However, one business owner acknowledged the efforts the city has gone to in improving its downtown snow removal in the past year, saying the situation is better and moving in the right direction.

Public Works Operations Director Bryan Banfill reviewed results of a 2023 community survey, detailing how satisfaction rates definitely needed improvement.

“We’re getting some very negative feedback when it comes to how we are performing our jobs – at least in ’23,” he said. “What we did moving forward is we conducted a root cause analysis, or at least an after-action review of not only our current snow plan but also what we would like to go ahead and address, based off the feedback that was provided by the community.”

Banfill said the city set a number of implementation plans and improvements in place this year that it will be monitoring. One major area of change has been to utilize the airport as a location for changing snow equipment blades when working in northwest Minot, saving time in traveling to the Public Works shop in southeast Minot. The city also is testing different cutting edge equipment to find which works best and with the longest lifespan.

Jill Schramm/MDN The City of Minot’s neighborhood meeting at the Parker Center Tuesday drew a number of business people and residents to talk about snow removal and other issues with city staff who also attended to answer questions.

Depending on the type of blade, the city can go through a blade in two to four hours or in 24 to 36 hours. A single piece of equipment has multiple blades that require changing. Street Superintendent Kevin Braaten estimated the city changed about 450 of the shorter life blades this past winter, which takes about a half hour with two people.

City Manager Harold Stewart and Banfill discussed improved communication efforts with the public regarding street clearing times downtown and heightened efforts by police to mark vehicles for towing on snow removal routes.

Banfill and Stewart also fielded questions about snow piles that downtown visitors must climb over, about snow removal issues around intersection bumpouts downtown and about barriers around the Big M building. Stewart explained the barriers are private property, and the owners have been unresponsive to directives to move them. Banfill added the snow piles are an item the city will be looking into to better address going forward.

The city also heard concerns about 21st Avenue Southeast, which is a heavily used route to 13th Street Southeast and U.S. Highway 2. Residents reported trucks have difficulty navigating onto and up 13th Street, which is another situation city staff stated they can consider addressing in next year’s snow plan.

The city’s next neighborhood meeting will be Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in Minot Public Library. It will focus on public safety and the legacy city hall building.

Additional neighborhood meetings are being scheduled for June to discuss street construction projects, the flood control project and city budget process.