City debates sidewalk plowing

It's a debate that's gone on for decades. Now the city is considering just plowing sidewalks on its own.

The problem is some folks remove the snow, while others don’t. And even those that do remove the snow end up seeing it plowed back in, sometimes just a few minutes later, as the state clears Highway 2.

“People are willfully not removing snow from sidewalks,” Mayor Don Barnhart said last week during the city council meeting. “Enforce (the law) or do away with it.”

The law currently reads, “Every person, partnership, corporation or other entity in charge or control of any building or lot of land within the city, fronting or abutting on or upon a paved sidewalk, whether as owner, tenant, occupant, lessee or otherwise, shall remove and clear away or cause to be removed and cleared away, snow and ice from such paved sidewalk, to the full width thereof, in that portion of the sidewalk that abuts or is in front of such building or lot or land.”

Last week the state Department of Transportation used a Bobcat to clear sidewalks, but the city has one, too.

Barnhart also suggested the city simply remove snow on its own. In the future, it might just budget a part-time worker to run a Bobcat it owns to clear walks.

On Highway 2, businesses can follow the law, and still appear out of compliance, because in big storms, the state often plows freshly-cleaned sidewalks back in as it clears the highway. Businesses find themselves in a back-and-forth struggle with state plows.

In addition, there are “no man’s lands” in some sections. The sidewalk east of the Hungry Horse News rarely gets cleaned in a timely fashion, as the adjacent land is state owned and the sidewalk along Marantette Park is city-owned.

Neither seem to follow the law, at least in a timely manner.

The council plans on re-examining the ordinance in the future to see if it can be modified.

This story has been modified from its original version, as it was the state MDT crews that cleared the sidewalks last week, not the city as originally reported.