by Sleepy Eye Police Chief Matt Andres
I am a little early this year, this is usually my November article. Most don’t want to think about it, but snow season is almost here and with it comes winter parking rules.
Over the last five years the Sleepy Eye Police Department has written between 35 and 123 parking tickets each year. The reason for the large difference is the amount of snow that falls. Roughly 90 to 95 percent of the parking tickets we write are for snow related issues.
For those who are new to Sleepy Eye, or haven’t heard about how snow emergencies are declared, we use a text/email system. We use the Nixle alert system. Signing up is free to citizens. Citizens can sign up for text or email alerts. If you get email alerts you will not receive text alerts. Unless you consistently check your email, I would recommend the text alerts. To get the Nixle alerts by text anyone can just text our zip code (56085) to 888777. This will automatically enroll you in the text alert system. If you would like to get the email alerts, anyone can sign up by going to Nixle.com. The city does use the system to pass other information. The system is used sparingly and there is no worry about receiving alerts every day.
Since the last declared snow emergency in February there have been only five alerts sent. Once a snow emergency is declared vehicles parked in the downtown area marked with snow emergency signs need to be moved within two hours. Most alerts are sent during the day, with the snow emergency declared between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. That means you would get a text alert during the day and your vehicle would need to be moved by midnight to 4 a.m. depending on the time the emergency is declared.
Vehicles can’t be returned to the downtown area until the snow is removed by the city crews. The snow emergency is important for citizens not in the downtown area as well. Once the downtown area is cleared, crews will start to move snow in the residential areas.
If your vehicle is plowed around on the street, you now have 24 hours to move your vehicle to an area clear of snow. The day following a snow emergency the officers will drive every street systematically and write citations for snow violations. Your vehicle must be moved to a clear area and leave enough room for snow to be removed. If you move your vehicle to a clear area but are parked right up to a snow drift and plow can’t remove that snow, you are still in violation of the snow ordinance and will be given a citation.