For the past yr, some Minneapolis City Council members have pushed the town to create a municipal program to clear snow and ice off sidewalks each winter.

Proponents say the change would relieve a backbreaking legal obligation for property owners, who currently have as much as 24 hours to clear a snowy or icy sidewalk. But Mayor Jacob Frey has been chilly to the thought, questioning how the town would find enough employees – let alone pay – for such a program.

As Minneapolis’ Nov. 7 elections approach, sidewalk shoveling has turn out to be an “only-in-Minnesota” issue dividing the City Council candidates. Proponents argue the move is well worth the expense to make the town more livable in winter. Critics imagine a municipal sidewalk-clearing program would turn out to be a textbook example of presidency run amok.

“The town already has trouble plowing streets and alleys on time,” wrote Luther Ranheim, a candidate within the race for the open Ward 12 seat, in his answer to MinnPost’s candidate survey. “The estimated cost of this program … is prohibitively expensive.”

• Related: Read MinnPost’s guide to where Minneapolis & St. Paul City Council candidates stand on hot topics

In June, city officials estimated that a city-wide shoveling program would cost $40 million per yr, enough to eat through all the brand new money generated by next yr’s already-budgeted property tax levy increase – and that’s not counting tens of thousands and thousands more in start-up costs.

Nonetheless, that $40 million estimate assumes the town would roll a brand new fleet of plows on all 1,900 miles of sidewalks after every trace snowfall, and a few council candidates say the town could explore cheaper options – for instance: clearing only high-traffic pedestrian corridors or plowing only after heavier snows.

“We will come together on this,” suggested Aurin Chowdhury, one other Ward 12 candidate. “What’s clear is we cannot spend $40 million a yr to shovel every city sidewalk, and that seniors, individuals with disabilities, and renters are facing undue hardship from un-cleared sidewalks.”

City staffers have suggested a $735,000 subsidy to the town’s neighborhood associations – a few of which already coordinate snow removal programs – could provide shoveling services for some 2,100 seniors living alone. Chowdhury suggested an analogous pilot program that may depend on “neighborhood associations, neighbors who enjoy shoveling, our young people and more.”

Nancy Ford, who’s also running in Ward 12, also told MinnPost she felt neighborhood associations “can more effectively deploy resources to do that … They understand even higher than the council the needs of residents.”

The present council is probably going to come to a decision whether to fund some form of sidewalk shoveling program on this yr’s budget talks – but will the following City Council ramp up, or decelerate, any snow shoveling program?

Below, we’ve summarized where candidates who responded to MinnPost’s candidate survey stand on municipal sidewalk clearing.

To see where this yr’s City Council candidates in each St. Paul and Minneapolis stand on a wide selection of hot topics, try MinnPost’s “Who’s running?” guide.

Should Minneapolis create a municipal program to clear snow and ice from sidewalks?

Ward 1

• Edwin Fruit: Yes
• Elliott Payne (incumbent): Yes, noting this system “doesn’t should be all or nothing.”

Ward 2

• Robin Wonsley: Yes

Ward 3

• Marcus Mills: Yes, “nevertheless it should involve the contractors which have been a significant a part of our effort up to now.”
• Incumbent Michael Rainville filled out the survey in late June. On the time, Rainville noted the council was awaiting more information on a series of pilot programs. He has since voted in favor of a non-binding budget advice to fund a pilot program and an internet interactive tool to trace street and sidewalk clearing in 2024.

Ward 4

• Leslie Davis: No
• Marvina Haynes: Yes
• Angela Williams: Yes, though the services ought to be provided by a number of the city’s existing vendors
• LaTrisha Vetaw (incumbent): No

Ward 5

• Jeremiah Ellison (incumbent): Yes, though it “doesn’t should encompass shoveling every inch of each sidewalk.”
• Victor Martinez: No
• Phillip Peterson: Prefers exploring “heated sidewalks,” but in addition willing to explore hiring part-time employees to plow

Ward 6

• Kayseh Magan: Yes
• Jamal Osman (incumbent): Yes, though he’d only support “lower cost” programs like greater enforcement or free senior removal services
• Tiger Worku: Yes

Ward 7

• Katie Cashman: Yes, but start with a pilot program “in select areas.”
• Scott Graham: No
• Kenneth Foxworth: Yes

Ward 8

• Andrea Jenkins (incumbent): Yes, supports a pilot program
• Soren Stevenson: Yes
• Terry White: Yes

Ward 9

• Jason Chavez (incumbent): Yes, supports piloting to seek out the precise “balance of funding” that may enable investments in housing and safety
• Dan Orban: Yes

Ward 10

• Aisha Chughtai (incumbent): Yes
• Bruce Dachis: No

Ward 11

• Gabrielle Prosser: Yes

Ward 12

• Aurin Chowdhury: Yes, supports pilot program, but not spending $40 million
• Nancy Ford: Yes, “via neighborhood associations.”
• Luther Ranheim: No

Ward 13

• Kate Mortenson: No
• Zach Metzger: Yes
• Linea Palmisano: No, but supports tightened enforcement and “neighborhood programs that might concentrate on a smaller scale, reminiscent of clearing sidewalks for elderly and disabled residents.”