T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Scott McLain of Marshalltown addresses the city council during a discussion regarding parking schedules and snow routes on Monday night. As a result of his request, the council voted unanimously to remove 18th Street from the snow route designation.

The final two items on Monday night’s Marshalltown city council agenda concerned proposed changes to traffic and parking schedules, with a specific focus on stop sign placement and snow routes for city plows.

As both proposed ordinance changes were second readings, Public Works Director Heather Thomas kicked off the discussion by reiterating a few of the major changes on truck routes, one-way streets (correcting a clerical issue), stop intersections and speed limits. She did request one change to place stop signs at an additional uncontrolled intersection at 10th Street and Fremont Street and then opened the floor up to questions.

Mark Eaton was effusive in his praise of Thomas, calling her “the best engineer the city’s ever had,” before asking if stop signs could be placed at the north-south High Street intersections between 5th Avenue and 11th Avenue instead of the current plan, which would place them at the east-west intersections. Eaton cited the low number of driveways and limited traffic on High Street as the reasons for his request.

Thomas responded that she appreciated all comments and explained the rationale behind the decisions on stop sign placement as being in the interest of public safety and allowing for a smooth transition and transportation network for vehicles. Ultimately, she indicated her initial recommendation would stand.

Jim Shaw asked about the placement of the sign regulating engine braking within city limits at the north edge of town along Highway 14, wondering if it could be moved further to the north to ensure truck drivers would see it sooner. Council Gary Thompson countered that he wasn’t sure if anything could be done because it might entail moving the sign outside of city limits, and Thomas said the ordinance change before the council had nothing to do with the truck ordinance. She did add, however, that she would be happy to look into the placement in the future. A motion to approve the changes carried unanimously, as did a subsequent motion to waive the third reading.

The council then moved to the next matter at hand, the second reading of amendments to the parking schedules, and Thomas again stepped forward to explain what would potentially be changed — no parking anytime areas, parking around schools and roads where parking would be prohibited under a snow emergency.

During a prior meeting, the council did receive one comment expressing concern about a potential change to no parking anytime on Riverside Street from North Center Street to Third Avenue, and Thomas said city staff has not changed its recommendation as a result. On Monday, Scott McLain, who resides on North 18th Street, shared his trepidation about the proposal to make his road a snow emergency route due to the fact that he has a single car driveway and because his wife runs an in-home daycare.

“This is gonna have a big impact on her business with what’s going on there as well, so I don’t know how we’re gonna address that,” he said.

He also worried about his granddaughter who is in a wheelchair as a result of her cancer and wondered if she would have to be dropped off a block away when she comes to the daycare in the morning.

“I understand that they took the old school and converted it into an apartment complex across the street. That’s great. They still don’t have enough off street parking to accommodate those people,” McLain said. “So essentially what we’re gonna do is push all the parking problems on 18th Street onto Fremont because we already can’t park on Summit because it’s a snow route. So we’re gonna push everything to Fremont or a block further down on 18th and create more of an issue.”

McLain, who plows part-time for the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) in the winter, worried about the use of the wing plow and the higher risk and liability it creates. He then asked for 18th Street to be taken off the list and was frustrated that he hadn’t known about the proposed changes until recently.

“Nobody’s said anything to us. Nobody’s notified us. Nobody’s talked to us that ‘Hey, there might be an issue coming to your neighborhood,’ and I’d like the council to address that at some point as well,” he said.

Thompson subsequently asked Thomas if 18th Street could be pulled from the list and do further research on how to resolve the issue, and she responded that it would ultimately be a council decision. She indicated familiarity with McLain’s property and said it would probably be “the most impacted” on the block.

According to Thomas, 18th Street’s narrowness made it difficult for snow plow drivers to get down last winter and told the council she wouldn’t have another recommendation short of widening the road.

“We are sympathetic, absolutely, to all the people who are impacted by these changes. We didn’t take them lightly, by any means, but we are doing our best to remove the snow,” she said. “That stands to be our recommendation, but ultimately, the council has that direction.”

Thompson met with McLain before the meeting and brought a few suggestions forward, including adding indented parking on the apartment side and using the terrace with a potential cost share, and he moved to amend the motion to remove 18th Street from the snow route but proceed with the rest of the changes.

Councilor Barry Kell commented that while he didn’t have a problem tabling the measure, considering that snow removal season is just around the corner, he wasn’t fond of pushing the problem to next year.

“Maybe that’s the right direction, but then we’re looking at the inability to clear that street this winter,” Kell said. “Because (with) any of those proposed solutions, I doubt there’s time yet this construction season to make any of that happen.”

A motion to amend the ordinance change carried by a unanimous vote, and subsequent motions to pass the second reading of the amended motion and waive the third reading carried by the same margin.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.