Friday, February 12, 2010

Snow covers Woodstock sidewalks

Should the City of Woodstock adopt an ordinance that requires homeowners to clear snow from their sidewalks?

This thought doesn't come up every year, but I do remember a City Council meeting one night a couple of years ago, when I suggested such an ordinance to the Council. The temperature dropped about 30 degrees in the Council chambers and, as I recall, there was not one comment or point of discussion on the issue. "Next order of business, please."

Children, senior citizens, handicapped residents and able-bodied adults are forced into the streets in many blocks around Woodstock, because residents do not shovel the snow from their sidewalks.

And then there are the businesses who hire commercial snowplowing, and the trucks push snow across sidewalks to create a mountain for pedestrians to crawl over.

One particular recurring problem is on Lake Avenue between Kimball Street and Route 47. There are residents at Walden Oaks who use motorized wheelchairs to get to 3 Brothers Restaurant for a meal or two, and they are forced into busy streets because their wheelchairs cannot use the blocked sidewalks.

Is it time for Woodstock to create a sidewalk-snowplowing ordinance?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I volunteer YOU for the job, Buster. Will give your ticker allot of exercise! You could even campaign while shuvl'n! And you could usa a "Gus for Tin Star" shovel!
Or if ya really dont wanna, then I'll offer my services... but I only except payment in beer, and yall are a non-kegger town, so that falls by the wayside. Doh.