Determined to figure out whether to plow residential alleys, St. Paul Public Works hired consultants, sent out surveys and commissioned a study.
The recommendation? Don’t do it.
Consultants from the University of Minnesota found little public appetite for the level of services the city likely would be able to offer. In fact, 49 percent of survey respondents urged the city not to plow alleys, and 19 percent said “it depends.”
Most residents who contract private alley plowers said they were unwilling to pay more than $15 per season for the city to complete the same service, and they expressed concern that the city might actually provide less snow removal and only plow after snow emergencies.
“Respondents will expect the city to plow the alleys after each snowfall or after a 2-inch snowfall, alleys to be plowed at the same time as main streets or at the same time as residential streets,” states a study summary. “Residents will be willing to pay an amount that would not be more than the amount they are currently paying, or less than $15 per season.”
MOST RESIDENTS SATISFIED WITH CURRENT ARRANGEMENT
The study estimated total startup and operating costs to reach $8 million in the first year — which could exceed “$15 per season” several times over depending upon how the bill is divided.
If the city limited alley plowing to snow emergencies, homeowners might still have to hire private contractors anyway if they want alleys cleared following smaller snowfalls.
“Most residents with an arrangement are satisfied,” said St. Paul Public Works officials, in the summary of the consultant’s findings.
In other words, don’t expect any movement away from the status quo anytime soon.
“That report has been given to the mayor’s office as well as the city council members,” said Lisa Hiebert, a spokeswoman for St. Paul Public Works. “There isn’t a formal presentation. It’s on our website, so everything is out there. There was no budget ask for the 2020 budget. There’s nothing in there (the budget) specific to alley plowing.”
ALLEY SNOW REMOVAL MIGHT BE AS MUCH AS $8M
The 45-page report from the Institute for Urban and Regional Infrastructure Finance at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs comes at a difficult moment in discussions about the state of city infrastructure — such as roads and alleys — and the quality of organized city services such as trash collection.
Proponents have called for city-driven snow removal in alleys to improve trash and recycling pick-up.
Pointing to the city’s recent experience with organized trash collection, which has been criticized for elevated costs, skipped pick-ups and customer service issues, some residents say they’d rather contract plows on their own.
For St. Paul to remove alley snow, consultants estimated $3.1 million in one-time start-up costs, such as new plow trucks, and $4.8 million in ongoing annual costs for labor, maintenance, training and recruitment.
That’s a total cost of $7.9 million in year one alone — or more than $100 for each of the city’s 74,000 households. Adding in business storefronts would reduce the cost.
On social media, critics assailed the high concentration of survey responses from white homeowners in predominantly white neighborhoods. Roughly half the city consists of renters and racial minorities.
Tweets from that St Paul alley survey, because it's so perfect.
Uh… at least you tried? But really you didn't. pic.twitter.com/bAbwHEjDHt
— Avocadoplex 🥑🏗️ (@avocadoplex) August 21, 2019
In all, researchers analyzed more than 7,800 survey responses, most of them from zip codes 55104, 55105, and 55116 in Wards 3 and 4 — the Mac-Groveland, Highland Park, Hamline-Midway and St. Anthony Park neighborhoods. The surveys spanned 28 questions, from basics such as age and income to how frequently the alleys should be plowed.
St. Paul City Council Member Jane Prince, who represents a large mixed-income area of the East Side, said she has sensed little interest in alley plowing as she knocks on doors for her re-election campaign. She said the city has its hands full with other projects, including an upcoming ballot referendum on organized trash collection. No discussion on alley plowing has been scheduled before the council.
“I think we’ve got a really full plate right now,” Prince said. “In terms of the feedback I’m getting, the city should stay out of alley plowing. They’re definitely concerned about the price. In my ward, people have not been happy with garbage collection. It feels like over-reach to people. I have no appetite for it right now.”
12 PERCENT SAY ALLEYS AREN’T PLOWED AT ALL
About two-thirds of survey respondents said a designated neighbor, or “alley captain,” usually handled the busy work of finding a contractor and collecting funds to pay them. In some cases, a neighbor plowed for free.
For many residents, those approaches worked fine, but not for everyone. Roughly 12 percent said their alley is not plowed at all, and many said they weren’t sure who was in charge of alley snow removal.
“Based on survey results, many residents do not know how alley snow plowing services work in the city of St. Paul,” said consultants Jerry Zhirong Zhao, Camila Fonseca-Sarmiento and Raihana Zeerak in their 45-page study.
“This information is already available on the website of the Department of Public Works but the city should consider making it available in different languages for people with limited English proficiency,” the study states. “Additionally, the city should consider distributing flyers citywide to inform residents, especially new residents, about the alley plowing system in the city before the snow season/winter begins.”
The consultants looked at the pros and cons of four scenarios. They were: No municipal alley plowing, assistance with coordinating private plowing, opt-in alley plowing, and municipal plowing.
They chose to go with assistance with coordinating private plowing on streets where plowing isn’t happening.
Under that scenario, according to the consultants, the city “can create a system where volunteers or appointed city staff act as alley captains or work with neighborhood councils to assist those blocks/groups of neighbors that request it. The city can start assisting areas that have been identified as having problems with alley plowing (areas where trash and recycling collection were challenging during winter 2019). The implementation of this scenario might require offering incentives to volunteers who act as alley captains or hiring additional personnel.”
HOW MINNEAPOLIS DOES IT
In Minneapolis, the city contracts private plowers to clear alleys after snow emergencies, though there’s also some “maintenance plowing” after smaller snowfalls accumulate for a while, as well as plowing on a complaint basis.
Seasonal costs are roughly $1.5 million, or $15 per household, but the system faces some challenges. Minneapolis once put the contract out to bid among four contractors. These days, only two contractors vie for it.
When asked about whether the city of St. Paul should take over alley plowing, many survey respondents said “it depends.”
About 40 percent of respondents felt the city should provide alley plowing to alleviate the burden on alley captains and ensure that the work gets done and everyone pays.
Yet 80 percent of respondents worried about increased costs.
A total of 72 percent predicted that if the city provided the service, alleys would not be plowed as often.
Results of the study are online at stpaul.gov/alleyplowing.