Lincoln City Council passes resolution aimed at improving city snow removal

Many residents said they’re frustrated with the way the city handled snow removal this winter.

On Monday the Lincoln City Council unanimously passed mayoral candidate Cyndi Lamm’s resolution that would create a task force.  It would examine snow removal operations and recommend any changes to the current policy.

“The last time that citizens were involved in making decisions regarding winter operations was back in 2009, where it relates to snowfall,” Lamm said.  “It’s time to re–examine those expectations and needs of the citizens.”

The resolution they passed included an amendment proposed by another mayoral candidate, Leirion Gaylor Baird, that would have the task force also assess how much any recommended changes would cost.

“I just want to make sure that we’re also talking about the dollars that come with any change in service delivery so that citizens are making informed choices,” Gaylor Baird said.

Not all those running for mayor agree with the idea of creating a task force to address the issue.

Jeff Kirkpatrick said it would be better left to the Transportation and Utilities district.

“The mayor has the responsibility of making the decisions, talking with the folks in transportation and utilities — the people actually doing the snow removal — about what went wrong this winter and just making those tweaks in the snow removal policy,” Kirkpatrick said.

Channel 8 reached out to candidate Krystal Gabel for her thoughts on the subject, but we didn’t hear anything back from her.

This resolution will now go to the mayor’s desk for approval.