Plowing, Potholes Discussed at Meeting
By ANNE HOLLIDAY
WESB/WBRR News Director
Snow plowing, snow shoveling, potholes and the cost of salt were addressed during Tuesday's Bradford City Council meeting.
"There are many sidewalks in the city which have not been passable since the first snowfall in December," said councilman Fred Proper, who oversees the public works department.
He noted that the city does have an ordinance regarding snow shoveling that says anytime there's a snowfall of 2 or more inches, sidewalks need to be cleaned within 24 hours.
Proper said if someone has packed snow and ice on his property, but has attempted to clean it, he doesn't have a problem with that.
"The problem is the sidewalks that truly have had no care. There are many properties in the city that no one has taken responsibility for. That's a major problem,” he said. “Those sidewalks are probably not going to get shoveled or cleaned up unless the neighbors choose to do it.”
Proper stressed that cleaning the sidewalks is for the safety of everyone in the city.
Fire Chief Chris Angell said new code enforcement officer Lt. Mike Cleveland has sent out letters to and knocked on doors of people downtown who have not cleaned their sidewalks. He said that’s been successful and “it got taken care of pretty quick.”
Angell said Cleveland is out of town for building code training but, in his absence, he said he will try to get more letters out to people who need to clean their sidewalks.
On a related note, Angell said the city is not doing code enforcement for Bradford Township anymore. He said it was a mutual decision.
As for snow plowing, Proper said the first priority is making sure the streets are drivable. When the snow subsides, he said, “we get most things cleaned up the best we can.”
“It's getting more and more difficult as we have more and more snow. This has been a very unusual winter,” he said.
He added that narrowing of the streets is becoming a problem, and asked that drivers observe alternate side of the street parking so crews can get to the alternate side.
Proper also said snow removal has become a budgetary issue.
As far as manpower goes, he said they are minimizing overtime while still getting the job done.
But, he said, they are “well beyond what we estimated for salt usage, which is going to have a huge impact on the budget.”
He said city employees have been telling him to “think spring.” He said he’s hoping Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction of an early spring is correct, and that we have a nice November and December.
As for potholes, Proper said, “The way the winter has been so far there's really not a lot we can do until we truly get a break in the weather.”
“It's really a waste of resources and city dollars to dump some cold mix in a hole that we absolutely know will be out in two or three hours,” he said.
He did say that people should let the city know where the problem areas are and “as soon as we get a break, we’ll get back to the potholes.”
WESB/WBRR News Director
Snow plowing, snow shoveling, potholes and the cost of salt were addressed during Tuesday's Bradford City Council meeting.
"There are many sidewalks in the city which have not been passable since the first snowfall in December," said councilman Fred Proper, who oversees the public works department.
He noted that the city does have an ordinance regarding snow shoveling that says anytime there's a snowfall of 2 or more inches, sidewalks need to be cleaned within 24 hours.
Proper said if someone has packed snow and ice on his property, but has attempted to clean it, he doesn't have a problem with that.
"The problem is the sidewalks that truly have had no care. There are many properties in the city that no one has taken responsibility for. That's a major problem,” he said. “Those sidewalks are probably not going to get shoveled or cleaned up unless the neighbors choose to do it.”
Proper stressed that cleaning the sidewalks is for the safety of everyone in the city.
Fire Chief Chris Angell said new code enforcement officer Lt. Mike Cleveland has sent out letters to and knocked on doors of people downtown who have not cleaned their sidewalks. He said that’s been successful and “it got taken care of pretty quick.”
Angell said Cleveland is out of town for building code training but, in his absence, he said he will try to get more letters out to people who need to clean their sidewalks.
On a related note, Angell said the city is not doing code enforcement for Bradford Township anymore. He said it was a mutual decision.
As for snow plowing, Proper said the first priority is making sure the streets are drivable. When the snow subsides, he said, “we get most things cleaned up the best we can.”
“It's getting more and more difficult as we have more and more snow. This has been a very unusual winter,” he said.
He added that narrowing of the streets is becoming a problem, and asked that drivers observe alternate side of the street parking so crews can get to the alternate side.
Proper also said snow removal has become a budgetary issue.
As far as manpower goes, he said they are minimizing overtime while still getting the job done.
But, he said, they are “well beyond what we estimated for salt usage, which is going to have a huge impact on the budget.”
He said city employees have been telling him to “think spring.” He said he’s hoping Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction of an early spring is correct, and that we have a nice November and December.
As for potholes, Proper said, “The way the winter has been so far there's really not a lot we can do until we truly get a break in the weather.”
“It's really a waste of resources and city dollars to dump some cold mix in a hole that we absolutely know will be out in two or three hours,” he said.
He did say that people should let the city know where the problem areas are and “as soon as we get a break, we’ll get back to the potholes.”
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