From Michael Hedlund, East Grand Forks – Chief of Police
The East Grand Forks Police Department would like to remind residents about the Snow Emergency and Calendar Parking regulations for the City of East Grand Forks. On a related note, the EGF City Council has authorized the Police Department to collect food donations for the East Grand Forks Food Shelf in place of the normal $15 fine for Street Maintenance (Calendar Parking) and Snow Emergency parking tickets through the month of December. Anyone who receives a Calendar Parking or Snow Emergency parking ticket through December 31 may “pay” the ticket with a donation of at least five non-perishable food items. Donations must be brought to the East Grand Forks Police Department, along with the parking ticket. People who do not receive a ticket are also encouraged to donate food and are welcome to bring their donations to the EGFPD. All donations will be delivered to the EGF Food Shelf. The holiday season is important for many ways and your donation can make a difference to a local EGF family.
EGF city ordinance places a snow emergency into effect when the city determines that conditions on city streets caused by the presence of snow, freezing rain, sleet or ice create or are likely to create hazardous road conditions or impede or are likely to impede the travel of emergency vehicles. The emergency will go into effect one hour after the emergency has been declared through the media. The snow emergency remains in effect until all city streets have been cleared to their full width. There is no parking on city streets during a snow emergency. Vehicles parked on the street during a snow emergency are subject to ticketing and towing. Once any individual road has been completely plowed and cleaned parking may resume on that street.
In addition, the city has a street maintenance ordinance that is written to allow additional snow removal/street cleaning on specific days and times as listed below:
Parking is prohibited between 7:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. in the following residential areas on the listed days.
· District 1 – All areas North of 17th Street NW and West of Central Avenue. This district will have scheduled enforcement on Thursdays
· District 2 – The areas South of 17th Street NW and North of Gateway Drive. This district will have scheduled enforcement on Wednesdays.
· District 3 – The East and Central areas – South of Gateway Drive and North of the Red Lake River. The district will have scheduled enforcement on Fridays.
· District 4 – The Point area East of Bygland Road. This district will have scheduled enforcement on Mondays.
· District 5 – The Point area West of Bygland Road. This district will have scheduled enforcement on Tuesdays.
East Grand Forks also does street cleaning/snow removal in the commercial district (primarily downtown – see the city website at www.egf.mn for further information including maps of all parking districts). This is done Monday through Friday from 2:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. No parking is allowed on any commercial route during these hours.
Members of the public may choose to be notified (by e-mail or text) when the city declares a Snow Emergency. If you would like to sign up for these notifications, go to the city website – www.egf.mn – and click on “E-Services.” Then click on “Notify Me.” From there you can register and indicate what city information you would like to be notified about. For “Snow Emergency” notifications go to the News Flash area and indicate you want to be notified about East Grand Forks News and Announcements.
