As Yorkville saw its largest snowfall in years, a handful of residents contacted city officials requesting they plow public trails and sidewalks, especially around the town’s schools.

City staff debated which public walkways should be prioritized after snowfall and if the town’s current equipment fleet could handle extra responsibilities.

“We have around 20 miles of trails and we don’t plow any of them ever,” City Administrator Bart Olson said during the Dec. 16 public works committee meeting. “The only sidewalks and trails that we plow are both sides of the (downtown) bridge, Town Square Park and parts of Riverfront Park.”

Public Works Director Eric Dhuse said sometimes crews plow up to the Yorkville Public Library.

Dhuse said plowing all trails in town would take around three days with the city’s existing equipment. He noted it would also be costly and difficult regarding the limited resources of city staff, especially during winter weather.

A survey of other towns showed many do not plow trails or only plow feature trails with high public use, Olson said.

Olson said the city could pick certain trails to plow and then communicate with the public with signage. However, this could open the city up to liability. He said not plowing any of the city’s paths eliminates the city’s risk of liability.

After around a half-hour discussion, the public works committee decided to collect more information on the amount of walkers in areas that might need to be plowed.

The committee also said Yorkville School District 115 could be involved to determine which areas should be prioritized and who would be responsible for managing each area.

The committee decided to shelve further discussions until the data is collected and a greater need for plowing the pathways is demonstrated.

After snowfall, the city’s plowers prioritize the main roadway arteries first, followed by subdivision streets, and then cul-de-sacs, alleys, sideways and parking lots.

The city ask residents with a fire hydrant located in front of their property to shovel and clear the area around the fire hydrant to ensure access by first responders.