After being rejected by Bellevue Council’s public works committee earlier this year, the idea of extending street sweeping -- and parking restrictions -- year ‘round is being proposed by council’s safety committee.

Committee chairman David Gillingham Jr., Mayor George Doscher and public works supervisor Tony Barbarino told council at its work session Tuesday that extending the parking restrictions would allow snow plows easier access to streets, and allow the public works department to perform street repairs and snow removal.

Currently, parking is prohibited during a particular morning or afternoon between April 1 and Nov. 1. The street sweeper is operated four days each week during that period.

Public works committee chairman Jane Braunlich said that her committee had rejected the same proposal in January for several reasons, among them the fact that 150-200 signs that prohibit parking for street sweeping on certain dates would have to be replaced in order to enforce extended parking restrictions.

Barbarino proposed covering the dates and the “sweeping” part of the signs with tape. He said the special tape that would be used is made especially for signs, is resistant to vandalism, and would match the background of the sign.

Another problem with the idea was pointed out by council member Mark Helbling, who said that parking spots are at a premium during winter snowfalls. He suggested changing the morning time during the winter from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. to allow for the fact that people leave for work later, and there are school delays, when the weather is bad.

“Is it that expensive to get a piece of tape that says ‘after 9 a.m.’,” he asked.

The cost of the signs could take care of itself, however.

“There’s probably going to be a whole lot of tickets generated to pay for those signs,” Helbling said.

Doscher said that a very small portion of the borough would be affected on any given day, because the parking restrictions are limited by day and time.

“It’s a pretty minimal impact for what we get out of it,” he said.