By Dave Fidlin
CORRESPONDENT
The City of Whitewater’s long-held Nov. 1 start to winter parking restrictions will continue this season, based on a recent decision from officials.
At a meeting Oct. 15, the Common Council discussed a proposal to shift the restrictions and instead start them Dec. 1. Councilmember Brian Schanen initially made the referral, and members of the Public Works Committee have reviewed it.
At the council’s recent meeting, Public Works Director Brad Marquardt indicated the Public Works Committee had indifference to the start date. Marquardt, however, had a firmer recommendation of how to proceed.
“While there are not huge snowfall events, there are snowfall events in November,” Marquardt said. “With cold temperatures, the concerns I have, as well as my staff, is plowing around parked calls and snowbanks that are left frozen for the winter, possibly.”
As has long been the case, winter parking restrictions are in place from 2 to 6 a.m. on all city streets so crews can adequately address snow cleanup.
At the meeting, Marquardt shared other concerns about the intricacies of winter parking protocols and did not want to introduce any further confusion to the process.
“There is no great way to communicate a snow emergency to the residents if we need the cars off the street for a snowstorm,” Marquardt said.
He also added one additional item for consideration, from a dollars and cents perspective.
“While not huge revenue, the Police Department does issue tickets or overnight parking,” Marquardt said. “Pushing the date to Dec. 1st would be a loss of some revenue.”
Looking at recent historical data, councilwoman Brienne Brown said she favored keeping the current practice in place as she weighed in on the matter at the Oct. 15 meeting.
“It makes sense to me not to change it,” Brown said. “We’ve had some pretty big snowfalls – even on Oct. 31st, a couple of times.”
