Jonestown Borough discusses future snow removal priorities

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During the Feb. 3 meeting, the Jonestown Borough Council discussed how its road crews will prioritize road clearing during future major snowstorms after a critical public comment.

Chris Miller of Miller Insurance said during public comment that the borough should have done a better job clearing the snow following the storm, or should have communicated with business owners so they could do the work themselves.

Miller Insurance’s office is on West Market Street. Miller said he and several other Market Street owners are willing to be “involved in the process,” but there was no communication from the borough about what they should do or where they should put the snow.

“If you don’t respond to the services you’re supposed to provide, what do you want us to do?” he said. “I think, collectively, you’d be pretty upset if we as property owners just started moving snow on public property, so we need a method to communicate.”

Miller said the plan should not come after the event, and several council members agreed, saying they need to put a plan in place before the next storm so they aren’t “playing catch-up.”

“This borough [council] is new — I think over half of it. I was asked to help out. I came on this summer,” council member Amber White said. “Before that, we had a president that was here for over a decade that handled everything and everyone involved, so I don’t know how it was handled before, but I agree.”

Council president Daniel Shuman said they believed there was a plan in place from the previous council. This was the first major snowstorm the borough has experienced in several years.

Borough secretary Mariah Mauser said Jonestown had two public works employees moving snow. After the storm, staff members reached out for quotes on the cost of bringing in other contractors.

Mauser said Union and Swatara townships said they would come to the borough to help with snow removal, but their crews had to finish township roads first.

Council discussed creating a list of the most important borough roads to clear following a snowstorm, so road crews can prioritize. They said they’ll focus on East Market, South Lancaster, and North King streets, which are the borough’s snow emergency routes and lead to Route 22.

In other business, council:

• Approved the replacement of dump truck tires for $2,218.22, to be paid for from the liquid fuels account.
• Tabled a decision regarding the purchase of infield material to bring the Edward C. Spittle field up to safety standards. This will be brought before council again in March.
• Tabled a decision regarding Huey’s Amusements, which wants to set up fair rides on May 10-12 and offer rides to the public on May 13-16. Mauser said it took several follow-ups to receive payment last year, so the borough wants an edited contract that includes a payment deadline and detailed receipts.

Jonestown Borough Council will have its next regular meeting on March 3 at 6:30 p.m. at the borough building, 295 S. Mill St., Jonestown.