Snow-Covered Sidewalk Near Brick School Infuriates Mom

BRICK, NJ -- Five days after a blizzard dumped 20 inches of snow on Brick Township, snow blocking the sidewalk near Lanes Mill Elementary School has one mother hopping mad.

“This is our sidewalks in front of the school that we pick our kids up from (Lanes Mill Elementary) and the kids have to walk into the street to get to their cars,” Debra Bottino wrote in an email to the Patch.

Brick Township schools were closed Monday and Tuesday, but reopened Wednesday morning, with the sidewalk still a mess, she said.

“It wouldn’t be so bad if the crossing guard waited until they were all in the cars, but she doesn’t and kids are In the road as traffic starts,” she said. “It’s not right, and any attempt to get ahold of ANYONE that would help has gone unanswered.”

Brick Township’s ordinance on snow removal says property owners are responsible for clearing sidewalks that abut their property. The sidewalk the students use is along the edge of Greenbriar II, an adult community.

Denise Schisano, property manager for Greenbriar II, said the association’s plow crew cleared the sidewalk and salted it on Monday morning, ”even though we knew school was not opening.”

“But the town went back and plowed the road again,” throwing snow back onto the sidewalk.

Schisano said there used to be an agreement that township officials would notify the association when the town plowed Lanes Mill so Greenbriar’s crew could follow up and clear the sidewalks again.

“They have never contacted me during this entire storm,” she said. “We took care of it. We have no control over when the town plows (Lanes Mill).”

Schisano said she would send the crew back to clear the sidewalk again immediately. It was expected to be cleared again by late afternoon Thursday.

Mayor John Ducey said the town is not responsible for plowing Lanes Mill Road because it is a county road, and has no idea of the county’s plowing schedule to alert Greenbriar II.

“They (the county) don’t tell us when they’re coming to plow,” Ducey said. “They do their roads and we do ours. There’s no schedule, we just hope for the best.”

He said the town had the same issue of having to clear sidewalks again after the county plowed Chambersbridge Road again, throwing snow back onto the sidewalks as it widened it enough for two lanes in each direction. On Monday, the amount of snow limited travel to about a lane and a half each way for much of the road’s length -- a common issue on roads throughout the area.

A big part of the problem, Ducey said, is that there was so much snow there’s nowhere to put it without covering something up -- including paths that have already been plowed.

Last February, after the issue arose following back-to-back storms, Ducey said the ordinance gives property owners 24 hours after the snow has stopped to clear the sidewalks, and 72 hours after the first storm of the season before violations are issued. After the first storm, ”automatic summonses (are issued) from that point on if the sidewalks are not cleared within 24 hours of snow stopping.”

He said concerns about snow-covered sidewalks should be directed to code enforcement officials.

Bottino, who said she reached out to the town through emails and messages on Facebook, was primarily angered by the lack of response to her messages and emails.

“Why is it that no one seems to care about our children here?” she asked in an email. “I think it’s absolutely disgusting that no one has said a word back go me about this, and it is Our KIDS I am talking about. Not high school-aged kids either, kindergarten kids.”

(Photos supplied by Debra Bottino show the snow piled along the fence along Lanes Mill Road that surrounds Greenbriar II in Brick Township, just beyond Lanes Mill Elementary School. The snow remained there Thursday morning, as seen in the first photo, five days after Saturday’s blizzard.)