City of Decorah says snow will be removed from sidewalks--or else

City of Decorah officials are reminding property owners that city code requires that they clear sidewalks of snow and ice accumulations within a reasonable time.

Mayor Lorraine Borowski says property owners who fail to clear their sidewalks will first be contacted by telephone.

However, if property owners continue to ignore requests to shovel their sidewalk, the city can have the sidewalk cleared with or without notice--and levy a $50 administrative fee plus snow shoveling costs to the property owner.  Failure to pay the city's bill will result in the charge being added to the property owner's taxes.