Property owners notified about clearing snow from sidewalks

I am a runner, and I run in all seasons. The other week, I bundled up for a nice 12-mile run in 20-degree weather. And last Sunday several hundred runners and I braved the freezing temperatures and cautiously navigated slushy and icy roads near Elizabethtown College and Bear Creek School for the second race in the 25th annual Frozen Foot Race series.

It goes without saying that if we runners run in weather like we've had this year, we expect to encounter snow and ice on sidewalks.

But days and weeks after the precipitation ends?

Here in Elizabethtown, borough officials sent notices and $25 inspection fees this week to 165 property owners across the borough for failing to clear snow from their sidewalks. Many of those notices went to people who clearly had not made any effort to clear snow and ice after any of the storms we've had.

Until you are out and about on the sidewalks, you don't realize how many people do not clear them. While I don't hit all of the streets in town when I run, I have encountered snow and ice all across the borough: Spruce Street near College Avenue, along College Avenue toward Market Street, on East and West High Street, Buckingham Boulevard, Hillside Avenue, Willow Street and others.

For the record, the borough ordinance requires that property owners clear their walks of snow and ice within 12 hours after the precipitation ends.

I know it's difficult to get the work done when we have busy schedules, especially when the snow never seems to fall at a convenient time. That's why on Valentine's Day, I fired up the snowblower at 5:30 a.m. to clear my driveway (so I could get to work) and sidewalk. You have to do what you have to do.

So please, not just for sake of us runners, but for the sake of your neighbors, the kids in your neighborhood who walk to school and anyone else out for some fresh air, please clear your sidewalks.