WINONA, Minn. – With Winona’s alternate-side parking ordinance in effect since mid-November, more than 600 tickets have been placed under windshield wipers overnight. A gradual day-to-day decline suggests a learning curve, albeit slow. The $25 alt-side toll to date:
> November 18 (Monday): 151
>November 19 (Tuesday): 107
> November 20 (Wednesday): 107
> November 21 (Thursday):72
> November 25 (Monday): 97
> November 26 (Tuesday): 79
> Total so far: 613
Each ticket means a $25 fine. Violations turn expensive, really expensive, when serious winter storms arrive. That’s when tag-and-tow provisions also apply. There are additional charges to tow, store and retrieve vehicles. The fees, charged by the city’s contract towing company Borkowski, begin about $180. There also is the hassle of producing documents that you indeed are the owner, that you are licensed, and that you are insured – not to mention the hassle of trekking out to suburban Goodview to Borkowski’s storage yard to claim the car.