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Brainerd council approves city crews for downtown snow removal after contentious debate
Summary
After lengthy debate about operational changes, costs and downtown impacts, the Brainerd City Council voted to assign public works and parks crews to perform downtown snow removal rather than award the contract to a private bidder, a decision opponents warned could leave windrows in the street for one to two days and change assessment billing for property owners.
Brainerd City Council voted on Oct. 20 to have city public works and parks crews perform downtown snow removal instead of awarding the service to a private contractor, after an extended debate about cost, traffic impacts and how property owners would be assessed.
The motion, introduced by Safety & Public Works chair Tad Ericson and seconded by Councilmember Chzach, passed on a roll‑call vote: Jagger, Ericson, Bevans, Chzach and Council President O'Day voted yes; Councilmember Johnson voted no.
Supporters said the single private bid received earlier was about 20% higher than last year and that using city crews would reduce the assessed cost borne by downtown property owners. "We've calculated a good average winter…we took the calculations and put that in there so that you could really see what our current practice would be," staff told council, adding that the city model would cut assessed costs roughly in half for a typical 50‑foot frontage.
Opponents warned of operational tradeoffs. Several council members and downtown stakeholders raised concerns that city crews would push snow into windrows in the middle of streets and that the windrows might remain for a day or two until street crews could remove them, creating narrowed lanes and parking difficulties. "I don't like the idea of windrows sitting in the middle of our core downtown where we have the bumpouts," one councilmember said, noting traffic‑calming bumpouts that reduce clearance.
Council discussed hybrid approaches — for example, using city crews for sidewalks and initial clearing and hiring contractors overnight to remove windrows — and asked staff to refine operational plans and communication with downtown property owners. Staff said assessment policy remains unchanged and that hours tracked by city crews would be included in the assessment calculations for the special service district.
The vote does not preclude future adjustments. Council members asked staff to monitor operations closely, return with options to avoid undue disruption when possible and follow up on assessment implications and outreach to downtown property owners.
The council also approved related change orders and other committee items during the same Safety & Public Works committee report.
