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Ogdensburg council debates borough-led sidewalk clearing, higher fines after students forced onto road
Summary
After complaints that sidewalks were not cleared during a recent storm and children were walking on Route 517, the council discussed assigning sidewalk clearing to DPW, raising fines from $50 to $150, buying a commercial snowblower, and revising enforcement language; attorney will draft ordinance changes for the next meeting.
Public-safety concerns about uncleared sidewalks prompted a prolonged discussion at the Feb. 9 Ogdensburg council meeting about whether the borough should assume clearing duties and then bill property owners.
Sgt. Sanfilippo told council members the police department received “a lot of complaints that the sidewalks were not shoveled; kids were now walking on 517. That is a major problem.” He said in some cases the property owner could not be identified because the parcel is held in an LLC with no contact listed.
Councilman Gordon said replacing or repairing broken snow blowers and acquiring a commercial machine should be considered. “If we are going to start doing sidewalks we need to appropriate about three thousand to buy a commercial machine,” he said, noting both of the borough’s snow blowers had broken and one is being repaired.
Mayor George P. Hutnick said Ogdensburg’s small size makes a walk-behind snowblower feasible: “I think because we are so small and have so few sidewalks; a snow blower that is suitable for a sidewalk just walk up and down with it.”
Attorney Joseph Maddaloni reviewed the current ordinance language and said enforcement is currently assigned to the police or tax collector but can be made generic to allow DPW or another official to enforce and recover costs. He volunteered to mark up the ordinance and present revisions at the next meeting.
Council members discussed increasing the private-side fine from $50 to $150, billing property owners if the borough clears sidewalks, and clarifying responsibility for clearing around fire hydrants. No formal ordinance change was adopted at the meeting; the attorney will draft proposed amendments for council consideration.
The discussion reflected safety concerns for children and operational trade-offs for the borough’s public works staff and budget.
