St. Paul: Snow emergency continues with ticketing, towing underway

More than tickets were issued and cars were towed from designated night plow routes on the first night of St Paul s -hour snow urgency which began at p m Sunday That s an average to slightly above-average amount of ticketing and towing for a St Paul snow exigency but the first winter storm of the season is dependably a learning experience or perhaps a refresher syllabus for countless residents On top of that chosen of the city s alert systems kicked in a scant hours later than usual St Paul Inhabitants Works informs residents that a snow crisis is in effect through a variety of platforms from social media blasts on sites such as X previously known as Twitter to emails and text alerts in multiple languages an online parking map a recorded line local news media and new in latest months outgoing voice messages Not all of those systems rolled out without a kink on Sunday A trouble with a third-party vendor slowed text alerts for hours sending out text messages on a staggered basis Chosen went out right away specific trickled out reported Lisa Hiebert a spokesperson for St Paul Society Works The snow urgency was declared at about p m and several emails launched soon after but by p m only about half of the text alerts had been distributed Still all the text messages went out by p m Hiebert commented giving recipients several hours to move their cars Another issue possibly but not necessarily tied to the cyber-security affair that crippled city systems for weeks this summer left Residents Works scrambling to change the message on a recorded line - -PLOW that residents can call for updated snow urgency information That message was not changed until p m despite the best efforts of communications staff Hiebert announced We had a little glitch with the voicemail message and being able to access that she reported New and existing platforms The city added a new phone amenity about a year ago that sends recorded snow crisis messages to phone numbers culled from society records The Everbridge Resident Connect institution sends the voice recordings to landlines and mobile numbers using open sources registered in St Paul Hiebert mentioned Everbridge is distinct from the Integrated Population Alert Warning System IPAWS used by FEMA It s just one of a large number of various tactics people can get the status update Hiebert commented Signing up for email and text alerts is the best but residents can also check out the snow crisis parking map check our socials More information is online at StPaul gov snow Snow emergencies last hours After clearing major arterial streets and other designated night plow routes on Sunday night city snow plows concentrated on residential streets during daytime hours on Monday Given the amount of ice build-up Hiebert noted the city will salt residential streets which is not usually the development and return to trouble spots through Thursday evening including areas that were inaccessible because of cars that had not been moved In the latter stages of a snow urgency parking is allowed only in areas that have been plowed to the curb Vehicles parked in unplowed areas may be subject to ticketing and towing It s pretty obvious with windrows when cars haven t moved Hiebert mentioned Residents concerned about an abandoned van blocking snowplow access can call Ramsey County s non-emergency dispatch number - - or fill out an online form at StPaul gov SnowTicketing Related Articles Have questions about St Paul Populace Schools s tax levy There s a hearing Tuesday men injured in shooting in St Paul s Dayton s Bluff In St Paul apartment with drug complaints man accused of fatally shooting friend State funding secured for plans to honor Gordon Parks in St Paul Pedestrian dies a week after driver strikes her in St Paul crosswalk Minneapolis also declared a snow emergency on Sunday after a winter storm that began Friday finished dropping about inches of snow throughout the Twin Cities Hiebert s advice to new residents If you re going out of town and you park on the street make sure you reliably leave your keys with someone trusted because we do ticket and tow she noted