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Changes could be on the way for sidewalk snow removal in Helena

Independent Record - 2/25/2019

Feb. 25-- Feb. 25--Kathy Collins doesn't go downtown when the snow is piled up like it has been this February.

Collins lives with a disability, as did 13.7 percent of Lewis and Clark County between 2012 and 2016, according to the Census Bureau'sAmerican Community Survey. She was diagnosed at 6 weeks of age with osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disorder characterized by brittle bones. But she still enjoys the outdoors through use of a power chair.

A former teacher at CR Anderson Middle School, Collins said she has worked on disability rights, including accessibility, dating back to her high school days in Anaconda. On the issue of clear sidewalks, she believes Helena tries its best, and that its status as Montana's capital likely helps it be more responsive than other cities.

But, she said, she would like to see the city take it more seriously.

"Unless you have somebody who is faced with the inaccessibility of snow removal, it really doesn't matter," Collins said.

City ordinance requires snow and ice to be cleared from public rights-of-way outside commercial districts no more than 24 hours after snowfall ceases. After 24 hours is up, enforcement relies on citizen complaints.

If city inspectors find a property in violation after a complaint, they leave a warning in the form of a door hanger. Should a follow-up inspection yield the same result, city workers clear the snow and bill the owner.

According to City Manager Ana Cortez, Helena residents submitted 190 complaints between Oct. 9 and Sunday.

Helena is now mulling a pilot program for plowing sidewalks.

The program, as currently planned, would impact 10 miles of sidewalk per day with emphasis on clearing "sensitive" areas, such as senior centers and schools, and what the city has identified as "problem" areas.

Cortez forecast that the program, which the city hopes to kick off at the beginning of March, would cost about $10,000 for five weeks including temporary labor. However, she noted Wednesday, city staff don't yet "have every T crossed."

George McCauley has spoken against the concept of neighbors reporting neighbors for violating the ordinance before. But he also believes an area's lack of complaints does not necessarily mean there are fewer offending properties.

McCauley, who chairs the city's Americans with Disabilities Act compliance committee, submits photographs of properties in violation of the snow removal ordinance to city government. A few winters ago, he said, he captured 169 such images in an hour, only stopping at that number because he was too disheartened to continue.

"No complaints is not the same thing as saying the sidewalks are shoveled," McCauley said.

In his capacity as a Helena citizen, McCauley suggested last year such measures as using transportation employees or volunteer police to identify and warn offending properties, or working with outside organizations to educate the public.

Snow removal has been a hot topic at the City/County Building in the past few years. In October, Helena passed an ordinance requiring emergency snow routes to be clear of vehicles when 2 inches of snow are forecast. To that end, the city towed 57 cars, trucks, boats and trailers between Jan. 25 and Feb. 20.

But as executive director Doug Habermann of Bike Walk Montana pointed out, driving is not the only form of transportation subject to bad weather. Sidewalk use is important during times of inclement winter weather.

"People need to keep that in mind that this is a how a lot of people move around through our community," Habermann said. "This is a transportation system and ... it needs to be taken care of to allow those people to move around for any number of reasons."

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