Well, we just had our second significant snowfall of the winter. From the looks of the sidewalks of Tosa, most of us are prepared to carry out our snow clearing duties. Some, however, are falling short. It’s not really a surprise that it’s going to snow and we’re all going to have to dig out, shovel or clear lots of the white stuff. We live in Wisconsin. What
is a surprise are the homeowners that seem to think that if they turn a blind eye, the snow will simply melt. And it will…in three or four months. Unfortunately for those of us using the sidewalks, that’s just simply not soon enough.
If you look at the City of Wauwatosa web site, you’ll see that there is a
City Ordinance stating that snow must be cleared by noon the day after a snow or ice accumulation. That’s 24 hours, regardless of whether you hate the cold, never use the sidewalks or are out of town. In fact, if you know you’re going to be out of town, you need to arrange for someone to clear it for you. Don’t assume that your friendly neighbor will take care of it every time. Oh, and “clearing snow” doesn’t mean you wait for people to trample it down and then decide it’s already taken care of. Grrr! Contact your neighborhood association for the names of neighborhood kids willing to shovel for a nominal fee. Or open up your phone book and call a company to do it regularly. Either way, it’s YOUR responsibility. Take it seriously.
My other dig is against those that live on corner lots. If this is you (and it’s me too, by the way), then your responsibility is not just to clear the sidewalk in front of your house, but get out there and dig out the curb leading to the street. I just returned from walking my dog and some of the frozen cliffs that I had to scale just to cross the street are not only irritating, they’re dangerous.
I understand that dealing with snowfall is frustrating, especially when it happens repeatedly. As my husband once explained to me, it’s like mowing the lawn one day and finding it grew back the next. But people, we live in W-I-S-C-O-N-S-I-N. This is what we signed up for when we bought a piece of Flatlanders’ Paradise. Let’s all dig in to dig out.
