Council directs staff to pursue 20¢/sq ft cap for downtown snow-removal cost recovery

The council gave staff direction on May 20 to pursue a cost-recovery approach to downtown snow removal, with a suggested maximum charge of 20 cents per square foot to bill downtown businesses for their share of removal costs.

Staff explained the city’s original downtown snow-removal ordinance dates to 1982 and referenced a $12 annual charge that staff said does not reflect actual costs today. City staff said the original ordinance addressed sidewalk snow removal only and did not account for center-street plowing and hauling to the landing — added operational tasks that lack a parallel fee mechanism.

Staff presented a model based on actual cost per square foot of sidewalk in the district and suggested placing a cap (staff proposed 15–20¢ per square foot) to limit single-year charges. Council and staff discussed billing timing, state reimbursement (staff said the state reimburses roughly half of certain snow-removal costs and that the reimbursement is typically provided in arrears), and whether the city could bill for prior-year costs. Staff said ordinance and billing details — including how to allocate costs by parcel and the timing of invoices — require additional work and recommended returning with an ordinance for two readings.

A motion directing staff to prepare ordinance language reflecting a cost-recovery model with a 20¢/sq ft cap was made, seconded and approved by the council as direction to staff. The council noted some downtown businesses had differing experiences in recent years and asked staff to include implementation details such as billing timing, caps, and an escalator for future cost changes when it returns with proposed ordinance language.