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Winter always brings snow, but property owners don’t always shovel.
In light of the fact that some property owners in Glen Ellyn’s downtown business district do not shovel their sidewalks, village trustees want a list of offenders, and estimates on how much it would cost to hire someone to do it.
Public Works Director Joe Caracci told trustees at the Jan. 25 workshop meeting that parents also are worried about students walking on unshoveled walkways.
The village has no ordinance requiring residents to shovel sidewalks. According to the status quo, the village clears sidewalks in the central business district when more than 4 inches of snow has accumulated, but relies on property owners to clear snow less than 3 inches.
“Cooperation from these (central business district property) owners has been a little bit hit-or-miss lately, which is the cause of this presentation,” Caracci said.
When snow is not cleared, it could cause ice to form, and thus discourage people from frequenting downtown businesses, he said.
Trustees did not seem to support the idea of issuing ordinances that require either business or property owners to shovel sidewalks. They did, however, ask Caracci several questions about the costs and possibility of hiring an outside agency to do the work.
Caracci warned that if the village decided to take over central business district snow shoveling duties, they could create a sense of unfairness among property owners. He said the village also potentially could be liable for injuries that occur on village-shoveled sidewalks.
Shoveling all 25,000 square feet of sidewalk could cost between $25,000 and $30,000, officials said.
As for snow-covered sidewalks around schools, Trustee Carl Henninger said while he is concerned for students’ safety, “I just don’t think that it’s practical for us to get involved.”
Henninger asked whether schools’ Parent Teacher Associations can send a safety committee out to knock on doors to remind residents that students need sidewalks cleared to get to school safely.
“Rather than us getting involved with some Draconian ordinance or (the) impractical idea of doing it ourselves,” he said.
Winter always brings snow, but property owners don’t always shovel.
In light of the fact that some property owners in Glen Ellyn’s downtown business district do not shovel their sidewalks, village trustees want a list of offenders, and estimates on how much it would cost to hire someone to do it.
Public Works Director Joe Caracci told trustees at the Jan. 25 workshop meeting that parents also are worried about students walking on unshoveled walkways.
The village has no ordinance requiring residents to shovel sidewalks. According to the status quo, the village clears sidewalks in the central business district when more than 4 inches of snow has accumulated, but relies on property owners to clear snow less than 3 inches.
“Cooperation from these (central business district property) owners has been a little bit hit-or-miss lately, which is the cause of this presentation,” Caracci said.
When snow is not cleared, it could cause ice to form, and thus discourage people from frequenting downtown businesses, he said.
Trustees did not seem to support the idea of issuing ordinances that require either business or property owners to shovel sidewalks. They did, however, ask Caracci several questions about the costs and possibility of hiring an outside agency to do the work.
Caracci warned that if the village decided to take over central business district snow shoveling duties, they could create a sense of unfairness among property owners. He said the village also potentially could be liable for injuries that occur on village-shoveled sidewalks.
Shoveling all 25,000 square feet of sidewalk could cost between $25,000 and $30,000, officials said.
As for snow-covered sidewalks around schools, Trustee Carl Henninger said while he is concerned for students’ safety, “I just don’t think that it’s practical for us to get involved.”
Henninger asked whether schools’ Parent Teacher Associations can send a safety committee out to knock on doors to remind residents that students need sidewalks cleared to get to school safely.
“Rather than us getting involved with some Draconian ordinance or (the) impractical idea of doing it ourselves,” he said.
