We've occasionally noticed small red signs on utility poles that say "monolithic sidewalk begins," which puzzled us because the sidewalk looked a lot like ones without such a serious-sounding designation. Adding to the puzzle is the white outline of a snow plow. … He explained that such sidewalks are too narrow to store snow pushed onto them by plows. The signs alert the plow driver "not to push the snow onto the sidewalk but leave it on the road, close to the curb.

Last year the planning and public works department proposed a list of revisions to the city's Winter Roadway Maintenance Manual. The new policy, when there is significant snowfall, is to windrow and remove the snow from residential areas with monolithic sidewalks and downtown.

If approved, the amendment would require all new subdivisions to construct a 5-foot-wide monolithic sidewalk on both sides of a street that runs for at least 50 feet. The amendment would give developers the choice to install either the monolithic sidewalks or an 8-foot-wide sidewalk with planters.