The Woodstock Village Trustees on Tuesday appointed four residents and two trustees to its newly formed sidewalk shoveling committee.
This gang of six is in charge of forming a Ballot Article, which will allow voters to decide at the Annual Village Meeting in March whether the Village will take on the cost of shoveling the Village sidewalks. The committee will also get a cost estimate that will accompany the Article.
According to Village Trustee Chair Candace Coburn – one of two trustees on the committee, the committee has already met twice (before officials appointment), due to the time-crunch they are under. The committee wants to present the Article at the Feb. 14 Village trustees meeting, where they hope the board will sign off on the Article. That will be in time for the March 20 Village Meeting, where voters will decide the matter.
The members of the sidewalk shoveling committee are: Willa Nohl, Gerry Jones, Les Berge, Jeffrey Kahn, Candace Coburn and fellow Village Trustee Bob Pear. The village is currently seeking official bids for the sidewalk shoveling work. According to Pear, the committee will use the bids (which will be sealed) to form an estimate for the shoveling work. If the voters approve this change in the shoveling system, these bids will be used to select the business or individual who gets the job. At Tuesday’s meeting, Coburn said that, regarding the snow shoveling job, the Village would be divided up into four quadrants. Contractors can bid on all four quadrants, or just one, she added.
The shoveling controversy started last year, when some residents objected the Village requirement that residents shovel their own sidewalks. Some are physically unable to do the snow removal and must therefore pay someone to do the work (or face a Village fine). Others believe that, with the Village in charge of the work, the sidewalks will be more evenly shoveled and therefore safer for pedestrians. There has also been concern about the sidewalks being clear enough for our winter visitors in the Village. On the other hand, other residents have objected to paying extra taxes for this work. These numbers have not been worked out yet, but the sidewalk shoveling committee’s final report will include information to help figure out individual tax impact. This report will be public, and the committee’s minutes are also public. Copies can be requested at town hall.
Another important point: the cost estimate for the sidewalk removal work will be an estimate for the 2012-2013 budget. So, that figure could potentially change in the future.
The sidewalk shoveling committee’s next meeting is on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 3 p.m. at town hall.
Julia Carlisle
Woodstock Early Bird 
Posted by Bob Pear on January 12, 2012 at 09:48
Correction: Sidewalk committee’s next meeting is Tuesday, Jan 24 at 3 PM.
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Posted by Peter Saman on January 14, 2012 at 05:30
There are a few additional points to add to the article as written:
1. The sidewalks, passing across peoples’s property, belong to the Village Corporation, not to the property owners. The current system singles out and mandates that those property owners are responsible for the winter maintenance on the municipal property at their own expense and liability risk, or face fines and municipal clearing fees. ($75.00/fine per offence and $40.00/ hr.clearing fee). What this actually means, is that as things stand now, a small minority of the Village population is paying the entire bill for winter sidewalk maintenance for everyone.
2. The approximately 85 people attending the Trustee meeting on December 13th did so because they realize the arcane system in place now needs to be changed. The gang of 6’s job is to identify the most equitable, cost efficient and municipally responsible solution to replace it.
3. The real cost comparison is between what it is costing now (in labor,dollars and liability risk) for a few of us to pay for the entire Village Sidewalk Maintenance Program versus the cost of the Village Corporation stepping up and assuming it’s rightful duty to provide this public service to everyone as it does with plowing the roads etc.
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