Paul Bass Photo
Car remains in frozen prison along emergency route on Edgewood Ave.’s odd-numbered side, a week after storm.
Thomas Breen Photo
Smith with Hill neighbors.
Kate Bradley went door to door ahead of last week’s “bomb cyclone” that dumped a foot of snow to remind neighbors to move their cars to the even side of the street to make way for the plows.
The only problem: The plows never came to clear the snow.
Bradley told that tale Wednesday night to the city’s lone public space inspector, Honda Smith, at a monthly meeting of the Westville/West Hills Community Management Team meeting at Mauro-Sheridan School.
Smith hit two management team meetings this week — in Westville and the Hill — to hear from neighbors like Bradley about their experiences during the storm and to spread the word about rules for parking and clearing sidewalks when it snows.
“Psychologically, once you put people into that spot that they got to get their car off that odd side so the plows can come through and then you don’t [plow], the next time nobody is going to do it and the next 10 times nobody is going to do it,” Bradley told Smith.
“I’m the supervisor for out here,” Smith said. “I do apologize for my guys. I will make sure I cater to that area during the next storm.”
Smith has worked for the city for 29 years, 20 of those in the public works department, and is about 10 months away from retirement. So this could be her last snow season. She is making the rounds of community meetings to field questions not just about snow removal but about, for instance, how soon to get your trash cans out of the beltline before you’re at risk for a $250 fine.
She’s also asking neighbors to tell her where she might need to deploy her enforcement powers, which extend as she said, “from the back of the sidewalk to the middle of the street.”
One Westville neighbor pointed out Wednesday night that the city’s ordinance regarding the removal of trash and recycling bins from the curb makes it seem like you have to rush home after the morning pickup to put them away. Smith clarified the rules: Trash cans should be out no more than 10 hours before pick-up; they should be off the curb no more than 12 hours later.
But she also noted that given that she’s the only person in the entire city with the power to enforce the law and write tickets for such violations, it’s pretty hard to catch violators unless it’s egregious.
Paul Bass Photo
A week after blizzard, a hydrant remains snowed in across from the Elm Street courthouse.
At the most recent Hill North Management Team meeting Tuesday night, Lynda Faye Wilson said that the bus stops by the hospital were covered in snow that reached up to her knees. She demanded that the city do a better job clearing the bus stops.
“People in the city can’t seem to find out who owns the bus stops,” Smith responded. “The person who owns the bus stop is Connecticut Transit. They own the bus stop. and it’s their responsibility to clean the bus stops. We try to be good neighbors and try to help them out, but our first priority at the Department of Public Works is to clean the streets when it snows to make it passable and safe for all vehicles and pedestrians that travel across the streets.”
Smith also responded to a resident’s concerns about snow that had been pushed up in front of her driveway.
“Now I hear a lot about snow in my driveway,” she said. “It’s gonna happen. I hate to say that, but it’s gonna happen. The city ordinance states that residents have to remove snow from their property 24 hours after snowfall, not during the snowstorm, because during the snowstorm what we’re doing is pushing the snow back to make sure that there’s no accidents on the streets, that the emergency apparatus can pass through the street safely and without any incidents.”
She said if people start removing snow before the snow has stopped falling. it makes it difficult for city workers to keep the street clean, especially if people are throwing that snow back into the street.
“That’s a $250 violation for throwing snow in the street during a storm,” she said. “It’s a $250 violation for not shoveling your sidewalks after [a] snowfall. Now we give you a courtesy, and I’m going to be real with you, I am the only inspector that enforces violations in the city of New Haven, for the whole city. But 29 years in this department taught me something. I know the law, and the law states that you have to do it.”
Paul Bass Photo
Frank Cochran shovels out a sewer at Ellsworth and Edgewood avenues Thursday in anticipation of expected soaring temperatures and new rains.
Only ONE inspector enforcing snow removal violations for the ENTIRE city of New Haven? No wonder so many property owners get away with not clearing their sidewalks and SeeClickFix has a backlog of snow removal complaints where an acknowledgement by the Dept. of Public Works is the best response you're going to get? Why can't the City hire more inspectors and/or train more Public Works employees to
do inspections? The city will get cleaner sidewalks and bus stops and shelters and will make more money in fines.