Share your observations in comets.
Snow bomb baby! How are the streets & sidewalks in your village?
by Greg Reibman | Jan 4, 2018 | Newton | 69 comments
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Wow! A plow just took a pass at our tiny side street during the storm, rather than long after – that never happens. I hope its a sign of things to come rather than a fluke.
@Jerry: I guess endorsing Fuller for mayor was a smart strategy.
@Greg – I also give a thumbs up to every comment posted on V14 ;-)
Very charitable because I know that I could write “it’s going to be 60 degrees next week” and the mere fact that it came from me means I’ll automatically get a bunch of thumbs downs.
I’ve seen a few plows but there’s a car parked on my side of the street so that’s messing things up. I can see Washington Street from my house and it looks like they’re plowing it regularly. I’ll assess the sidewalks tomorrow because aside from the shoveling I will do this evening, I don’t plan to go anywhere!
Just got off the T at Newton Centre. Platform and stairs up to Union Street hadn’t been shoveled at all (That is on MBTA) Nor were the sidewalks but Union Street was so I was able to walk in the street. My side street has been plowed. I’d say I have 10 inches in my yard but less in my driveway. With all the blowing getting totals will be tough. Worst park of my walk home from station was strong wind blowing snow in my face. Glad to be home!
At least we’re not dealing with the worst flooding since the Blizzard of ’78, like parts of Boston are. Some scary pictures:
http://www.universalhub.com/2018/seaport-boulevard-lives-its-name
As I got off the commuter rail in Auburndale there was a guy plowing a pathway for us to walk on to the stairs. Just in time plowing!
I’ve seen a huge front loader (this morning) and a few plows on my side street. I’ve shoveled my side walk several times partially due to plows pushing snow into my cleared sidewalk since we lack curbs. Interesting that when I am out there the plows seem to be able to plow my street without getting it over the banks into my sidewalks but I guesss when I am not visible they don’t take as much care. Very frustrating!
Not to seem ungrateful… the city has been doing an admirable job. Sidewalks were getting cleared during the storm, which is something I haven’t seen in a long time. But here’s my big pet peeve: why do city plows insist on plowing on the left side of the street? For people who actually do the manual labor of clearing driveways and sidewalks, it’s a big deal. Are they being sloppy, or are there legitimate operational reasons for this? Today, it was definitely city equipment (a yellow backhoe) but I’ve seen the contractors do it as well.
Wow Newton Centre looked great this morning when I walked in for coffee… wide streets, cleared parking spots, bike lanes & almost all sidewalks & crosswalks seemed clear…
Nice job by Team Fuller for inaugural storm.
I went out about 9pm last night to hit the gym and see how the roads were looking. From the 7-8 miles of City roadways I saw, I was very impressed with the snow clearing effort. I was also heartened to see Mayor Fuller’s email blast from the City’s newly renovated Emergency Operations Center during the storm. It would appear to me that the Mayor handled this storm perfectly by personally involving herself in the effort to keep our roadways clear. This also reflects well on the Mayor’s transition team, who clearly did their homework preparing for this type of event.
On a different thread it was suggested that it was “unfair” to evaluate a new Mayor’s performance after a major storm event, having only been in office a few days. To the contrary, I not only think it was fair, I think it’s a very good indicator that Ruthanne Fuller is actually ready to “run” the city. Congrats to all the aforementioned on a job well done!
I do have to say that the City did a great job of widening the streets during the sleeping hours. However the storm drains that our family dug out are now buried under four to five feet of snow and I can’t find them nor do I have the strength to shovel that much snow. Had they plowed to the gutter, it would have been not a problem.
The city did a great job. Living on a side street that gets plowed (but not always in an ideal manner), everything was down to pavement and passable. That isn’t always the case, especially after a blizzard. My congratulations to Mayor Fuller and the DPW and other plow operators.
I am currently in Natick and getting here from West Newton via the Pike was pretty easy. I am going to have to put in a 311 request, though, because part of my street was untouched by plows and it’s pretty dangerous the way they did it.
When I left for work this morning around 8, roads in Newton Corner (including main roads) were clear to travel but not fully widened, which made trying to reach the Pike West from Galen/Centre St a thankless task. Assumed that more widening work was coming,- lots of snow to move.
Had not checked the sidewalks across the Pike, so curious about that – they had been an issue in the past but over the last few years had been regularly plowed out.
No more liberal panderer Setti Warren. This storm has been the best I’ve ever seen. All thanks to (finally a Republican Mayor) Fuller! MAGA will happen in Newton too once those Dem union thugs aren’t wasting our snowplows anymore
@Gloria Garvis “Wow Newton Centre looked great this morning when I walked in for coffee… wide streets, cleared parking spots, bike lanes & almost all sidewalks & crosswalks seemed clear…”
The sidewalk that runs parallel to the T on Union Street directly across from Terry O’Reilly’s hasn’t been touched at 5pm. Looking down from Langley the sidewalk in front of Newton Taxi was a thing of beauty and in front of the diner looked good from afar. And the path down to the T station was clear and dry
I may be wrong but I think the businesses are responsible for shoveling in front of their storefronts just and residents must shovel their sidewalks.
I concur with the observations that the streets have been plowed very well, right down to road. They are narrow, but I’ll take clear over wide any day, although parking is allowed on both sides of my street and with just one car parked it is tight to get by
Greg, bring back thumbs down because I really want to thumbs down Carol’s asinine comment. She’s either bonkers or a troll.
Some excellent information of snow removal operations and regulations.
http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/dpw/highway/winter.asp
Some excellent info on snow removal operations and regs
http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/dpw/highway/winter.asp
Side streets need widening and are only passable for one car. Also, snow mounts need to be pushed back especially needing attention is the Rt. 9 and Parker St. off ramps. Main streets were good and down to payment. I’m puzzled as to why streets are not plowed to the curb? Hopefully, greater attention by streets crews this week-end will avoid commuting congestion on Monday.
@Peter Karg ” I’m puzzled as to why streets are not plowed to the curb? ”
I agree. If they aren’t going to plow to the curb, they need to temporarily restrict street parking (which is not great) We are only 24 hours post storm so hopefully that will be addressed. BUT I am concerned that if the city comes back through with a second round then all of our driveways will once again be blocked. I know that the guy who plows our driveway usually tries to come after the city plow to ensure we can get out.
Lets see what happens
@Claire – It would be terrific if Mayor Fuller issues a directive to the DPW Commissioner and staff that “All streets are to be plowed to the curb”. This may take a few returns by the plow but our streets would then be passable for more than one vehicle as well as emergency and public safety vehicles.
@Peter – Agreed but it would be great if that would happen on the first pass because each time the city comes through, they re-block the “apron” of our driveways…and that snow is only getting heavier.
I don’t think it has anything to do with any directive by Mayor Fuller, but it seems that DPW has by intent not plowed to the curb. Now sure why.
Quite the self-congratulatory email update from RAF this evening.
MMQC I don’t think I received. Can you post text?
I hear the plows out now as I type this at 2:30 am. I’m hoping they won’t block my driveway with ice blocks as I have to leave early in the morning. I had cleared an entry way from the st to our walkway which I probably would not have done if I knew they were coming out again to further clear the streets as that will now allow snow to get pushed into my front sidewalk but I didn’t get that email until afterwards. :(. Let’s hope my pristinely cleared sidewalks still exist as it will be too cold to clean up again. The links that Claire posted above were interesting to read on how they approach cleaning the streets. As a homeowner I don’t know the best approach to keep the sidewalks clean as if you wait til the city is done plowing often you have to deal with heavy compacted snow that is impossible to shovel but if you dig as go then you risk quite a bit of frustration of coming back out to a mess.
Also in RAF’s email it mentions the city plowing to uncover the storm drains…in the past the one in front of our home is always covered after storms but I try to dig it out, should I now do a 311 to get it uncovered if that occurs as usual?
Here it is, Claire –
Dear Residents,
It has been quite a first week in office. They talk about trial by fire…this was trial by snow. This week put the signature theme of my inaugural speech, “working together” to the test, and I am so pleased that we delivered.
This storm challenged our city to work together—from city employees, to snow removal contractors, to residents— pitching in together in the City of Newton. I am so grateful for our teamwork..
As we head into the weekend, I’d like to share some updates:
Every snow event results in a two-step plowing effort. During a storm, the city endeavors to keep the streets passable for emergency vehicles and limited travel. After a storm has passed, a second phase starts focusing on snow removal, and the city begins clearing roadways from ‘curb to curb’ to get the roads as wide as possible again.
Storms of this magnitude can be a source of understandable frustration. Residents who spend hours clearing their driveways and sidewalks go into the house, get warm, and watch a plow push snow back over their work—it is annoying and we’ve all been there!
However, there are legitimate reasons for the way the DPW does its plowing. First, the roads need to be cleared to allow space for additional snowfall and to maintain the full width of the road for safe travel. In addition, the storm drains along the edge of the curbs need to be cleared to prevent flooding when the snow starts melting.
We appreciate everyone’s patience as we clear out from the storm. Crews will be working all weekend on streets, curb cuts, corners, parking lots, sidewalks that we’re responsible for, etc.
Snow-related issues may be reported to the City by utilizing the online 311 reporting system at http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/311.asp or by using the 311 app. And as always, call 911 in case of emergency.
Trash pickup will be on a delay next week (catching up from the storm this week) and the following week (due to the Monday Martin Luther King holiday). Check the home page of the Newton website for details at http://www.newtonma.gov
I am honored to serve with so many fine Newton employees and workers as your Mayor. (Did you know that more than 300 people worked 24 hours + straight to keep the city safe during the storm?) These first days in office have been challenging but so reassuring because of the great team here and I already love my new job!
Have a wonderful weekend even with the frigid cold.
Warmly,
Ruthanne
I live a couple of blocks from Beacon and Centre in Newton Centre. Our road has not been touched since Thursday night-down to pavement but quite narrow. Parking is only on 1 side of the street and when there are cars parked it is difficult to for 1 car to pass let alone 2. I encountered difficult areas at Grant and Commomwealth Ave where the is a left turn lane and if someone uses that lane there is nowhere for oncoming traffic to go. Got stuck in Newton Highlands last night due to parking on both sides of the street so Lincoln Street near Walnut could not accommodate traffic passing on both sides of the street. People have been pretty good in my area about clearing sidewalks but there is no way to clear the giant mounds of snow deposited by plows at corners so one has to walk in the streets if you have to cross the street. But a thaw is coming!
@Jess I too live a couple of blocks from the Centre and have the same reality. I’ve never come out to see clear pavement after a storm (very good thing) but with such a narrow plow (not so much). Parking is permitted on both sides of my street but I wouldn’t be comfortable parking on my street at all. I took the day off yesterday so I could dig out and never saw a second plow. Just looked out the front window and definitely no second plow. At this point if they come back through we will be moving cement from our driveway apron.
Selfishly I hope they don’t come back through but I anticipate traffic nightmares on Monday for those who commute by car.
Mary Mary Quite Contrary, thank you for posting the email from RAF. How does one get on that distribution list?
On the city website:
http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/mayor/social_media_n_outreach___communications.asp
Add me to the list of people who wish the City did a better job of plowing to the curb. I live 100 yards from Lincoln Elliot school and the side streets in this area are horrible…barely wide enough for one car, never mind two. And then there are the corners that were never really plowed and jut so far out that it’s hard to see around them. Kids and parents walking in this area are in terrible danger of getting hit. So no, I’m not all that impressed with the job the City did.
I get the approach of doing a quick pass through all the streets during the storm and then going back once the storm ends and plow to the curb. But something is different this time as even with two plows in the past, my street has never been clean right down to the street. I actually don’t think this is related at all to RAF as she definitely doesn’t strike me as a micro manager who would get involved in snow plowing approaches.
I do think the city has gotten complaints about the narrow plows and that is why it was addressed in RAF’s email, which again struck me as odd as it was a bit “in the weeds”
Oh well it is supposed to warn to the high 30s to 40 later this week so we can move some of this concrete as it melts
I will add to the voices above that streets are far from wide enough 2+ days after the storm. Passable and there was definitely more plowing Friday, but in our neighborhood (Charlesbank/Jefferson/Nonantum Pl et al), it’s still not even close to curb to curb, if that is indeed the goal. And I won’t even get started on Orchard St (small road passing through St James and Charlesbank which purports to be a two-way street, a challenge under normal conidtions)
As for storm drains, The one near my house is buried. I’ll probably have to go out and get it opened myself after the deep freeze ends Monday. But, I can get around.
Also, when I was out in Newton Corner last night, the merge lane into the Circle of Death from Centre St northbound is nonexistent, which is extremely dangerous. Haven’t been out today to see if that has been worked on, but Monday commute will be a disaster if it isn’t.
My street is very narrow due to the storm and it’s a cut through street that people zip through and it isn’t very wide to begin with. There’s also a sharp curve so I worry about a head on collision.
Every single storm, they only do half the street and don’t touch the other side. I have to put in a 311 every time there’s a storm. Whether they follow through, that’s another story. Once I put in a 311 request, there was a big thaw a few days later, and the city notified me after the thaw to tell me that my request was resolved.
I know that RAF’s email said they do this in stages but I haven’t seen any plows around since very early on Friday morning so I’m not optimistic that they’re following through.
The stretch of Winchester Street that’s adjacent to the Charles River Country Club was totally snow covered this afternoon, not because the city didn’t plow but because the wind blew snow up the slope and onto the road. Pretty wild actually.
Newton’s side streets need some work. Many are still just passable for one car. With Schools opening and commuter traffic tomorrow it will be a challenge around town. Hope the plows are out today widening the side streets and intersections.
Peter:
Agreed. This was a challenging storm, especially with the instant freeze a few hours later. Main streets seem ok, side streets are a mess. Part of the problem is that folks are now parking on the side streets during the day, which makes it very difficult for the plows the get through. At night, I’ve seen the plows and backhoes working to haul snow away in Newton Corner and Newton Centre, but I’m guessing that won’t occur on the side streets.
Happily the weather is warmer this week. That should do a lot of the work for the city.
I didn’t get out yesterday so I was curious to see what I would find when I ventured out today.
The Good: Main business district of Newton Centre is in great shape. Beacon, Langley, Centre, Union all cleared to the curb, parking meters accessible and sidewalks in good shape.
The Not So Good: Roads that are secondary arteries through Newton Centre are still way too narrow. This includes Lake, Pleasant, Tyler Terrace, Sumner, Gibbs, Warren and Chase. Pleasant and Tyler Terrace are going to be especially challenging tomorrow morning dropping off children at Mason Rice. Pleasant is at lease 4 feet from the curb.
Also businesses along Sumner (Lee’s Burgers, BYOD, ICON) can’t be happy as the clearance is at least 4 ft off the curb. I get Newts point about about people parking side streets, but people park on Union, Beacon, Langley and Centre during the day so I can only assume they were cleared overnight. So why not those secondary arteries (not factoring in true side streets)?
This storm was a doozy. It even had various explosive names. But all in all the street and sidewalk clearing has been better than usual.
After lesser storms in recent years, the sidewalks in Newton Centre and other Village centers have been left impassable along with parking meters submerged in snow and frozen. In Newtonville there were small passages cut out between meters to reach the sidewalks.
So yes there are still streets that need to be widened, particularly those with on-street parking but that’s not a new scenario in Newton after a storm. As Fig says, the weather is warming this week so hopefully the melting will began.
I agree with Fig and Claire the side streets need attention. I was in Newton Centre today and Pleasant St. and Tyler Terrace are on school routes and desperately need clearing attention. Melting later this week will not do it. Hopefully, the Administration reads these comments and takes action. Perhaps some priority can be given to doing this task during the night when cars are off the streets.
If this damn blanket overnight parking ban is still in place, then the City better be working overnight every night until the streets are widened.
I wouldn’t characterize the storm as a doozy, silly names that the media used (bomb) not withstanding. A storm of 12-14 inches is significant but not that out if the norm and I can recall at least 3 storms in the last 10 years since I moved here that were much more disabling. The most memorable (maybe 2007 0r 2008) was one that started in the afternoon and caught many at work with commutes home is excess of 6 hours. Personally I had to abandon my car (which ended up getting towed) and walk the last mile home.
That isn’t discounting the good work that has been done, not just by the city but by the business and homeowners who seem to have been more proactive than usual shoveling sidewalks . The rubber will meet the road with tomorrow morning’s commute if the narrow plows will pose issues
They came to widen my street this evening! Unfortunately, there were cars parked on the street which made it challenging, but it is a big improvement.
Good news MMQC. About what time?
I think some of the problem came from the Christmas Day storm. Streets were left more narrow than usual from that storm in my area, and then quickly froze. Now the plows have trouble pushing it all to the curb.
Clair and MMQC, I think the issue is more the cold than the amount of snow. I usually don’t have a huge problem clearing out after a storm, but what is left is concrete.
Anyway, can’t wait for the slight warm-up this week.
@Newtonville Christmas day was 4 -5 inches. Plows had no issue pushing to the curb on Langley, Beacon, Centre, Union with this storm. Lets have a little perspective:
Feb. 8-9, 2013: 24.9 inches
Jan. 26-27, 2015: 24.6 inches
Feb 7-10, 2015: 23.8 inches
Claire, the plow came to our street around 8 pm.
Drove through Newton Corner today- the merge lane from Centre St northbound is still missing. That’s a bad accident waiting to happen, and jamming up the CoD during rush hour.
Side streets in the Charlesbank/Jefferson area are still more or less passable, but haven’t been touched since Friday.
One oddity I forgot to point out. Williams St, which ends in a Y intersection with an island at Jefferson, was only plowed on one side. The side anyone coming from Jefferson to Williams should legally take to get towards Galen is covered in a foot and a half of snow. Never seen that before. Bizarre.
So while I can get around and acknowledge it’s a lot of work to get things moving, I have no inclination to offer congratulations to the city after 5 days. I’ve seen better.
More observations: We couldn’t walk to school today because of too many unshoveled sidewalks, including businesses. I also noticed that the sidewalks surrounding West Newton Playground aren’t shoveled and people were standing on the road waiting for the bus. I will be filing a few 311 reports this morning.
Well Claire you don’t have to agree but yes I think this storm was a doozy – not because of snowfall amounts but because of the things that warranted using the “silly” names which are actual meteorological terms, not made up by the media, for the amount of snow that fell quickly along with major winds that kicked up the waves on the shore resulting in people having to be rescued by boat. The snow was followed by a major freeze adding to snow removal problems. Once again you choose to misinterpret what I said.
Doug, I drove throug the COD in Newton Corner around 8:30 this am and the right merging lane was still filled with snow. When I came back through around noon, the machines that put the snow in dump trucks were working there. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow.
@ Marti Bowen
I didn’t misinterpret what you said. I disagreed with it.
I put in several 311 requests today – two for sidewalks that were city property and one for a business-owned sidewalk. I received alerts that 2 of my requests were completed, but when I checked neither of them were completed. I’ve never had that happen before where they notify me that my request is completed but it isn’t.
I had to wade through snow today on a city owned sidewalk (walking in the street there was too risky) and I even fell. Then I got to go to my meeting with cold wet feet and calves.
Our street in Newton Centre (a busy cut through) never saw any widening and 1 side still has snow going out about 4-5 feet from the curb. Walking to Mason-Rice, the last bit of sidewalk stretching from the back driveway to the corner (Tyler Terrace) has a narrow path that was mostly made by footsteps. At the crosswalk at the corner of Tyler Terrace and Pleasant Street although the crosswalk is clear the mound of snow between the roads at the stop sign is so high that if a child was crossing Tyler Terrace on Pleasant Street a driver would not see them. Then walking along Pleasant Street towards Newton Centre on the right side of the road most of the sidewalks had been cleared – at least a narrow path until I got to the fence that borders the municipal lot and the sidewalk was untouched. Once I arrived in Newton Centre the sidewalks were not only clear but all of the snow had been removed. Maybe a little less snow removal and a lot more street and municipal sidewalk clearing-especially on the routes that approach schools. This effort seemed to favor commercial properties and under serve others.
Similar observations in Auburndale – good job with the initial clear and getting down to the pavement but the curb-to-curb follow through has room for improvement. Auburn St is missing half a lane around the library which is normally lined with parked cars between the commuter rail and Auburndale square. Side streets have always been spotty in clearing and non-existent in widening, although the former did seem better this time. Getting onto the Pike westbound from 30 was also fun with a missing lane on the ramp, although that’s not really a city issue.
I’ve had no problem driving through the city since the storm. If I can get from Point A to Point B safely and in good time, then I’m fine with it.
As I read these responses, I’m struck by two similar issues: first, everyone seemed in a rush to shovel, snow blow, plow, etc. for both the Christmas and January 4 storm (I know I did). We were warned in apocalyptic terms that failure to do so would result in being entombed for weeks due to the arctic blast that followed, turning the snow into cement. Second, there are not a lot of places in residential areas to dump so much snow. In my neighborhood, street corners are the only real places to put it. Needless to say, four foot high snow banks are not good for visibility for drivers or for pedestrians. I’m curious to know what strategy (if any) the city has for the final resting place for so much snow.
For the Jan 4 storm, city plows came by 3 times to clear the streets near my home. This was sufficient, especially given the 12-18” inches snow. Strangely, after the 4” Christmas storm, there were at least 10 visits by city plows over the couple of days after the storm, scraping down to the pavement to the point where sparks were flying from the plow blade. While I am certainly grateful for the extra-thorough job done on my street, I’m well aware that some streets in other parts of town get very little and/or late attention. It does make me wonder what the system is for the geographical allocation of snow removal equipment is.
All in all, the best snow clearing I’ve seen yet of sidewalks, including the path ways through Newton Centre park! But my long-running pet peeve remains – churches that don’t clear their sidewalks. Many churches do clear their walks, but some like the Greek church in Newton Centre never do. What sort of caring for other Christian example is this?
typo ‘caring for others, Christian example’ Didn’t mean to imply the churches should only care for Christians!
I have to say, I still think it’s pretty rough out there. We still can’t walk to school because of unshoveled sidewalks, 311 is telling me that my requests are resolved even though they weren’t, and the roads are still very narrow. I think the City needs to start enforcing sidewalk shoveling laws. At the very least, businesses should be fined. It’s the same culprits every storm. But the City itself needs to set a better example with their sidewalks. The number of City-owned sidewalks that haven’t been cleared so far is really sad.
To Jesse’s point, it seems that depending upon where one lives in Newton we could have very different experiences post storm. I live in Newton Centre and overall the business district looks great (they finally plowed Sumner and widened Pleasant). And the sidewalks are much better than usual, although the ones cleared by the businesses are better. City sidewalk are okay
My street hasn’t seen a plow since early Friday morning and definitely hasn’t been widened. I don’t HAVE to park on the street, but if I did I would be concerned that it might get side swiped. The bigger concern is that the storm drains are all blocked. When we get rain later this week it will have nowhere to go and could be come sheets of ice once it turns cold again.
I think residents in Newton Centre have done much better job shoveling sidewalk than in recent years
Almost 100 hours after the storm the city sidewalks that is plowed by a subcontractor in m neighborhood is still not done. There are children walking in double yellow lane streets and the multiple bus stops are not cleared. Many calls to the city and still no response.
However on a side note, a friend got a warning for not shoveling their sidewalks. They live on a dead end road that has only 4 houses.
My question is….. how can the city tell people to clear their sidewalks when the city cannot handle it themselves. Also, what about the city plows who push snow onto the sidewalks at intersections to widen the corners.
I just don’t understand how the city can break the rules that they make. It isn’t fair. Back in 2010 there were ideas floating around about sidewalk clearing and there was a $25 fee for every homeowner to pay so that the entire city would have sidewalk clearing via the city and more sub contractors. i think this is the way to go. $25 is cheaper than hire someone for the year and is cheaper then my time shoveling many times due to plows pushing snow back.
Also, the liability falls back onto the city opposed to the homeowner.
I pay someone to clear my driveway and sidewalks. Got home today and the short stretch of sidewalk between my driveway and my neighbor’s property line was piled with a few feet of snow! I can’t possibly shovel that and I’m not willing to pay a fine when I already paid someone to do the job.
Meredith – What you are talking about is a problem in my neighborhood too. I’m not sure how the snow gets dumped onto a cleared sidewalk – city plows clearing streets or neighbor’s plow services dumping or a combination – but it is super annoying and almost impossible to move. I don’t know why the mail carriers aren’t up in arms. I see them walking along some very busy streets because of snow dumped or not cleared from the sidewalks.
SO GLAD I put a request into the city via the 311 system to clean the storm drains on my block. DPW fulfilled in less than 24 hours and now the water in diverting quickly down the drain. We still have somestanding water but I can only imagine what we would have if those drains remained blocked
@Clair. It also seems to me that folks in Newton Highlands have also done a better job clearing their sidewalks than in years past. But one reason for this is that while a lot of snow has fallen in the last two storms, it’s been the dry, powdery stuff that is easy to shovel. Shoveling the walkway and sidewalk were kind of fun, sort of. The glitch will come when we have appreciable snow at night with heavy rain near the end followed by a sharp drop in temperature. We have at least three of these events each winter and they always seem to occur during the night. You wake up, go out with the shovel or snowblower and find that the sidewalk is encased in a deep icy and immovable mess that just won’t budge. I don’t have an answer as to how this should be handled or judged, but it’s pretty clear that it just isn’t possible to clean this mess up quickly. Sometimes, nature just won’t bow to our convenience. I’d be as reluctant to fine these homeowners just as I’d be reluctant to give a ticket to someone that didn’t feed a snow and ice encased parking meter.