GUILFORD — Selectboard Chair Richard Clark said he would check in with the town's road commissioner over what can be done to keep the Town Office parking lot and entrance free of snow.
At the board's Feb. 24 meeting, Town Clerk Penny Marine appeared to read from a statement to ask the Selectboard for clarification on who is responsible for keeping that area free of snow: her office or another entity.
She said that, in the wake of the area's two most recent snowstorms, she noticed private residents maintaining town office access with what she took to be personal equipment, and worried about safety and liability.
“If someone was to fall, get hurt, or due to several inches of snowfall without being plowed, someone could get stuck and the end of the parking lot trying to get into the office,” she said.
“Is it the responsibility of me as the town clerk to maintain the parking lot, and if so, are you going to give me permission to bid out the plowing and the maintenance of the parking lot? Sanding, salting, whatever it needs to be safe for the public?”
Selectboard member Troy Revis Jr. promptly noted that plowing is the responsibility of the town road crew, and that it is up to Road Foreman/Road Commissioner Dan Zumbruski to prioritize plowing - and to insure that his busy workers get adequate sleep during demanding snow events.
“In other towns, when it gets bad, the clerks shut down [town offices]. We have four boys, 77 miles of road, and they do a good job … They're going on four hours' sleep,” he said.
Asked by Selectboard member Anne Rider whether there was interest in a motion to approach Zumbruski formally, perhaps to request that the town office lot be maintained as reliably as the school lot is, both Clark and Revis demurred.
“I'll just talk to Danny,” Clark said.
He added that some town equipment needed for plowing was out for maintenance, and that the road crew was working around it.
The Highway Department is chiefly responsible for maintaining all of the town's roads, bridges, and culverts. The town says on its website that it maintains approximately 75 miles of roads, 60 miles of which are dirt and gravel. The department operates seven trucks and five pieces of large equipment, traveling more than 100,000 fleet-miles a year.