"Snow Group" Meeting this Friday Night!

[Kristine Pagsuyoin]

Hello Readers of the Deck,

For all of you who would like to see the snow shoveling situation improved around our schools and within our neighborhoods, you are invited to a “snow” get together on Friday March 4th starting at 7pm at the Beck Café. Come, relax, and have a cup of coffee along with fellow Lakewoodites while we figure out how we can effectively (!) address the snow removal issue in our community. Spread the word! All are welcome! (Coffee courtesy of the Lakewood Observer & Beck Café)

See You Friday Night!

[Betsy Voinovich]

For any parents that are attending the "snow meeting", try to check in during drop off tomorrow morning with your school and ask them how they've been doing with snow removal. I know that every school has different issues on their own property. It would help with tomorrow's meeting if we could start off with where we are now. Also bring whatever research you have on city property (everything that's NOT school property) that seems to never get cleared. I have some info on streets around Grant and Lincoln.

It sounds like there may be some people there tomorrow night from the city who will be able to provide some official answers, so the more information we can bring, the further we can go, though I would imagine tomorrow will just be the beginning.

Nice to have the meeting when snow has become a little more theoretical, though I imagine the hot coffee will still be welcome. (Kristine, is the hot chocolate free too? I've been telling people that it is.)

And it's going to be casual, so don't be afraid of a meeting on a Friday night. Let's just call it a snow party. We're bringing some legos for the kids.

Hope to see you there.

Betsy Voinovich

[Diane Brinich]

I can't make the meeting but am very interested in improving the safety of the students for future winters. Let me know what comes from this meeting. Thanks.

[Kristine Pagsuyoin]

Hi Everyone,

There is a real buzz around the snow meeting tonight! I am glad to know that there are so many people in our town who want to do something positive to keep Lakewood great (I knew there would be).

Yes, tonight we do have a city official, Mary Simon, attending the meeting who will be able to answer questions and who is very excited to work collaboratively with us on helping to get the sidewalks cleared. I have also been getting emails from people around town letting me know which sidewalks have been especially ignored and so I will bring that information with me.

The meeting is tonight! I am not sure if Beck has a show tonight, but considering it is a Friday night people may want to head out early if they are driving. As far as I know hot chocolate is free, too! Thanks to the Lakewood Observer for their generous donation.

The meeting starts at 7pm @ the Beck Cafe. I look forward to seeing you all there!

If you can't make the meeting feel free to PM me here with any information you want to pass along, or email me at, kpagsuyoin@hotmail.com.

[Mike Zannoni]

I hope Kristine Pagsuyoin, who moderated this meeting or someone else can also "cover" the meeting here, because even though I attended and took part, I did not take good notes, and missed the very beginning. But discussion clustered around these things:

1. Safety issues. Residents, occupants, property owners (especially on streets like Franklin/Hilliard) are only inconsistently shoveling walks and walkways through intersections, forcing pedestrians off the sidewalks and into the streets, most disturbingly students of all ages coming and going to school. Some commercial property is clearing their own lots and dumping the snow onto the sidewalks.

The problem is compounded by the way the city currently plows streets: large trucks, high speeds and the loss of a "mindset" (Ed Favre) toward pedestrian-friendly plowing. The problem is not just Franklin/Hilliard and it affects more than just students. Ed said that they had a better way to plow in the past, but it has fallen by the wayside, though we still have the smaller trucks that can do better at intersections and be used in a manner that deposits snow more carefully onto tree lawns with less spillage onto sidewalks, utilizing sharper turns, slower speeds and more mindful control. Especially important on Franklin/Hilliard, in places where the tree lawns are very narrow.

The city does use a walk plower to keep clear the sidewalks abutting city-owned property, and their might be a possibilty a the city making use of them in other critical areas as well.

I don't know how, exept by communication or "agitation", we might be able to get the City to go back to methods and equipment Ed spoke of. But it seems like a good idea, and not necessaily one overly costly.

2. Responsibility. The code reads that occupants, owners or anyone in control of a property has responsibility of clearing snow from abutting sidewalks. I find this vague, and feel that the vagueness leads to non-compliance through shoulder-shrugging, finger pointing and buck-passing, but this seems to bother me more than others. What it comes down to, however, is that the owner can ultimately be taken to court, and it’s the owner who will get a warning letter and later a fine for any non-compliance discovered by the City.

Many may not know that it is their responsibility, whether owner/occupant or tenant, so there was much discussion on “getting the word out”. The City currently has a blurb about it on the city website (on the Department of Housing and Building page), and there is mention of it on water bills (which tenants don’t see of course), but more could be done to help everyone know about responsibility, including circulars distributed by individuals, neighborhood associations, the City (like garbage and leaf communications) and the Schools (possibly by “backpack” take-homes).

Snow Removal assistance for seniors is offered through the Division of Aging office. Call (216) 521-1515 for further information.

3. Enforcement. Mary Simon, of Lakewood’s Division of Housing and Building, along with Ed Favre, as a long time Lakewood resident, just-retired police officer and current School Board member, spoke to the means of enforcement. The police can, apparently, hold anyone in control of a property, including tenants, responsible and issue a citation for violation of the Code, and even ticket a manger of a business. Apparently a surprising amount of enforcement of another kind is already happening: Mary has sent out about 200 letters in 2011 alone from her department to owners where she herself has inspected neglect of sidewalks, or when a citizen complaint reaches her desk, and five days later an follow up inspection is done to see if the problem has been fixed. If it isn’t, owners are fined $100.

I think this is an indication that owners are in reality made more responsible than tenants, when it comes to enforcement. Landlord-Owners can be tracked down using County property data (by anyone), and if the contact info is “shrouded” by a landlord using the rental property as his/her mailing address, then property tax info (where the tax bill gets sent), also available to anyone I think, can be used to get a real address. Tenants are harder to track.

Getting the word out for enforcement becomes important here as well, as a separate issue from notifying people of their responsibility. If people knew “who to call” (Mary) about unshoveled walks, there could be many more complaints processed (which Mary said they could in fact handle), inspections made, owners notified, and a more consistent deterrent established to neglecting sidewalks. If more landlords get the picture, more arrangements with tenants can be explicitly made a part of the Rental agreement. (I’d like to see Mary’s phone number go out in backpacks to Moms every October, as they can best discover major problems on their way walking to schools.)

City of Lakewood “Report a Problem”: http://www.onelakewood.com/ReportProblem/. These will be routed to Mary Simon, Litter Control and High Grass Officer, Department of Housing and Building, City of Lakewood.

Phone number to report a sidewalk snow issue: (216) 529-7697 (Mary Simon)

Mary’s email: Mary.Simon@lakewoodoh.net

4. Community involvement. Many people spoke of their experience organizing their street, block, etc. to help get the word out, help with shoveling, “Adopt-A-Sidewalk” and other things. I will let someone else speak to these things. In short, the more we are concerned and put our concern into actions of our own (and not just looking to the City), the better things can be. We are imitative creatures, and being active, creative and communicative about improving things amongst ourselves is contagious.

[Kristine Pagsuyoin]

Thanks, Mike. You really did a great job of summing up most of the major points that we discussed last night at the snow meeting. I am working on getting an article out for the next issue of the Lakewood Observer which comes out on Tuesday.

I just want to thank everyone who came out on a chilly rainy Friday night. It was really great to see so many people interested in pulling together to help out the community. A special thanks to Mary Simon of the Division of Housing & Building who answered all of our questions and helped us to understand better how the city is working toward making sure home owners and business owners are staying in compliance with Lakewood’s snow ordinance. Also, a special thanks to school board member Ed Favre who helped us understand the school district’s responsibility when it comes to clearing snow, and for the history lesson on how Lakewood plows our streets. I would also like to mention that Mayor Mike Summers sent a letter to our group promising to have a meeting after the last snow fall to evaluate the city’s efforts in removing snow. He has asked the group to send a report of our meeting. We are fortunate in Lakewood to have leaders that are willing to listen to residents and that are open to do something about our concerns.

Everyone had some really great ideas and suggestions on how the city can improve the safety of our sidewalks around the school and within our neighborhoods. I am looking forward to sharing more of our meeting in the upcoming article.

Snow meeting attendees, if you have any other thoughts or suggestions for the article please send me a PM! Thanks again for your participation and your commitment to our Lakewood community.

Kristine Pagsuyoin

[Bryan Schwegler]

Kristine, while I wasn't able to attend, it's awesome of you to have pulled this together and given what Mike's recap included, it looks like it was a great success!

I mentioned in the other thread that this topic seems to rear its ugly head every year for at least the last decade that I can remember, but no one before has actually pulled anything together to actually try and address the problem. Let's hope this is the beginning of the end of the snow problem!

[Kristine Pagsuyoin]

Thanks, Bryan. Hopefully, we will have a followup meeting to possibly move forward some of other ideas and to assess if the city has decided to increase awareness or adopt new plowing methods. I will announce us getting together when it happens. Maybe you will available next time--it would be nice to meet you.

[Jim O'Bryan]

At the end of the day, everyone appreciates a good clean up. Both Dog Owners and
Home Owners!

.

[Mike Zannoni]

City of Lakewood “Report a Problem”: http://www.onelakewood.com/ReportProblem/. These will be routed to Mary Simon, Litter Control and High Grass Officer, Department of Housing and Building, City of Lakewood.

Phone number to report a sidewalk snow issue: (216) 529-7697 (Mary Simon)

Mary’s email: Mary.Simon@lakewoodoh.net

I wanted to add here that I asked Mary Simon after the meeting about her capacity to handle a big increase in the number of complaints, since in many ways she seems a one-woman show.

"Would you be able to handle it if complaints increased, say 300%?" Though she groaned audibly (in jest), her answer was "yes".

So . . . I think if we want increased enforcement, we need to increase the number of complaints, and for that we need to get the word out that there is a pretty simple, easy way to complain: TELL MARY SIMON!! (By phone, email or through "Report A Problem" on the city's web site.) Of course this is only one prong to get things improved, but given how things are already set up, it's one I think will bear fruit for sure. (Leave a message with the problem address when you call or email, she will get it and inspect. Mention "snow" or "ice" on "sidewalks" through the city's web site: she will get it. The address is important, so we need to take time to document it.)

As for acting on some of Ed Favre's info and ideas, about more effective (less sidewalk detrimental) street plowing (I'm going to call it "pedestrian-friendly" street plowing), and the possible use of city sidewalk plowers on critical sidewalks, this is trickier I'm sure, as we're up against "things as they are". But I'm hopeful because they seem doable: anyone have ideas as to how we can push for these things?

[Bryan Schwegler]

I read that Mayor Summers is working on an "owner's manual" for landlords. Snow removal should definintely be included to help clear up confusion

@Krostine: hope I can make the next meeting!

[J Hrlec]

The organization and discussions sound great. I have a few question I am curious if they were brought up and discussed.

These are more in regards to neighborhood clean-up than the area around the schools...but can be applied to both.

1) How would it be handled if residents are not in town for a length of time. Will they be given warnings because they are not present? Will the city provide services for those who will not be around and does the city have the manpower to do so if 100, 200, 300 + people (families) decide to take vacations in the winter...along with the other sevices the city would offer?

2) What are the proposed standards for violation? Is it shoveled vs. non-shoveled or are people going to issue warning on their opinion of "how well" an area is shoveled?

3) Can they elaborate more specifically how older plowing methods can be better? I am interested since complaints have existed for years and years and I personally can't remember a time when people were saying "these trucks are plowing better...I am satisfied"

Thanks!

[Kristine Pagsuyoin]

1) How would it be handled if residents are not in town for a length of time. Will they be given warnings because they are not present? Will the city provide services for those who will not be around and does the city have the manpower to do so if 100, 200, 300 + people (families) decide to take vacations in the winter...along with the other services the city would offer?

Great questions. When we asked about services we were told that the only service was intended for seniors 65 and up (Office of Aging). I asked about services for people who are not 65, for instance, the disabled. At this time we only have a program for seniors.

I did wonder about people gong on vacation. We usually go for a week to ski and so how would I be held accountable if I am not home? I will say this, Mary Simon from the Division of Housing & Building did tell us that after a letter is issued the owner/occupant has 5 days to clear snow. I would think, and this is only my opinion here, that if someone travels for their job that they need to hire help to clear snow when they are gone.

What are the proposed standards for violation? Is it shoveled vs. non-shoveled or are people going to issue warning on their opinion of "how well" an area is shoveled?

We were told that when a problem is reported that it is checked out and a letter sent. After 5 days the property is evaluated. According, to Ms. Simon the letters generally work. Her department, at this time, cannot issue a fine (they can take owners to court), however, a Lakewood Police Officer can issue a citation which is $100.00.

Can they elaborate more specifically how older plowing methods can be better? I am interested since complaints have existed for years and years and I personally can't remember a time when people were saying "these trucks are plowing better...I am satisfied"

Apparently, the last time we were using plowing methods that plowed equally for pedestrians and cars was in the 70's...so you may not have heard of it. One of the issues is plowing around corners. Ed Favre detailed a process to us by which the trucks would plow away from the corner instead of into them. Here is what I wrote in the article I wrote for the Lakewood Observer out today:

In addition to reporting problems with sidewalks, Ed Favre, suggested that the city re-evaluate how the streets are plowed so that they are plowed equally for pedestrians as well as for cars. Favre recounted a time in Lakewood when the streets were plowed away from corner intersections instead of into them which alleviated snow being piled up on the sidewalks. “We need to return to the mindset that we had about the snow in the 70’s when we had huge snow storms”, said Favre. According to Favre, the Lakewood’s snow plow trucks are capable of plowing the streets differently. The city wouldn’t need to purchase new trucks.

We did send our suggestions to the Mayor. We are going to watch and listen carefully to find out if there will be changes. We do want to increase awareness and so we are hoping our ideas/suggestions will be utilized and there are ideas on the horizon for an annual campaign.

I hope my answers have helped. If anyone from the Snow Meeting, or city official, would like to expand, correct, or add please do so. I am pretty sure my notes are accurate but I wouldn't want incorrect information to get out to the community.

We'll let you know when we meet again or about any updates from the city.

[Mike Zannoni]

How would it be handled if residents are not in town for a length of time. Will they be given warnings because they are not present? Will the city provide services for those who will not be around and does the city have the manpower to do so if 100, 200, 300 + people (families) decide to take vacations in the winter...along with the other sevices the city would offer?

Under the current system in place, it's the Owner of the property who gets a warning letter, according to Mary Simon. Owners are ultimately to be in control of their property, even when away.

It's not unthinkable that people can and should make simple arrangements with their friends and neighbors (or even paid shovelers) for keeping the walks clear in their absence, in line with taking in the mail and feeding the cat. When I take in the mail for friends, and if it had snowed the night before, I shovel the walk in front of their home, and clear a path for the mail man, because it needs to be done and they obviously can't do it.

If one is mindful of the responsibilities of being a person that lives in a civil community, the job can be handled. It's mindlessness that is the problem in many cases. We need to expand and maintain a culture of mindfulness about snow.

I can envision a service whereby we notify the city when we need a city sidewalk plow "on retainer" for extended vacations, much like "hold the mail" requests to the Post Office. But I do think, if such a program would ever exist, any who need this should pay the true cost of this per shoveling, and not taxpayers at large. This would be a Plan B, with Plan A being to arrange with friends and neighbors to see to it in our absence.

[Mike Coleman]

Right now the city cuts down weeds that are declared a nuisance and then bills property owners. Could this be done with snow/ice removal?