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After a winter that hung on for dear life in 2023, spring has sprung this year.
Even Ely city officials are convinced. Council members lifted the calendar parking requirement in town - a full 16 days earlier than last year.
The decision came at Tuesday’s special council meeting and without opposition from members.
“For those of us who live with calendar parking, this is a big deal,” said mayor Heidi Omerza.
City officials usually wait on two items before lifting the calendar parking rules - an unofficial end to winter and the completion of street sweeping in calendar parking areas.
“The calendar parking areas have been swept and now we will continue sweeping other areas in town,” said clerk-treasurer and operations director Harold Langowski.
Both last year and in 2022, a series of April snowstorms kept the rule in place much longer than usual.
There were even hints last April that calendar parking might remain place until the date allowed by ordinance, May 31, but council members relented and ended calendar parking on May 16, 2023.
In place during the winter season to aid in snow removal and plowing, the calendar parking law requires motorists to park their vehicles on opposite sides of the street on alternating nights.
The law kicks in on Nov. 1 and continues through winter.
