What to Do with All the Snow?

As many of you know, the northeast area of the United States has been hit rather hard this winter season.  But let me make a clarification that the news won't do.  A very large part of the northeast is actually having an average snowfall.  They are talking about the big cities, not the rest of the area.  So, is that what I'm going off about tonight?  Of course not, but it does relate...

Up to today, the Syracuse area has gotten roughly 79 inches of snow, the average is 85 to this point.  That isn't the whole story though, a majority of that snow has come in the last 6 weeks or so.  And that means that it is piling up very quickly, especially in the city itself.  What that means is that there are snow piles all over the place in the city.  The other day we had one of those heavy snowfall days, causing major delays driving in.  When I got to the city, they did their normal "clearing" by not plowing and spreading salt everywhere.  Needless to say, I had to drive through a foot of thick slush all over the place (it was a bit cold for the salt to work completely).  But that was the topic of a previous post (or so I thought, can't find it).

This one is about how many of the businesses are deciding to clear their sidewalks and parking lots.  On my way in that morning, I was almost pelted with snow from a snow thrower being used by one of these businesses.  Yep, he was throwing the snow from the lot onto the road.  On the way home this afternoon, I noticed that 1 lane of the road past this business is completely covered by a 5 foot or more high pile of snow.  So they completely cleared their lot and walk onto the road!  I can't believe there isn't a law to prevent that.

And what tops this off is what one of the councilors is determined to do.  He is proposing, once again, fines for residents that don't clear their sidewalks within 24 hours of a storm.  He's twisted it this time by including businesses.  How is that going to solve the problem of these businesses just dumping the snow in the road?  And how is it going to solve the fact that the city can't be bothered to clear the roads within a reasonable period of time after a storm?  Plain and simple, it doesn't.  This is just a way in which he is attempting to close the budget gap that the city is facing!