More than two months after the city sought a cost estimate for clearing snow from multiuse paths, similar to the Monon Trail, the City Council has not publicly discussed the issue.

The request came Oct. 20 from Mayor Jim Brainard during a council discussion of an ordinance to drastically raise fines for businesses that don't clear snow and ice from their sidewalks. The ordinance passed that night.

Council member Ron Carter hopes to take the snow removal a step further and wants the city to look into clearing multiuse paths.

"Currently no, we don't have a plan in progress to clean all the paths in the city," said street department director Dave Huffman. "Without sitting down and calculating, I couldn't tell you the manpower and equipment (we would need.) Currently we don't have enough to do it in a timely fashion while maintaining the streets."

Carter did not vote for the business snow removal ordinance because he couldn't get confirmation from Brainard and Huffman that the city would take care of multiuse paths.

"We put in a great deal of multiuse path infrastructure that people in the community, as they get healthier and healthier, are more interested in staying healthy through the year, but they can't use the facilities," Carter said.

Brainard said the parks department clears the Monon after each snow, and he realizes that other paths don't get the same treatment. He said he would consider looking into clearing paths in the center and more pedestrian part of the city, and then expand the snow removal service outward over time.

The mayor asked Huffman to prepare an estimate of the costs for snow removal on multiuse paths and to provide it to the council members within 30 days. Since that October meeting, nothing more has been presented or discussed about the issue during City Council meetings.

Under the new snow ordinance for businesses, those that don't clear accumulations from the previous 24 hours by noon on any day they are open are to get a written warning, but the consequences rise sharply.

A second violation in the same year could cost the business $150.

"And if you don't get the message, the fine jumps to $500 to make sure that you do get the message," said council member Luci Snyder, who co-sponsored the ordinance with Eric Seidensticker. They wanted the ordinance "to reflect that there are areas in our city that are not car-driven. They are pedestrian-driven," she said.

When the year is over, the slate is wiped clean.

Requiring businesses to keep their walks clean is not new, but the old ordinance set a $10 fine.

"The fines were so minute," Snyder said. "When (businesses) really didn't want to shovel snow, they could afford to spend $10 and not do it."