Anticipated Schedule for Snow Removal:
Public works crews will be plowing arterial streets on Saturday and hauling snow through Sunday morning.

Plows will clear residential areas beginning at 8 a.m. Sunday.

Snow hauling will continue Monday in the downtown area to clear parking areas.

Friday’s Garbage Collection Rescheduled to Monday Due to Storm:
Garbage collection that would normally have occurred on Friday was scheduled this week for Saturday due to the Christmas holiday. It is now being postponed until Monday to allow public works crews to clear streets of snow. Monday’s garbage will be as scheduled, occurring first, then Friday’s route will be collected.

Thank you for your patience and understanding

BISMARCK, N.D. – The Bismarck Fire Department is asking for help from the citizens of Bismarck. There are over 4000 hydrants in the city of Bismarck and many of them can become inaccessible due to snow. We are asking for everyone’s help to clear snow from around the hydrants by “adopting” a hydrant this winter. This helps in reducing the time it takes for the fire department to get water on a fire by ensuring that that we can find and access the fire hydrant when we need it most. By helping us you could save your neighbor’s house or your own in an emergency.

When “Adopting a Hydrant”, you are committing to taking a little extra time to clear some space around the hydrant after it snows and the streets have been cleared. The snow should be cleared 6 inches below all the caps and 3 to 4 feet around the hydrant. This gives firefighters the space they need to attach hoses and turn on water in case of a fire in your neighborhood. If you are a business owner, please take to time to ensure the hydrants in your area are kept clear also.

The Bismarck Fire Department wishes to thank everyone in helping keep the community safe. For more information please visit www.bismarck.org or call 355-1400.

The video production of The Messiah performed by the Bismarck-Mandan Community Choir and Chamber Orchestra is now available.

Dakota Media Access was on-location December 6, 2009, for the annual Messiah Concert at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bismarck.

To request a copy of the DVD or VHS tape of this production, call 701-258-8767 or e-mail info@freetv.org. Copies cost $12 each.

City of Bismarck offices and the landfill will be closed as follows:

December 24th – Closed at noon
December 25th – Closed all day
January 1st – Closed all day

Holiday Garbage Collection Information:

Note: Garbage must be placed at your collection point by 8:00 am

Thursday, December 24th – will be collected as scheduled.
Friday, December 25th will be collected on Monday, December 28th.
Friday, January 1st will be collected on Monday, January 4th

All other routes will be collected as scheduled.

The City of Mandan reminds downtown business operators, employees and residents that more parking changes are coming in 2010. Effective Jan. 1, parking fines will increase from $5 to $10. Enforcement of 90-minute restricted areas also will increase by late January to early February of 2010.

A courtesy ticket has been created for those who don’t have a previous violation who park overtime in a time-restricted area. The intent of the courtesy ticket is to avoid offending shoppers and visitors, while providing guidance on where to park in the future for extended stays.

The overall goal is to assure convenient parking is available on the street and adjacent to businesses for customers. The increased parking fines and enforcement dissuade longer duration users from parking in these areas, encouraging instead their use of designated lots and low demand areas.

All spaces in city lots on the south side of Main Street were made available free of charge beginning in October. Most of these spaces do not have time restrictions other than overnight limitations on alternating days of the week. A few spaces next to businesses continue with a 90-minute time limit to serve customers. The other major change was to modify boundaries for 90-minute, on-street restrictions. Signs were removed in low density areas.

A new brochure with a map showing various types of parking in downtown Mandan is being distributed to area businesses and is posted on-line at www.cityofmandan.com.

Changes to downtown parking arrangements stem from recommendations received through a parking study conducted in 2009 by Rich and Associates. These recommendations and changes have been approved by the Parking Authority, which consists of five downtown business operators. To share ideas or concerns with the Parking Authority, call 667-3455. The next meeting is tentatively planned for February to evaluate changes.