Niles is still recovering from last week’s snow storm.

The evidence? Try trudging through the snow-covered sidewalks throughout the city.

Neil Coulston, Niles’ Department of Public Works Director, estimates only 30 miles of the city’s 90 miles of sidewalks were cleared as of Tuesday.

According to the city ordinance, it’s the responsibility of the property owners to clear snow and ice from sidewalks adjacent to their property by noon the day following snowfall. The ordinance says if a sidewalk isn’t cleared, the city will clear it and send the property owner a bill for the cost plus 10 percent.

But since last Tuesday night’s storm, even the city has been struggling to comply with its own ordinance.

“We’re having problems ourselves with the amount of snow we’ve gotten,” Coulston said. “The equipment we have works pretty well when we get four to six inches of snow, but a lot of areas got a foot and a half. We’re supposed to be enforcing the ordinance but we can’t keep up with it ourselves.”

Coulston said his crew needed to clear streets, alleys and parking lots before moving on to sidewalks. Currently the crew is plowing city-owned walks and school routes.

“Now we’re having a difficult time breaking through to clear the snow-covered walks,” he said. “It’s a long process, and it’s hard on the equipment.”

This is not a new problem for the city, though.

“It’s been a problem for years,” Coulston said, adding that staffing reductions in recent years have made it difficult to keep up with snow removal.

After the 1978 snowstorm, the DPW could handle clearing sidewalks quickly with a staff of 25 employees. But now the staff is down to 10.

The DPW is asking residents to clear their sidewalks and help out neighbors who are physically unable to do so.

“We don’t want the mailman, the newspaper delivery people and pedestrians to have to keep walking in the street,” Coulston said.