Committee questions staffing, equipment and enforcement after prolonged ice storm left sidewalks impassable

Northampton’s Committee on City Services on March 24 pressed the Department of Public Works and the Police Department for changes after a multi-phase winter storm left many sidewalks and curb cuts icy and impassable.

The committee heard from Donna LaScalia, director of public works; Police Chief Cartlidge; and City Solicitor Sewald on operational limits, enforcement of the city’s snow-and-ice ordinance, and the legal framework that governs municipal duties. Residents and councilors described seniors and people with disabilities being unable to leave their homes for days.

LaScalia told the committee the DPW currently has “23 vacancies out of 82 full time positions,” including laborers, equipment operators and truck drivers. She said the department runs 24/7 three-shift winter coverage and that the staffing shortfall “does not impact our ability to mobilize for a snowstorm.” She attributed the scale of last month’s problems to the storm’s duration and character: “We had four different types of precipitation for nearly 36 hours… the flash freeze happened in about 90 minutes,” LaScalia said, adding that frozen ground and rapid refreezing produce conditions that are not stoppable by additional plows alone.

LaScalia described current sidewalk operations: the city maintains roughly 85 miles of sidewalk citywide, about 400 curb cuts and crosswalks, and currently clears “about 7 to 8 miles of sidewalk” (she split the difference to “about 7½”). The DPW has two sidewalk tractors but said only one was reliably available after the storm; the other is kept as a parts/spare unit. LaScalia estimated a new sidewalk tractor costs roughly “close to a quarter million dollars” and said a full citywide sidewalk clearing program would require “between 10 and 12 sidewalk machines” plus a chasing dump truck and about 20 dedicated employees, with an additional 20–30% staffing buffer for absences and maintenance.

The department also reported a large salt and sand inventory: LaScalia said the DPW typically keeps about 4,000 tons of treated road salt on hand, uses 200–250 tons in a typical storm, and used about 1,000 tons of salt and roughly 300 tons of sand during the recent event. She noted treated salt cost about $108 per ton.

On enforcement, Chief Cartlidge described the department’s longstanding preference for education and verbal warnings rather than immediate fines. “We try to educate the public,” Cartlidge said, adding that in his three decades with the department he could recall only a “handful of times where a fine was written for this specific ordinance violation.” Officers hand property owners an information card with the ordinance text and most cases are corrected after a warning, he said, but acknowledged follow-up can be difficult because patrol officers rotate assignments.

City Solicitor Sewald cautioned that citations alone do not ensure cleared sidewalks and noted procedural limits: a property owner can pay, contest or ignore a ticket, and unpaid fines can require additional legal steps. Sewald and Chief Cartlidge both urged stronger follow-up on warnings to secure compliance rather than assuming fines are a practical, immediate remedy.

Councilors and residents pressed several practical options: Councilor Rothenberg asked for a written memo on the city’s legal exposure and whether delegating sidewalk removal to property owners discharges municipal obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title II. Sewald summarized the legal landscape: Title II requires public facilities be accessible but does not set a specified “reasonable time” for snow removal; under Mass. Gen. Laws, ch.84, §17 the state treats snow and ice differently than defects in the way, and municipalities commonly delegate removal to abutters.

Residents detailed the human impact. Elizabeth (Liz) George (22 Wilson Ave.) said sidewalks on her dead-end street remained uncleared for much of the winter and that she personally fell; she told the committee she had to contact a property owner’s contractor to request clearing. Nancy Smith (Chapel Street) suggested a freezing-rain clause in the city ordinance or targeted announcements similar to parking bans for conditions when the 24‑hour rule is impractical. Councilor Rothenberg read a long statement from a longtime resident describing a wheelchair crash on an untreated curb cut; she said that account was the reason some residents have left Northampton and urged the city to treat sidewalk clearing as a public‑safety and disability-rights priority.

Councilors asked specific operational changes the DPW would make. LaScalia said the department’s priorities in a widespread flash-freeze are keeping arterials and collectors open for emergency services first; she said dead-end and low-priority side streets may be addressed later when resources permit. She noted that taking on additional sidewalk routes would require capital purchases, extra operators and mechanics to keep equipment running during storms.

Suggestions from members and the public included: expanding the DPW’s sidewalk-clearing fleet, creating a program to help seniors and residents who cannot clear walks, revising the hours/timing of the snow‑emergency parking ban (currently structured around a 12:01–6:00 a.m. window), adopting state General Law Chapter 40U (suggested by Alex Bowman) so unpaid fines could become liens on properties, and better targeted public communications during storms.

No committee motion was made to change the ordinance or to direct immediate purchases; the meeting was used for information-sharing and to signal that the council’s ordinance-review committee will continue the conversation.

Ending: Committee members agreed to continue the discussion in standing committee and ordinance review settings, and several councilors asked the DPW and city solicitor for follow-up materials, including a legal memo on delegation of sidewalk duties and more detailed operational options and cost estimates for expanded sidewalk clearing.