The Austin -Mower County law enforcement center was inundated with telephone calls early today, concerning the weather.

Wednesday, January 19, 2000

The Austin -Mower County law enforcement center was inundated with telephone calls early today, concerning the weather.

Communications dispatchers were diverted from other more important duties by the calls.

Mower County Sheriff Barry J. Simonson and Austin Police Chief Paul M. Philipp jointly issued an advisory to citizens not to call the law enforcement center for weather information.

The official Minnesota State Patrol telephone numbers to call for road conditions are 1-800-542-0220 for state-wide reports and 1-507-285-7404 for southeast Minnesota-only reports.

Also, the police chief reminded citizens of Austin, the city engineer’s office is authorized to declare a snow emergency in the city.

When that emergency is declared, signs are posted and the media is advised to alert residents.

If the emergency is declared, there will be a period of 72 hours in which it must be observed.

The city ordinance calls for parking on odd or even days of the week. If it is an odd calendar day, parking is allowed only on the odd-numbered side of the street . If it is an even calendar day, parking is allowed only on the even-numbered side of the street.

Typically, the parking restrictions begin at 8 a.m. on the first day of the snow emergency.

"Even if a street is plowed, as long as the snow emergency is in effect, the odd or even parking restrictions must be obeyed," Philipp said.

Also no parking is allowed in the downtown area from 8 to 1 a.m., during the snow emergency to allow crews to clear streets.

A rash of property damage-only mishaps were reported early today, when snow began to fall.

Both the police chief and county sheriff urged motorists to exercise caution.

As of press-time today, the city had not declared a snow emergency.

The winter of 1999-2000 has been so mild, when a snow emergency is declared it will be the first of the season.