Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Works Snow Plowing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Taylor Street residents tell Holyoke City Council storm cleanup left street icy and hazardous
Summary
Two Taylor Street residents told the Holyoke City Council on Feb. 18 that their block was not plowed or sanded after a recent snowstorm, creating slipping hazards for older residents and drivers; no formal remedy was voted at the meeting.
At the Holyoke City Council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 18, two Taylor Street residents said their street had not been plowed or sanded after a recent snowstorm, leaving it iced over and hazardous.
"My name is Alana Johnston Rutledge. I live on 75 Taylor Street," said Alana Johnston Rutledge during the meeting’s public-comment period. "Our street has not been plowed at all since the snowstorm. People have been slipping and sliding. It's really hard to get even out of my car ... it hasn't been sanded or salted in any way, and I couldn't even get into my driveway."
Amelia Box, who said she lives at 57 Taylor Street, seconded Rutledge’s account: "My car's an SUV, but I spun out trying to get onto Hampton, and I noticed that a whole bunch of the other one-way streets are missed and not sanded or plowed."
The speakers said icy conditions had persisted since the storm, that older neighbors were at risk of falls, and that a police vehicle drove the block with its siren on but did not provide guidance about moving parked cars for plowing. Neither speaker proposed a formal ordinance or motion; their remarks were taken as public comment and no council vote or directive was recorded in the transcript as a result of those comments.
The council’s agenda moved on after the public-comment period; the transcript shows no formal referral or follow-up motion directed to public-works staff during that meeting. The residents’ statements are part of the record and were made during the public-comment segment of the Feb. 18 meeting.
