by Geoff Fox
Town crews didn’t have any issues during the snowstorm on January 25 with crews working for a long period of time during the early part of the storm.
Town Manager Mike Faith said the crews were working “about half to death” to keep up as the snow fell consistently at the beginning.
“They were out just fighting to keep our head above water,” Faith said.
Faith said crews were out 12 to 14 hours before they were able to get a break and go home, but they ended up coming back in to plow more.
Because of the low temperatures, the salt used to treat roads wasn’t as effective as usual, which made it tough, but the roads got cleared.
Faith said even the state and county were behind on clearing their roads during the storm.
Since the Public Works finished plowing, they’ve been out trying to clean up the snow that has built up in various places.
The snow being removed, Faith said, was being transferred to any town owned property that had space.
Faith added there haven’t been any water leaks reported from frozen pipes, but there has been stormwater runoff due to drains being clogged with ice.
Faith said the lone problem came after the storm when the bobcat the town was using to load salt spreaders got a flat tire.
The town was able to rent another bobcat to help with cleanup.
“During the storm, everything ran fine,” he said. “We had plow blades on everything, we had all hands on deck, everybody was out. So we had everybody working.”
On Monday, January 26, town crews were out cleaning town-owned sidewalks such as those in Widmeyer Park, so kids could walk to school safely if school was in session.
Students in Washington County had been out of school for most of the week, but returned class Friday, January 30, on a two-hour delay and back to normal on Monday, February 2.
Faith said with all that done, crews were going back to trying to clear the piles of snow along the narrow lanes.
Some residents had inconveniences where mailboxes were plowed in or their cleared driveway was plowed shut.
“Unfortunately, that’s part of the cost of doing business,” Faith said.
There hadn’t been a lot of complaints and, as of last Thursday, crews were trying to get to the areas were bad.
Main Street, High Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue were the main priorities at the beginning of the storm due to being the main arteries in and out of town.
Faith said the state didn’t plow the parking spots along Main Street, so the town tried to get it cleared up for businesses and residents could get into their houses or businesses.
As for sidewalks, Faith said there is an ordinance stating the responsibility fell to the property owners to get them cleared.
He couldn’t remember the town ever fining anyone for not clearing the sidewalks, but the town gave people time to clear the sidewalks since there wasn’t time to post the properties.
Starting this week, though, Faith said if sidewalks aren’t cleared off, the town would clear them and could bill the property owner.
The fine for not clearing the sidewalk is $100 and if the town has to remove the snow, the property owner will be billed for having the work done.
Faith noted there are people who couldn’t clear the sidewalks due to health issues or age, but he counted a number of people on social media who were offering to clear sidewalks with some even offering to do so for free.
“The main thing is, is that people do use the sidewalks, especially kids walking to bus stops and stuff,” Faith said. “We haven’t had school all week, which part of the reason we haven’t pushed this issue, but those sidewalks need to be clear so students can safely get to bus stops or safely walk to school.”
While it isn’t enforced as in the past, Faith said people shouldn’t be parking along the street during a snowstorm. Once the parking spaces along the street are clear, then move the car back.
There were a few cars that didn’t move, but the majority were moved.
The town maintains the parking municipal lots along Canal Street and on Fulton Street and has an agreement with the Department of Natural Resources with the lot by at the bottom of Church Street, as well as the lot and sidewalk at the library.
