The City of Panora is in the midst of phase one of their Sidewalk Maintenance Program, in their attempt to beautify the community.

The program started in 2015, and it imposes on homeowners to repair the sidewalks on their properties. City Administrator Lisa Grossman says they started with the south half of the City last year, and this year they’ve moved to the north half. After a citywide inspection, letters were sent out to homeowners about paying for the repairs. Some citizens requested to have the option of having the sidewalks on their property removed instead, and the City Council approved several of those requests.

The homeowners have until October 1st to deal with the sidewalks before incurring penalties. Grossman says once phase one is complete they will move onto phase two, which involves frequent inspection and maintenance of the sidewalks over the course of four years. Phase two is expected to start in April of 2019.

The maintenance program isn’t the only sidewalk-related issue in Panora right now, as the City is also working to amend their snow and ice removal ordinance. Currently, City code allows 12 hours for homeowners to remove snow and ice from their sidewalks before city crews do it for them for a fee. The Council felt this timeframe was too short, so they wanted to amend the law to 24 hours. They passed the first reading of the ordinance at their meeting earlier this week, though Grossman thinks the Council may add more changes during the second reading.