Snow Removal a Hot Topic in Royal Oak

Royal Oak officials discussed the S-word and the B-word — snow and the bucks it will take to remove it from commercial sidewalks with heavy pedestrian traffic — at a City Commission meeting this week.

Clearing snow from some 53 miles of commercial sidewalks could cost the city anywhere from $57,000 to $119,000, according to an analysis prepared by the city’s management analyst, Kayla Barber-Perrotta, The Daily Tribune reports.

City Commissioner Kyle DuBuc, who thinks a better job can be done with snow removal, suggested options presented by Barber-Perrotta’s were “a series of blown-up number to scare us away from this issue.”

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Much depends on how much snow falls this winter. Some estimates put Royal Oak’s average at 33 inches of snow per winter, but the winter of 2013-2014 was the snowiest on record with nearly three times that in the Metro Detroit area. Snowfall in the winter of 2014-2015 was closer to the average.

The sidewalks in question are mainly located next to businesses, but municipal studies don’t recommend an ordinance requiring snow removal. Instead, the city is considering removing snow with its own crews or hiring a contractor so high traffic areas can be cleared quickly.

Some commissioners favor skipping adoption of an ordinance and instead conducting a community-wide awareness campaign to encourage both residents and businesses to voluntarily remove snow from their properties. Commissioner Sharlan Douglas thinks the city should hire a contractor to handle snow-removal in high-pedestrian areas and have a plan in place by the beginning of the 2016-2917 winter, but DuBuc said he wants “to see some action on this.”

Mayor Jim Ellis encouraged the commission against rushing through an ordinance.

“We may be creating a bigger problem than we’re solving,” he said, pointing out there are too many unknown factors and unanswered questions about code enforcement.

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• Do you think the city should adopt an ordinance, contract out snow removal on sidewalks, leave it to businesses to clear their own sidewalks or something else?

The city’s Department of Public Service lacks the personnel to take on snow removal on sidewalks, but Greg Rassel, the department’s head, said “we can find a solution to anything you want to do, if you staff it and fund it.”