The idea of the Jefferson street crew clearing snow from sidewalks around the business side of the courthouse square got as much traction as a pig on ice with the city council’s street committee. To do so would “open up a can of worms,” said committee chair Larry Teeples at the committee’s regular monthly meeting Nov. 18.
City administrator Mike Palmer put the question on the agenda after county supervisor Guy Richardson suggested last week that it would make sense for the city to clear the sidewalks before the streets are plowed. The practice now is that business owners shovel the snow from in front of their businesses into the street. However, that’s done after the street is plowed, leaving shoppers to maneuver through the snow to get from their car to the sidewalk. Richardson said it would make the city more welcoming to retail shoppers if the city cleared the sidewalks before plowing the streets.
“This would be one of those deals that once you start, where do you stop?” Teeples said, and named two businesses, each a half-block off the square, that would want their sidewalks cleared as well.
Street superintendent Dave Teeples said he estimated it would take a person four hours to clear snow from all four sides of the square. Palmer questioned if it would be possible to make two passes with the three-foot brush used on the overpass to get the job done. According to Dave Teeples, the light posts, decorative pedestals and curbs make that impossible. “There’s only one way to do it, and that’s by hand,” he said. “The curbs are killer to get snow off.”
He also talked about the snowfall last weekend, saying it was “a good snow for a trial run,” and that a couple of minor equipment problems were found. He said the crew sanded intersections on Saturday and Sunday but didn’t plow until Monday. “For that amount of snow, I couldn’t see paying overtime,” he said.
