In Pella, compliance with the city’s snow emergency protocol was much better during the latest snowstorm, according to the Pella Police Department.

They gave out 17 citations for violations over the ordinance issued January 18th, and 20 tickets for the storm overnight Tuesday into Wednesday. While those numbers were much better than the 124 violations they reported from the storm on January 11th and 12th, Lt. Shane Cox reminds all residents that parking is prohibited on all city streets until the snow ordinance is lifted by the Pella Police Department and Public Works staff.

“Even if a plow has been through your street, that doesn’t mean you can park on the street now, because a lot of times those plows will make two or three passes down a street in order to widen the traveled portion out,” Cox says.

Cox says with the nearly 20 inches of snow that has fallen in the city and the cold temperatures that have followed, many large snow piles are creating line-of-sight issues for drivers, which has caused collisions, so he asks all drivers to use extreme caution at those difficult intersections.

“I think the best way to overcome this until it warms up and we can get rid of some of this snow is to make sure you’re easing out into those intersections if you’re having trouble seeing, and make sure you know what you’re pulling out in front of before you just pull out and hope nobody is coming.”

He says the piles could remain large for the foreseeable future, as little snow melting is likely with the frigid temperatures in the forecast.