that are clean and clear allowing pedestrians to walk safely over them. At the same time there are equally as many that have been totally untouched since the last snowfall on New Year's Eve five days ago. “What's the big deal? I mean, it's not even an inch!”, you may think. But snow that gets walked on repeatedly while temperatures remain the way they have this week turns into ice. And ice is a public safety hazard.

I spoke with Building Inspector/Zoning Administrator Joe Atwood about this matter and he told me that generally speaking after a snowfall he gives people a couple of days to get 'er done. After that, however, they may be subject to a citation. Article X (“Snow and Ice Regulations”) clearly states that not only do all of us have to be on task to push the snow off our sidewalk within a 24-hour period (Sec 90-403 – see above) but failure to do so may result in the City doing it for us and sending us “a special tax” to accompany our tax statement (Sec 90-404). Furthermore, when we do push or move it we should think twice before we throw it in the street as that kinda of thing is definitely prohibited (Sec 90-405). (Note: Every snow season there are residents who push their snow with their ATV or snowblower into the thoroughfare thinking perhaps that one of the city plow guys will just sweep it up on their next pass. Most of the time our guys come through in the middle of the night and are long gone by the time we get around to moving our snow. Public Works Director Dan Knapp would simply say, “Don't be that guy.”)

Long before I was elected mayor, I have pushed snow as a side-gig and since October 31 I have had to do that for my customers (all of whom live within the city limits) five times. I used to have a customer who suggested to me that I could leave “small snowfalls” be and only shovel when we got “the big stuff”. We had to part ways on a matter of principle: the Code says we need to move snow every time it falls and accumulates, walked-on snow soon becomes ice and I'm the mayor. If the mayor doesn't move snow after each snowfall why should anyone else have to?

Now that's more like it

Did you hear that just the other day a customer slipped and fell in the parking area of a local business and broke their hip? I was told that unmoved snow that had become slippery was the culprit. The moral of this unfortunate tale to all of us is DON'T BE THAT GUY unnecessarily putting our neighbors and fellow townsfolk at risk. The heavier stuff is coming and will get here soon enough. Might as well put our back into it and get at it (if we haven't already done so).