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Lawrence committee tables snow-emergency review after debate over towing, blue-light alerts and odd–even parking
Summary
The city’s public safety committee heard police and staff on snow-emergency enforcement, learned towing capacity fell short during the latest storm, and agreed to revisit the parking ordinance and resident alerting; the item was tabled for further committee work and follow-up reports.
The Lawrence Public Safety Committee on March 2 heard officials say the mayor activated the snow emergency early during the latest storm, but enforcement and public notice problems left gaps in compliance and street clearing.
Captain Serilla of the Lawrence Police Department told the committee the department put an operational plan into effect, deployed traffic control and ticketing, and worked with DPW on towing and push-back operations. He estimated the last storm generated roughly 2,000–2,500 citations citywide and said police and towing contractors removed about 175 vehicles from key corridors including Broadway, South Broadway, Manchester and Hampshire Streets.
Several councilors and police officials said the city lacked towing capacity compared with past storms. Council members said two tow firms (Sheen and Cody’s) handled most tows after a third firm, Hook and Go, could not keep up. That shortfall slowed vehicle releases from tow yards and complicated push-back operations, officials said.
Committee members pressed officials on the city’s blue-light notification system and whether a return to a seasonal odd–even parking rule would improve compliance. Captain Serilla said the blue-light activations alone are “not effective” and that a predictable schedule (councilors cited December 15–April 15 or nightly alternating parking) would increase compliance and make plowing more effective.
Senior advisers and police described interdepartmental coordination: LPD, DPW and fire compile nightly operational lists and meet at 11 a.m. during emergencies to designate streets for towing and plowing. Officials also said alleyways posed fewer problems because most are privately owned and not typically targeted for towing.
Councilors raised resident notification as a parallel problem. Staff said the mayor’s office and IT must coordinate a broad emergency-alert plan; current text-message and robocall systems require residents to subscribe, which officials said limits reach. Members proposed exploring a ‘411’-style line, expanded robocalls, additional blue-light placement and a standing committee to develop a unified SOP and outreach strategy.
After the discussion the committee moved and seconded to table item 4326 to allow department heads and councilors to convene further work on ordinance revisions, towing capacity and notification improvements. The motion passed on a recorded voice vote.
