awful sidewalks

[Dave Mechenbier]

Just got in from helping our son deliver the Sunpost. I'd say less than 50% of the sidewalks were shoveled. I realize with a large number of senior citizens, some won't get done without assistance from others. I really get ticked when the driveway is free of snow, sometimes down to the concrete, but the front sidewalk looks like it hasn't been touched. Is there more to it, or is this just someone being irresponsible? I feel bad for the kids if they must walk to school tomorrow.

[Danielle Masters]

Dave,

I think many times it is just people being irresponsible. Our neighbors have a service plow their drive and then they shoveled to the door, but left their sidewalks snow covered. My husband spent about an hour today shoveling the sidewalk but it is something that needs to be done. Luckily the kids won't have to walk tomorrow since there is no school and hopefully some of the irresponsible owners will take care of their sidewalks. I should add that if you know your neighbors aren't able to shovel it would be nice to help shovel them out too.

[Suzie Dean]

You are a brave person.

We decided not to let our daughter do her route tonight...I was not about to let her go out in this.

Dad is going to save the day and do them for her when he gets home from work tonight.

[Grace O'Malley]

Don't worry about delivering those Sun papers. There's nothing in them that can't wait until tomorrow afternoon.

Except maybe the garage sale notices but I doubt that there will be any tomorrow.

[Charyn Compeau]

Or maybe the people are trying to shovel in reasonable increments and the ability to get in and out of the driveway came first?

My husband and I both work and with so much snow and no blower we had to take turns for several hours just to et 1/2 the driveway finished so we could get out. The piles at the side of out drive reach nearly five feet in several places.

Will our sidewalk get shoveled? Of course, but probably not until tomorrow evening when we can pick the shovels back up (work again all day tomorrow!)

If the schools were in I would be more concerned - but they are not so I will save myself from frostbit and keep digging out little by little.

Tired & cold,
Charyn

[Suzie Dean]

I could only hope that people realize that there are other people that do walk other then the kids to school.

My mother, as well as many others, rely on public transportation to get to and from work, doctors appointments and their daily errands. In order to do this they do need to use the sidewalks.

I myself witnessed many people out shoveling before and after work just to get it all done. Last night our husbands were out every hour on the hour shoveling and snow blowing just so it wouldn't be as bad this morning. Only to wake up this morning and do it all over again. Danielle and I have already discussed going out in the morning to shovel the other sidewalks in our neighborhood of the people that aren't able to do so.

PLEASE have some consideration for our community walkers.

[Jim O'Bryan]

I really get ticked when the driveway is free of snow, sometimes down to the concrete, but the front sidewalk looks like it hasn't been touched. Is there more to it, or is this just someone being irresponsible? I feel bad for the kids if they must walk to school tomorrow.

Dave

Thanks for the idea.

Today's question of the day is: Blow or Shovel?
It can be found just above the calendar on the front page. We all know if you blow you still need to shovel to get it perfect. But let's see.

Tomorrow's Question: What is the proper amount of time to wait?

Now we all know the answer to this and maybe we can get Cheff Geoff to throw in some legal comments. What I have found is, if you do not get it right away, the people walking through create ice patches of compressed snow, that are then times as much work as the shoveling of virgin snow.

I believe the law states a reasonable time before liability shifts from God to the owner. The problem comes back to those icy footprints. You shovel, and someone falls because of those or length of time and you are liable for negligence or sloppy work.

I figure the nicest thing you can do for a letter carrier, city worker, newspaper carrier or resident is keep them clear.

Besides when you drive down a street and all the walks are done it shows people care. Like the luminaries on Arthur Ave. I always drive up and think what a nice street. From Detroit to I-90 luminaries, just beautiful. (Observer Suzanne Metlko's handiwork).

[DougHuntingdon]

Many residences and businesses NEVER shovel their sidewalk a single time all winter. People are too lazy to get off their butt to shovel unless it means getting their car out of the driveway so they can drive one block down the street to CVS.

Doug

[Gary Rice]

There's a larger issue here.

Senior citizens might have difficulty keeping up with even an average snowfall. Yesterday's, while admittedly uncommon for Lakewood, was too much for my snow blower or my shovel. I have a hedge and a fence along my property, and this caused drifting to 4 feet in the driveway. It took a plow truck that I flagged down, three teenagers, and my own muscles and money to take care of my problem. Yes, I did do my walks.

The sidewalks are an issue for some people, however. There's a common tale that if you don't shovel, you can't be sued, but if you do shovel, and it's not good enough, you are negligent. Many folks therefore leave their walks to be "Acts of God".

There's even another argument that says that shoveling your walk is "involuntary servitude" and it's therefore unconstitutional to make anyone do it, much less pay to have it done.

Now, I'm no attorney, but I do think a much-need solution to the above questions lies in what other communities have done- and that is to have small city plows do the walks if the snow exceeds so many inches.

Why, don't you think that the money we would save by stopping the water of Lakewood Park's leaking urinal alone, might take care of this contingency plan?

Just a thought....By the way, go to the Citistat/Urinal posting for a look at my inspired song "Ode to a Urinal".

[Suzie Dean]

Senior citizens might have difficulty keeping up with even an average snowfall.

I agree with you on that, but that is why us as a community, should watch out for these people. Take care of one and other.

Which is exactly why I went out this morning and shoveled three houses sidewalks, because I know they are unable to do so due to their age.

[Gary Rice]

Suzie,

It was wonderful for you to look after your neighbors!

Unfortunately, not everyone does, and that's why we need community snow removal services.

For you, as a private citizen to put your life in jeopardy shoveling three walks in sub-zero temperature, is an inspiration to us all on the one hand, and a sad commentary on what we, as a community, need to be doing on the other hand, regarding sidewalk snow removal.

[Jeff Endress]

As the snow plows cleared off McKinley, everything was thrown onto the East side of the street. There is literally 4 feet of accumulated snow plow slush. Of course my business is on the corner, and we took the brunt of it. It would require a front-end loader and a dump truck a full day to clear the mess. I do my best to keep the walks around the office clear, but there is no way I can possibly remove all the accumulated plow droppings from my stretch of sidewalk on McKinley. Fortunately, they never deposited anything on the west side, so at least that is clear for pedestrians.

Jeff

[Danielle Masters]

I really don't think we need the city government to be in charge of yet another thing. I truly doubt they can handle sidewalk snow removal when they can hardly get all the side streets plowed. Oh heck they can't even keep the city parks clean and maintained. I think its a matter of personal responsibility, I know that's a bad word for many, and it's also a matter of helping out your neighbors. Trust me Gary, Suzie wasn't putting her life in jeopardy. I just wish she would have knocked on my door to help out.

As for the sidewalks being cleared. If more people would have shoveled yesterday the kids probably would have had school today. I drove by my children's school yesterday at 7 pm. I think maybe 3 sidewalks were shoveled and the street still had a fair amount of snow on it. More of our tax dollars being spent on something homeowners should be doing is not the answer. And before I get yelled at I will say that I feel the city should have a program to help out the elderly and individuals physically unable to clear their walks. The fee could be on a sliding scale. I would be fine with something like that, but I don't want my tax dollars going to someone that is too lazy to do it themselves.

[DougHuntingdon]

Many of the offenders are not senior citizens. Many are just lazy butts. Don't tell me they can't afford a snow shovel, either, because some of these houses have professional landscapers do their yards in the summer. How is a senior citizen supposed to walk down disastrous sidewalks? Some of them are unable to safely drive, even in the summer, so they depend heavily on walking. I can get around on foot if I have to in this type of weather, but not everyone is as young and healthy as I am.

As far as businesses not cleaning in front of their own storefronts, don't cry to me when you go out of business. Don't tell me Walmart put you out of business.

If there is anyone who is unable to shovel their sidewalk due to health reasons, feel free to send me a private message (if you don't want to post it publically) and if you are close enough I may even come over personally to shovel it.

Regarding what Danielle said, I remember last winter the city had trouble maintaining sidewalks in front of city-owned property, so how could they handle additional sidewalks?

Doug

[Charyn Compeau]

As the snow plows cleared off McKinley, everything was thrown onto the East side of the street. There is literally 4 feet of accumulated snow plow slush.

Yup we are just a few houses up from you - and with my husband having a heart condition and myself out of the house working most of the day (plus the extended drive time to get to and from work!!!), it was all we could do to even get out of our house.

All I am saying - or trying to say - in any of this is that there is no reason for people to look at someones un-shoveled or partially shoveled sidewalk and make summary judgements about their personality, work ethic, morals, community spirit, etc.

We all cant be as perfect as some....

Charyn