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West Easton had about a dozen residents at the council meeting last night with concerns about plowing, lack of salt, and other problems with the rash of snowfalls we’ve incurred this year.

The residents were obviously frustrated, but still remained courteous during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Mayor Gross and other council members did their best to explain the problems it faced and at certain times, the “nature of the beast,” in regard to the mounds of snow that occur when a plow makes a pass.

The snowstorm last week was the most problematic for residents and council alike. That was the storm that began as snow and ended as freezing rain.

For starters, plowing began later than it would have normally. This was due to wanting a base of snow that would hold the freezing rain and allow a plow to more easily remove the mess, rather than begin plowing snow only to have ice form on bare roadways.

What residents on 2nd Street saw was that their road wasn’t plowed until late in the day and would require their shoveling out cars into the dark of night.

Most residents in attendance appeared to be from 2nd Street, along the 300 block and I can attest to their dilemma. They reside on a portion of 2nd Street that is on an incline. As I was shoveling my sidewalk and waiting for a plow that afternoon I saw, from my vantage point above, a couple of cars that couldn’t make the climb and a UPS truck that actually got stuck. It wasn’t pretty.

The Mayor explained that the situation that day was especially bad for the borough.

A part-time road worker who does plowing “quit just before the storm arrived,” the Mayor told the audience. Another was out sick. Councilman Tom Nodoline actually pulled plow duty without pay to try and get all streets plowed before the freeze hit late that night.

One resident commented that a drain on 2nd Street is likely to be covered in ice and that on his side of the street, which is prone to flooding, the water will have nowhere to go except into their properties should it rain.

Still, another resident from Spring Street wasn’t pleased that her car would get buried in snow from the passing plow and that fire hydrants also got buried, noting that a man came by and dug out a number of hydrants of his own accord. Although the man wasn’t identified it was mentioned by Mayor Gross that he could have been a member of Safety First Fire Department, which takes on the responsibility of clearing hydrants of snow after plowing is performed.

Mayor Gross, who has his own business that involves plowing in the Winter months gave a brief summation about the art of  plowing, attempting to explain what occurs when snow is pushed from the streets. Mayor Gross did make it clear that he would have the Road Department make the noted problems a priority to be checked on today and that the lack of salt should be less of a concern, now that Easton is helping us out with supplies.

Personally, I found the meeting to be productive in the sense that residents actually turned out – even if it was because they needed to air some frustrations.

Mayor Gross and the council also seemed genuinely pleased to see people sitting in the normally empty chairs.