Today was one in hindsight, we probably should have closed. I know in the borough of Nazareth it was tough to get around. People who didn't clear sidewalks on Sunday in the rain, found inches of ice to chisel through on Monday. Many who did still had thin ice patches. The intersection in front of Shafer had a foot or more of ice in the corners on the street that students had to walk across.
It was simply not safe to walk to school today and it was pretty cold.
I received a note from a reader explaining this mess of a situation in Upper Nazareth Township:
I live in Schoeneck Terrace on E Beil. Paul Stepniak is the developer of my subdivision and of the one below ours. I don't know the name of it but it includes Deerfield, Longview, Stonybook, Ridge and Hopewell. Apparently there is some controversy over who is responsible for clearing the streets in our developments. Upper Nazareth Township says that Stepniak still owns lots here and it is still his responsibility. He claims it is not. Consequently, there is a lot of finger pointing going on.In the larger scope of things, missing a day of school is not a big deal. I heard from my kids and some parents of kids falling down and getting hurt today. The amount of ice was pretty unusual and unfortunately I can't imagine it will be much better tomorrow.
Some of these roads were not plowed at all after our most recent snow. Needless to say, Jennings could not get through with the buses into these subdivisions. They made the decision to move the bus stops out to Schoeneck. An attempt was made to call all of the families to tell them about the change but not everyone got the call. We're not sure what is going to happen with the kindergarten and afternoon buses.
My neighbors tell me that there is an Upper Nazareth Township meeting this Wednesday although after surfing around the UNT website, I cannot find when it starts. We would like to be there, in force, to get to the bottom of this. It will be interesting to see if Paul Stepniak shows up.
What did you think? Was it safe for kids to get to bus stops and school today?
Will it be on Tuesday?
9 comments:
I live on Deerfield Drive, and our road was not touched by a snowplow until about 1 this afternoon, at which point all he did was scrape off the crushed snow that was keeping the street from being a sheet of ice, which it is right now.
I can't imagine how the kids are going to walk to Schoeneck tomorrow morning at 7:40 AM without falling and hurting themselves.
I pay taxes like everyone else--I don't care WHO the roads belong to, it is the responsibility of my township to make sure my roads are accessible to emergency crews and safe for myself and my children. If it is not the township's responsibility to salt and plow, then it is their responsibility to make sure whoever is supposed to do it does it.
This is a disgrace and those who are in charge of our Township should be ashamed of themselves.
I walk the little boy I am in charge of to Shaff
er each morning. The walks in front of Shafer were not cleared of the ice this morning at the upper end. The little boys slipped and feel when he stepped over the large lump of snow at the corner to cross. The crossing guard asked if he was OK and then informed us 3 children already fell and were hurt on the sidewalks in front of the school so to be extra careful. I agree close school or make sure all the side walks are clear.
Mrs. Pookey, nothing like passing the blame on to the Township for your builder's lack of responsibility. I suggest that you run for supervisor during the next election.
Sandi and others, a few months ago there were posts regarding the safety of the skatepark and lack of helmets. The overwhelming response from parents, students (and Berni) was that skatebaording is safe. With that being said, ice is caused by mother nature, I'm sure those involved put forth their best effort to clear the sidewalks but come on, it's winter. If school were canceled, would parents not allow their kids to go out and play or sled because they might slip and fall.
Anonymous,
Like Mrs. Pooky, I live in the abovementioned subdivision. The final house was completed well over 2 years ago and our streets have not been dedicated to the township. Apparently, the builder (Ashley Development)will not finish the roads to satisfy the specifications set forth by the township.
You are correct that the township should not be blamed for the builder's lack of responsibility, however the township needs to aggressively pursue the builder so that he does complete the work so that the roads can be turned over to the township. And that is what we, the taxpayers of Upper Nazareth expect from our elected officials.
Mrs. Pooky & Anon 11:13 AM
Your expectations as a taxpayer may be unrealistic. May I suggest that since you own a property on a private street owned by Ashley Development, you might want to try calling them directly and take some responsibility. Their phone number is (610) 332-3300. You could further help solve your dilemma by having your neighbors call as well.
Fortunately, you might have an ally in your township on this matter. Joe Owens (jowens@express-times.com) is a writer for the Express-Times and is a resident of Upper Nazareth. If enough of you and your neighbors contacted him, maybe he would be willing to write an article about Ashley Development's lack of action.
anonymous----
I did take some responsibility and called Ashley Development and did give the number out to all of the neighbors at the bus stop.Many of them called as well, I was informed by Judy at Ashley when I spoke with her today. Before you flippantly tell someone to "take responsibility", perhaps you should see if they have done so.
I also contacted JD Malone of the Express-Times, and he kindly wrote the article on the front page of the local section today.
Even after "taking responsibility", and standing up to Ashley, I still feel that since I pay taxes to Upper Nazareth Township, they should make sure that the developers who build in their township are abiding by the rules, and punishing them if they do not.
In your previous posts, you never stated that you contacted Ashley or the Express-Times. Since I am not a mind reader, I don't feel my response was flippant. I was merely trying to point you in the direction of helping yourself and not demanding others to fix your problem.
I again state that your expectations of the township are unrealistic when it comes to this situation. Ashely Development is at fault, not the township. The township can, and very well may, fine Ashley for not plowing the streets.
First off - how about a little spirit of the holidays?
Was away yesterday so I'm going to respond to a bunch of these all at once - sorry for the length.
The situation with the developer isn't uncommon. Developer wants to put in a bunch of homes - make a bunch of money. Township sees a bunch of tax money resulting from the bunch of homes. No one considers school tax implications, development goes in. The township doesn't want the roads turned over because that is an added cost. Developer isn't overly concerned with plowing because its an added cost.
What real recourse does the homeowner have? Not much. Bad publicity for the developer could hurt them where they are building new homes, but probably not enough to worry about it.
I do believe the township needs to stay on these developers to ensure they meet their obligations, not the individual homeowners.
As I understand it from some others the problem with the plowing is not new and has been ongoing, but is worsened because the snow froze and hasn't melted.
Regarding the intersection and comments by anon:
"The overwhelming response from parents, students (and Berni) was that skatebaording is safe. With that being said, ice is caused by mother nature, I'm sure those involved put forth their best effort to clear the sidewalks but come on, it's winter. If school were canceled, would parents not allow their kids to go out and play or sled because they might slip and fall."
A few points of clarification, the people who favored skateboarding claimed it was safe (I wouldn't call that the majority), but skateboarders themselves see the injuries as a badge of honor. There have already been broken bones at the skatepark. It is part and parcel of the sport and culture. This doesn't make it 'safe' only acceptable to them.
Also, the intersection and ice was not about the sidewalks, it was the two feet of ice on the road in the crosswalk that was the problem. The homeowner on that corner had their walks clear, but the street had ice.
I don't know how many people let their kids play in this ice. It was dangerous to walk. There is a big difference in my opinion though between the school deciding to have school and a parent making a choice to let their child play.
If school is in session, children are legally obliged to be there. If they are obliged to be there, then it should be safe for them to get there. It was not safe to walk to school (I'm sure it wasn't safe to get to all the bus stops either). If the child gets hurt it is in effect the schools fault, not the parents. The parent was acting because the school required them to do so.
Contrarily, if I as a parent make a decision to allow my child to play outside, it is a personal decision that may be right or wrong. If the child gets hurt as a result, it is my fault or theirs for not using good judgement.
Finally, many times when school is canceled for snow, kids do play outside and they do fall, but the snow is soft, can be packed, and is not a sheet of ice like it is right now. This was unusual and as was proven by the two kids who were taken to the hospital yesterday - it is not good for sledding either.
I think the roads not being cleared is shameful but equally abhorrent is the businesses that are permitted to not clear their sidewalks.
The Alexandria Manor takes up a huge corner in town and neither side of that building is clear making that sidewalk basically unpassable.
The E-W portion of that property is normally heavily used by kids walking to school.
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