Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Snow Removal topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
River Falls reviews snow-and-ice operations after downtown business raises sidewalk access concerns
Summary
After a downtown business owner raised concerns about where cleared snow ends up, city public works briefed the council on plow priorities, equipment, anti-icing practices, odd/even parking and enforcement steps — and encouraged downtown coordination for blower pickup.
River Falls city officials addressed downtown sidewalk access and operational details for the winter season at the Dec. 9 City Council meeting after a downtown business owner said recently cleared snow often ends up blocking sidewalks or parking spaces.
The council heard public comment from Melissa Abduch, owner of Mimi's Cookies and Creamery, who said the city does “a great job of clearing snow from the roads, downtown,” but that "there is a great hindrance of snow and how it's removed or how it's moved about," leaving business owners with no obvious place to put sidewalk snow and affecting customer access.
Public Works Manager Eric Ellifson and operations staff outlined priorities and procedures. Ellifson said the city prioritizes main streets (including routes near police, fire and emergency services), high-priority routes near schools and UW'River Falls, through streets, neighborhood streets and then dead ends; a full standard plow pass across the town typically takes about eight hours. Staff described their equipment mix (single-axle plow trucks, a motor grader, wheel loaders, blowers and sidewalk sweepers) and anti-icing practices: "It's a 23.3% blend of salt and water," staff said, and crews pretreat roads with brine so rock salt activates faster; for temperatures below 15 degrees the crews use a 70/30 beet-heet blend to increase salt effectiveness.
To give businesses a predictable opportunity for downtown pickup, staff described the city's downtown sequence: a grader and then contractor trucks, and the blower generally runs on the second night after the initial plow. Staff advised that downtown property owners who want their sidewalk snow collected by the city's blower need to get snow to the curb by about 2 a.m. on the second night of clearing.
The presentation also reviewed winter parking and enforcement: odd-even parking operates from Nov. 1 through March 31 so plows can clear one side each night, and the city issues a door tag giving property owners 24 hours to clear sidewalks before the city clears them and issues a citation. When asked how many odd-even parking citations had been issued, staff replied, "I believe in the hundreds."
Council members asked about coordination with schools and neighboring counties. Staff said transportation staff from the school district sometimes checks road conditions and that county crews and city crews coordinate in shared zones. A downtown business owner who spoke later said better advance notice or block-level coordination could reduce conflicts between private shoveling and city blower operations.
No formal action was taken. Staff and council encouraged downtown merchants to coordinate so the city's blower can collect curbside windrows and asked the public to follow odd/even parking and sidewalk-shoveling rules to improve safety and access.
The city also discussed plans to name the new/used plow via a community contest and reminded residents that enforcement and operations aim to finish cleanup in time for the morning commute when possible.
