Palmyra Borough Council hears resident complaints about snow plowing

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Two residents spoke out at the Jan. 27 meeting of Palmyra Borough Council with complaints about the borough’s handling of the weekend snowstorm.

David Heine of Harrison Street said his main issue was with the size of the lanes that were plowed. He said he had to pull into cleared parking spots to make way for oncoming traffic. In some areas, he said, his vehicle would touch the piles of snow on either side.

“Palmyra has created a massive safety hazard when it comes to traffic with this snowplow situation, and this has been going on for years, and people complained about it for years,” Heine said. “It’s absolutely horrible, and I really hope that at some point in time, I’m not sure today will be the day that you all decide to do something about it, but at some point in time, somebody’s going to get hurt, and I hope it doesn’t come to that before you decide to do something.”

The crews left snow 13 feet away from the curb in front of his house, he said, and some sections are even further into the street.

Borough manager Roger Powl said they had a complaint and a threatened lawsuit years ago over crews pushing snow onto the sidewalks, so there is a limit to how far off the road they can push the piles. He said the crew is also relatively new, and this was their first major winter storm, so they weren’t all comfortable getting close and going around parked cars.

Councilman Marcus Riddell later asked Powl to pass along his thanks to the road crews, who Powl said were working for about 50 hours to clear lanes.

Heine then got up during the second public comment period to say that crews working for 50 hours creates a safety hazard, especially with how large the plows are. He said the workers should be able to go home and get quality sleep in their own beds, as is required in other industries.

Powl said the borough isn’t subject to the same sleep requirements that other fields must adhere to. After the meeting, he said workers slept on inflatable mattresses and in sleeping bags when they weren’t operating equipment.

Resident Kevin Fuhrman said plowing is a recurring issue, and he hasn’t heard a good answer on how it will be fixed.

“It’s been this problem for years, and it’s a different council this time, but I feel like yous give us the political pat on the back,” he said. “I heard it a couple times from one person already in a couple meetings I’ve been at this year, and I’m just thinking that’s just political garbage. Keep the people happy, say positive things, and don’t be accountable.”

Mayor Tom Miller said even one additional public works employee would help, and council should consider adding another in the next budget.

“If we continue to remain short on personnel, we’re going to have situations that could happen to this town, and I really think we’ve got to start to reconsider,” he said.

Powl said the borough has five public works employees and brought in three additional people to work during the storm. He said the road crews worked hard to clear roads, but this storm was a test to see how the green staff would do. Some roads looked decent, and some were unacceptable, he said.

In other business, council:

• Authorized the closure of West Cherry Street from South Railroad Street to South Mark Street on May 9 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for the annual Truck Trek: The Central PA Food Truck & Arts Fest.
• Also authorized the closure of roads necessary to assemble and conduct the Palmyra Memorial Parade on May 25. Staging areas will close at 8:30 a.m., and the parade route will close at 10 a.m. Areas will reopen at 12:30 p.m. The parade will begin at West Cherry and South Mark streets, continue past Palmyra Area Middle School on West Cherry and east on East Cherry Street, go north on South Green Street, then west on East Main Street, south on South Locust Street, and end at the middle school.
• Heard from Powl that the borough received bids to move pump station three. The low bid will be on the agenda for approval at the next meeting. He said they are looking at about $1.3 million for the project, which will come out of the special sewer fund.

Palmyra Borough Council will meet next at 325 S. Railroad St. on Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. Meetings are streamed on the Palmyra Borough, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania YouTube page.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article had the incorrect date for Truck Trek 2026. We sincerely regret the error.