Snow Page

SNOW AND ICE REMOVAL
The owner, occupant or tenant of every property fronting upon or alongside any street shall remove all snow and ice from the sidewalk within 24 hours after the same ceases. The cleared path on the sidewalks is required to be 30 inches wide. No snow or ice shall be put upon Borough streets.

SNOW PLOWING AND SNOW EMERGENCIES
The Borough of Myerstown practices an intense snow plowing program. The program is designed to place the snow on the street as close as possible to the curb. At times this inconveniences the property owner; however, it does provide the maximum opportunity for emergency vehicles (police, fire, and ambulance) to have clear passage on the streets. Due to the varying widths of the Borough’s streets, it takes as many as four passes in each direction to do an adequate job. Please have patience with our Public Works Department during snow plowing exercises.

Snow Emergencies will be declared when needed. The declaration will be placed on television and radio. Residents shall remove their vehicles from the snow emergency routes or they will be towed at the owner’s expense. Discontinuance of the emergency will be announced on television and radio.

WHERE TO CHECK FOR SNOW EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS

The following are the ways you can check to see if a Snow Emergency has been Declared or canceled:

WGAL – 8 – Ticker across TV screen and website posting
WHTM – 27 – Ticker across TV screen and website posting
WLBR – Radio – during winter watch updates
WUFM – Radio – during winter watch updates
This web page ticker
The answering machine at the Borough Office will always have
The announcement after the close of business at 4:00 p.m.
During business hours, call the Borough Office (866-5038) and we will be happy to let you know.

WHERE TO PARK DURING AN EMERGENCY DECLARATION

Most properties in the Borough have parking in the rear of the property; however, if additional parking is needed during the snow emergencies, the pool parking lot (located at South Railroad St., and Center Avenue) may be used. If you wish to park in a business, church, fire company or any other lot, you should ask for permission first. Vehicles parked in a private lot without permission may be towed and fined.

SNOW EMERGENCY VIOLATIONS

Parking Ticket ..... $50.00
Towing fee to Borough Lot ..... $75.00 (more if a rollback is used)
Vehicle storage fee ..... $25.00/day.

Remember, it is unlawful to operate a snowmobile,
dirt bike or four-wheeler on any of the Borough streets.

SNOW EMERGENCY ROUTES

The following are the streets that are snow emergency routes:

East and West Main Avenue
North and South Railroad Street
North and South Cherry Street
North and South Cherry Street

After a snow emergency is declared, it is prohibited to park a vehicle on these routes. Vehicles incapable of moving, parked or stalled will be towed at the owner’s expense, and a citation will be given. During a snowfall you can tune into the radio, TV, or their websites to see if a snow emergency has been declared.

SNOW REMOVAL POLICY

The following is the general snow removal policy for the Borough, with suggestions for the residents to make the job more effective and efficient. This plan is general policy and each storm will dictate how it is implemented and what adjustments will be made. For winter storms the Borough is divided into sections with a vehicle assigned to each section. The first priority is to make the streets safe for the traveling public; priority of each vehicle is to open each street in its assigned section. At the start of the storm, all trucks are sent out to their assigned areas with the instructions to salt hills, intersections and curve areas first, then all other areas. Salt needs the movement of traffic to make it effective, so if it appears that your street has not yet been done, it may be that there has not yet been enough traffic on the street. For plowing, the drivers are instructed to make one pass in each direction on the street and they are to make one pass in and one pass out in the cul-de-sacs. Myerstown Borough has more than 10 miles of streets, 10 miles of alleys, and 2 cul-de-sacs to maintain. After each one is passable, we will start to the procedure of pushing back the snow to the curb and cleaning out the cul-de-sacs. This operation may not begin until the following day because the employees will be sent home to get some rest after the long grueling hours spent in the initial plowing effort. You can help by following the suggestions below.

Vehicle Parking: If at all possible, park off the street in your driveway, or to the rear of your property. In case of multiple vehicles, park as many in your driveway as possible because the more driveway surface that is protected, the less shoveling will have to be done. In cul-de-sacs, which are difficult enough to plow without vehicles parked in them, park all vehicles off the roadway. It doesn’t help at all to park at the end of the cul-de-sac along the curb or to double park vehicles in that area. Many cul-de-sacs have storm drains at the end of them and that is the area we try to plow the snow to.

Driveways: We always receive complaints about plowing driveways closed after a resident has spent hours shoveling it open. Three suggestions for shoveling driveways are:

Wait until the plowing operations have ceased before shoveling your driveway.
When shoveling open the mouth of your driveway, shovel six feet out into the roadway from the driveway and ten feet to either side. This allows the plow to unload any snow it is pushing before crossing in front of your driveway.
When shoveling your driveway leave the last six feet unshoveled until the plowing operations have ceased. This will allow the snow being pushed to remain on the plow and not dumped into the freshly shoveled driveway. (See diagram below)

REMEMBER – Do not push snow out onto roads at anytime. The results of this activity will be a citation issued from the Myerstown Borough Police Department, as it is a violation of the Borough’s Ordinance.

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