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Snow Removal
Frequently Asked Questions
Q:
What
streets in town are snow emergency routes?
Q:
Once the snow emergency route is plowed
curb-to-curb can I park back on that street?
Q:
How do I know when I need to remove my car
from the streets?
Q:
Can I park my vehicle in the boulevard?
Q:
I live on an east west street. How soon do I
need to remove my car from the street?
Q:
When do the north south streets get plowed?
Q:
Does ticketing begin on North South streets
as soon as plowing begins?
Q:
When does snow removal in the down town
district begin?
Q:
When are City owned parking lots cleared of
snow?
Q:
When the snowplow went past it threw snow up
on the sidewalk. Does the City remove this snow?
Q:
I have a large pile of snow in front of my mailbox
and the post office will not deliver the mail. Will the City clear
the snow in front of the mailbox?
What streets in town are snow emergency routes?
All snow emergency
routes are clearly marked with signs along the route that reminds
people that parking is not allowed once 2 inches of snow falls on
our community. The list of streets that are signed as emergency snow
routes are: First Avenue from Minnesota Street to Foster Street;
Fifth Avenue from Sanborn Street to Foster Street; Havens Street
from Ohlman Street to Burr Street; Sanborn Street from Havens Street
to North Highway 37; Burr Street from Havens Street to Seventh
Avenue; and Miller Street from Havens to Ninde.
Once the
snow emergency route is plowed
curb-to-curb can I park back on that street?
No!
The actual ordinance is
as follows:
Sec. 23-89 Parking restrictions on emergency snow routes.
When a snowfall of more than two inches occurs, no person shall
park or leave parked along the curb parking areas on any of the
streets or portions of streets designated as snow emergency routes,
any vehicle until such time as the street has been cleared of snow
back to the curb line, and snowfall accumulation has ceased.
Please take note
of the last portion of the ordinance where it states no parking is
allowed until the street has been cleared AND
snowfall accumulation has ceased.
During a snow event the plowing of
the highways and snow emergency routes begin almost immediately
sometimes with less than an inch of snow on the ground. However,
ticketing and towing along emergency routes begins once it is
determined that we have received 2 inches of snow. Ticketing and
towing continues until the snow event has ended. The
street department plows emergency routes several times during a
storm. Storms sometimes spread over two and on rare occasions three
days. On those occasions there should be no parking on emergency
snow routes for whatever the length of the storm.
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How do I know when
I need to remove my car from the streets?
Any time snow begins to fall during the winter, your car should be
removed from the emergency snow routes and refrain from parking on
these routes until the storm has passed.
Every few hours, throughout a
snow event, public service announcements are given to the local
radio stations and newspaper. The local radio stations are very
quick in responding to these public service announcements. They do
an excellent job in informing the public of what is taking place for
snow removal activities. These announcements can also be found on
the at
www.cityofmitchell.org. Just follow the
Snow Alerts link.
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Can I park my vehicle in the boulevard?
No, because that area is public right
of way and would be considered part of the street.
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of Page>
I live on an east west street. How soon do I need
to remove my car from the street?
The normal sequence of plowing
streets in Mitchell is emergency & priority routes first. If the
snow has diminished, the plowing of east west streets immediately
follows the completion of the emergency routes. Ticketing on east
west streets begins when the plowing begins on those streets.
Therefore, it is advisable to listen to the radio stations or check
the internet for plowing announcements. It is advisable to remove
your vehicle from east west streets as soon as snow begins to
fall.
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When do the north
south streets get plowed?
Plowing begins on the north -
south streets as soon as the east west streets have been cleared
curb to curb.
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Does ticketing
begin on North South streets as soon as plowing begins?
Ticketing (by ordinance) does not
begin on the north - south routes for twelve hours after the
completion of plowing of east west streets. This is to give
residence some time to remove the vehicles from the north south
streets. That means the street department will likely return the
following day to cleanup areas where cars were parked on the first
day. If your vehicle is still on the street after twelve hours has
passed since the east west streets have been cleared, you may
receive a ticket. The police department patrols those streets, after
12 hours have passed, and writes tickets to vehicles that have
not been moved during that storm and have been plowed
around.
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When does snow
removal in the down town district begin?
Snow removal in the downtown
area,
District A, occurs as soon as practical
after a storm has passed. Signs are placed in the streets at
numerous locations in
District A and public service
announcements are made on the radio stations. No parking is allowed
on any street in this district after 11:00 p.m. that night. Parking
is restricted until after the windrow of snow is completely removed
from a given street.
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When are City
owned parking lots cleared of snow?
Public parking lots are cleaned as
soon as practical after the snow is removed from the downtown
District A streets. However, snow removal in parking lots and
streets in District A are NEVER performed on the
same night. Signs are placed at entrances into the parking lots that
are going to be cleared and announcements made on the radio stations
and posted on the Snow Alerts page.
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When the snowplow went past it threw
snow up on the sidewalk. Does the City remove this snow?
It is the property owners
responsibility to keep the sidewalks clear of snow & ice. If the
property owner does not clear the sidewalk the City may clear the
walk and bill the property owner.
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I have a large pile of snow in front of my mailbox
and the post office will not deliver the mail. Will the City clear
the snow in front of the mailbox?
It is the residence responsibility to
keep the snow removed from in front of the mailboxes. With over 4000
residences in Mitchell it is impossible to keep mailboxes clear of
snow piles. When snow is plowed from the street, it is pushed to the
side. Over time a windrow of snow accumulates in front of mailboxes.
If we continue to push the snow over, eventually the mailbox would
also be pushed over.
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