The City of Middletown is reminding residents to sign up for its new winter parking alerts after a recent surge in tickets during snowy weather.

Mayor Joe DeStefano says a 135 parking tickets were given to residents who left their cars overnight on the street during the last snowstorm. The tickets carry a $100 fine.

“Cars have to be off the road because it endangers the plow crews and the streets won’t get cleared,” DeStefano says.

DeStefano says the city started issuing parking alerts this winter, instead of prohibiting overnight street parking altogether for the season. He says residents are notified online or can register to be notified by text or email, when street parking is prohibited to allow for snow plowing but that people are seemingly ignoring the notices.

“We don’t want your money,” says the mayor. “We want you to remove your car, do the best you can, or you’re going to get a ticket and possibly towed.”

Destefano says citywide mailings were sent to residents letting people know to sign-up for text or email parking alerts ahead of bad weather by going to their website.

“We need compliance,” DeStefano says. “Safety is most important.”

DeStefano says as a rule of thumb, street parking is prohibited citywide when there’s more than 2.5 inches of snow. He says a map of alternate parking locations when winter street parking rules are in effect is also available on their website. The mayor says parking on grass or sidewalks is not allowed.