RUMFORD — The Police Department has been easing residents into a new winter parking ban ordinance passed in June with numerous parking violation warnings, Rumford Police Chief Tony Milligan said recently.

Rumford has an ordinance that prohibits parking on any public street or right of way from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., annually from Nov. 1 to April 15, whether there is snow or not. Additionally, the town reserves the right to change those times for specific snowstorms. Vehicles in violation may be ticketed and towed at the owner’s expense.

“I know there’s been a lot of discussion about the winter parking ban,” Milligan told the Select Board on Nov. 20. He noted the Police Department was not involved in making the ordinances and the rules, “but we are charged with enforcing, whether we like them or not. We don’t get to bend the rules. We have to enforce the rules.”

He said this was a vote that effectively changed how the parking ban works in Rumford.

“Having said that, I can tell you that since the parking ban went into effect, parking enforcement, — these are rough numbers — we have issued approximately 250 parking violation warnings. Most of those warnings were winter parking ban warnings,” Milligan said.

“Warnings haven’t cost anybody anything. It’s intended as a courtesy, educational piece. We felt very strongly about that, particularly this year because of the change in the ordinance,” he added. “That obviously will change very soon.”

On the first night of the winter parking ban, Milligan said roughly 150 warnings were issued. The second night, that dropped to 50. The third night, that dropped to 13.

“So word is getting out. People are getting educated as to what the new ordinance is,” he said. “Those violations are primarily occurring in the Cumberland, Waldo, Penobscot and Pine Street areas of town. Not to say that it’s not happening elsewhere, but that’s where the majority of violations have occurred.”

Initially, there have been roughly 50 violation tickets that have been issued, with a fine associated with those tickets.

“Of those 50, six have been handicapped violation notices, primarily up at the Rumford Hospital area. And the rest of them have been for improper parking — predominately parking the wrong way against traffic,” he said.

The Police Department also posted a reminder on its social media page for residents. It said all parking on public roadways from 11 p.m. until 6 a.m. is prohibited for the next six months. And it doesn’t matter if there’s a blizzard outside or crystal clear.

On the police Facebook page as of Monday, there was 296 comments on this issue.

“If the roads weren’t plowed, vehicles were plowed in, or frozen heaps of snow from around vehicles were left, so many would still complain … some just can’t appreciate the endless hours these people spend to make sure people can travel safely,” one Facebook user said.

“This was voted on during the budgets this summer, so 5 months notice. We had this same ordinance years ago and Mexico still follows the same one. Alerts do go out, along with signing roads the day before for snow cleanup. Some still don’t pay attention and that results with a parking ticket and tow,” said another Facebook user.

Other users were more critical of the new winter street parking policy.

“This mandatory ban until April 15th is an absolute travesty. Most people live in buildings that only have street parking. How about the town worry about all of the empty buildings we have that could either be leveled and winter parking lots be put in, and use other empty buildings for homeless to stay warm during the winter? I have a strong gut feeling that we’re in for a long, cold, miserable winter,” a Facebook user said.