Laramie City Council Postpones Snow Removal Policy Vote

Laramie residents will have to wait another week to learn how the Laramie City Council votes on updates to the snow removal policy.

A final reading and vote on Original Ordinance No. 1977 was on the agenda for the City Council’s agenda for their regular meeting Tuesday night, Feb. 7. The council voted to postpone the vote for a second time, moving the vote to the meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 13.

Councilor Pat Gabriel said a City Council ordinance prohibits the council from bringing up topics for discussion after 9:30 p.m. During the meeting, Gabriel said it became apparent that there wouldn’t be enough time to discuss the ordinance and vote on it before that time. He said the City Council decided to postpone the vote and told the residents attending the meeting for the snow removal policy vote could go home.

The potential revisions in Original Ordinance No. 1977 aim to increase walkability and safety of Laramie’s sidewalks and include updates such as changing the snow or ice removal time frame to 9 a.m. the following morning after snowfall and requiring a 42 inch path to be cleared.

The ordinance also includes fees to enforce the policies. Violators of the policy would have 24 hours after a notice is posted on their property. If the obstruction is not removed within 24 hours, the city may hire a contractor to remove the snow, ice or other debris from the sidewalk at the violator’s expense. The owner of the property would be charged a $100 administrative fee in addition to the contractor’s fee for the first offense within a six month period. The second offense would bring a $150 fine.

The city council once before postponed the vote during their meeting on Jan. 2 to allow the City Attorney Robert Southard to add an amendment to the ordinance regarding how many notices a person in violation receives before the city hires a contractor to remove debris from their sidewalk at the homeowner’s expense.