And now …Tah-Dah…Here is a second scintillating post on the subject of snow removal from the Village Trustees meeting earlier this week. (Woodstock Early Bird GJH -aka Gareth — was working as quickly as humanly possible to get this one posted, at the end of a very busy week!). Since Woodstock Early Bird JEC -aka Julia — has a certain affinity for Alaska, we wonder if the citizens of Cordova might be able to help?!)
The four snow removal items on the Annual Village Meeting Ballot that stemmed from the Village Sidewalk Committee aren’t the only Ballot questions related to this thorny (?!) get-rid-of-the-snow issue.
Article number 13 stems from a petition circulated by Village resident Peter Saman. He asks Village voters if they would support a Village Trustee repeal of the Village ordinance that requires owners of sidewalk-abutting homes to shovel clear those snow-clogged sidewalks (Village ordinance number 7402, A-D). With 43 signatures backing it up, the Village Trustees this week voted to place this petitioned item on the Village Ballot that will be voted on March 20.
At the Tuesday meeting, Village Trustee Chris Miller noted that Article 13 — if approved on March 20 — would show whether or not the voters support the repeal of 7402 A-D.
The actual repeal would require a favorable vote of the Trustees. Miller also pointed out that if the voters turned down the Sidewalk Committee’s four recommendations (also on the ballot) and passed the petition-related Article 13 (assuming the repeal went forward), the Trustees would still have to come up with some kind of official system for keeping the sidewalks clear and passable in the winter – as is required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Also on Tuesday, Saman described the sidewalk snow removal situation as an “inequality issue.” He noted that the current system requires a minority of Village residents to clear public sidewalks – and paying to have the job done in some cases – while all other village residents don’t share the expense.
Village Ordinance number 7402 A-D can be viewed on the Woodstock Municipal Web site: www.townofwoodstock.org.
Julia Carlisle
Woodstock Early Bird 