GRAND FORKS — Inches of snow covered the sidewalks Friday, Dec. 28, in Grand Forks.
"Good exercise, clean air, nobody else around. I'm the only fool out here," said Ron Omdahl, a Grand Forks homeowner. "I blow the big stuff. This is just cleanup."
After yesterday’s big storm, the cleanup effort is still underway.
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Homeowners have 24 hours after snow falls or the wind blows to clear sidewalks and keep pedestrians safe.
"Mobility. Some people have to walk to the store yet, believe it or not, they don't have transportation," Omdahl said.
But some people refuse. If a complaint is filed with the city, crews will do it for you and bill a special assessment to your property.
"A dollar a linear foot,” said streets manager Mark Aubol. “If you've got a 50-foot-wide lot, that's going to be $50."
That's a dollar for every foot of sidewalk around your home.
But city crews say they won't check for a couple of days they've already got enough snow to clear around town.
"It's usually three, four days before we're done with our own work,” Aubol said. “Then we follow up with the complaints and try to get to them."
WDAY News has learned snow assessments topped out at $11,000 last year, many of the dollars at homes with corner lots.
